Perhaps because I was not very familiar with Luise Rainier performances (beyond "The Good Earth," which movie I didn't like), I was impressed by her in "The Emperor's Candlesticks." I use the conditional because of comments by others here.<br /><br />Nevertheless, I found her charming, even entrancing.<br /><br />William Powell gave his usual masterful best and all the other players were intriguing.<br /><br />There were lots of "other players," too, and that each managed to be individualistic speaks of their own talents and of that of the director and script writer.<br /><br />The movie was well directed, generally, and the script presented a view of a world long gone that we might otherwise never get to see.<br /><br />It's a good yarn, with meshing stories of intrigue, and an adventure of an international race against the clock.<br /><br />I recommend this as a must-see movie on many levels.