Negative Positive
Title: The Blue Angel is a Red Devil
Review: This Josepf von Sternberg feature about Catherine the Great's early Russian years was a disappointment to me. He told the story from the point of view of what he thought would attract viewers, and while that is certainly a director's objective, it shouldn't be s distortion to historical fact to the degree this film is. Marlene Dietrich is, of course, Catherine from a girl of 14 until she takes over the throne of Russia after having he husband (the Tsar) murdered. Historically this is fact. But von Sternberg can't seem to decide if Peter (played by Sam Jaffe) is a fool or merely playing a fool who knows exactly what's going on. The photography is good for that era and von Sternberg does well with the technical aspects of his film. I think it just seems too dated for an audience today.
Is the review positive or negative? 