sequences a grander scale. Genuine French furniture from the period was purchased and shipped to Hollywood, some of it thought to have originally been from Versailles. The budget was a then-enormous $2.9 million. After calculating the huge expense of costume and set design, plans to render it in color were scrapped because of concerns it would cost even more to add Technicolor. Reception The film premiered on July 8, 1938, at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles following a lavish outdoor red carpet ceremony for which the nearby lawns were transformed into an imitation of the gardens of the Palace of Versailles. The premiere, including the preparations of the grounds, is depicted in a short black-and-white newsreel film, Hollywood Goes to Town, produced by M-G-M. According to MGM records Marie Antoinette took in $1,633,000 in theater rentals from the United States and Canada and an additional $1,323,000 from foreign rentals, but because of its enormous cost recorded a loss of $767,000. Home media Sofia Coppola released her 2006 film version of the life of the queen at Versailles, causing Warner Bros. to release its 1938 vault version of Marie Antoinette on DVD. Extras are sparse, with two vintage shorts included on the disc: "Hollywood Goes to Town" provides a glimpse of the elaborate premiere for the movie, while a trailer is also included. Academy Award nominations Best Actress – Norma Shearer Best Supporting Actor – Robert Morley Best Art Direction – Cedric Gibbons Best Music, Original Score – Herbert Stothart References External links 1938 films 1930s historical drama films Films set in 1769 Films based on biographies Films based on works by Stefan Zweig Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films based on Austrian novels Films about capital punishment 1930s English-language films Films directed by W. S. Van Dyke Films produced by Irving Thalberg Biographical films about Marie Antoinette Films set in Vienna Films set in France Films with screenplays by Donald Ogden Stewart Films scored by Herbert Stothart Cultural depictions of Louis XV Cultural depictions of Madame du Barry Cultural depictions of Louis XVI Cultural depictions of Marie Antoinette Cultural depictions of Louis XVII American historical drama films American black-and-white films 1938 drama films 1930s American films