In seventeenth-century England, Amber St. Clair aims to raise herself from country girl to nobility, and succeeds, but loses her true love in the process.In seventeenth-century England, Amber St. Clair aims to raise herself from country girl to nobility, and succeeds, but loses her true love in the process.In seventeenth-century England, Amber St. Clair aims to raise herself from country girl to nobility, and succeeds, but loses her true love in the process.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
- Lord Redmond
- (as Edmond Breon)
- Bess
- (scenes deleted)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Catholic Legion of Decency condemned the film for its "glamorization of immorality and licentiousness", and it demanded the studio (20th Century-Fox) make changes so the film would be removed from their '"Condemned" list. The studio defiantly refused, initially, but when the actual boycotts began to occur, it caved in. During a period of about two months, Fox and representatives of the Legion of Decency discussed how the film could be changed to meet the Legion's approval. Among the scenes added was a narrated prologue over the credits which said the main character would be punished for sins, a new ending in which Amber watches Lord Carlton leave for Virginia and ends up accepting a supper invitation from the King's equerry, plus the deletion of scenes suggesting Amber had many lovers and the addition of new scenes to condemn her immorality. After these changes were made, the Legion of Decency took the film off the "Condemned" list and moved it to the "Class B-Objectionable in Part" listing, but the film's bookings had been severely cut due to the earlier condemnation. Fox president Spyros P. Skouras later apologized to the Legion, not for offending them but for refusing to conform to them.
- Quotes
King Charles II: [at a royal ball] Look at them. My loving subjects. You'd never know that half of them danced in Puritan garb while my father went to the chopping block.
Amber St. Clair: [moved] No wonder you seek solace in amusement, sire.
Amber St. Clair: [slyly] Can a common trollop help you to forget?
- Crazy creditsPrologue: "1644--The English Parliament and Oliver Cromwell's army have revolted against the tyrannical rule of Charles I. England is aflame with civil war..."
- Alternate versionsA couple of weeks after its record breaking premiere, studio heads finally caved into Catholic protests and re-cut the movie. Among the changes:
- References to Amber's sex life and any acts of non-marital romance were cut.
- SPOILER: A new ending in which Amber watches her son go off with Bruce.
- Redubbed dialogue in the form of Cornell Wilde repentative of his behaviour: "In Heaven's name, Amber, haven't we caused enough unhappiness?" and "May God have mercy on us both for our sins."
- Also a prologue was added that condemned the character's actions: "This is the tragic story of Amber St. Claire... slave to ambition.. stranger to virtue... the wages of sin is death".
- ConnectionsFeatured in Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years (1997)
The real highlight here is George Sanders as the licentious Charles II, a part he was born to play. I have no doubt that Vincent Price, considered for the role, could have done well (he gave the best performance of his career in another Preminger movie, "Laura"), but Sanders brings so much dripping wit and irony to everything he does that he makes every scene he's in come alive. He's not in it much, however.
The production itself is pretty good, some great costumes and sets. The swordfighting scene (with thankfully little dialogue) was excellent and far too short. The story itself is a little choppy. The first scene was a non-sequitur, promising a potentially interesting plot device that never came. And the ending was a complete disaster - abrupt, unresolved, unbalanced, and worst of all, unsatisfying. Overall, the movie leaves a sour taste in the mouth, as if the decadence that was portrayed somehow got hold of the people making it and caused them to focus more on the image than on the story.
- stills-6
- Jul 7, 2004
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Amber, die große Kurtisane
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $6,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 18 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1