"A Royal Scandal" is a Mess

 

by Daniel White

Poor Tallulah Bankhead. After making a big splash (heh heh), in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat, her follow-up vehicle, A Royal Scandal (1945), is nothing more than a wishy-washy chatter-fest (will someone PLEASE stop me from making any more water wisecracks!).

It's directed unimaginatively by Otto Preminger, stepping in for an ailing Ernst Lubitsch (it's trumpeted as a Lubitsch film and he receives sole credit as producer). I don't think it really matters who directed this tepid bedroom comedy about Catherine the Great or who produced it; the screenplay sinks it. Except for a handful of clever remarks and one or two witty exchanges, the film feels dull and sluggish. Additionally, farce demands skillful timing, and when denied that, dies a painful death. Such is the case here.

However, it's a pleasure to watch Miss Bankhead working overtime to provide sparkle and she delivers when most others would have failed. She is supported by a wily Charles Coburn and a couple of other movie magicians (Sig Rumann, Mischa Auer), who shine despite the dire circumstances. Only Vincent Price stumbles glaringly, grappling with one of the lousiest french accents ever heard on screen.

The flick cries out for garish, loud Technicolor but unfortunately was shot in drab B&W. I suspect studio head Darryl Zanuck didn't have much faith in the project and was reluctant to toss buckets of money at it. With a wan, low-wattage William Eythe and a wasted Anne Baxter, A Royal Scandal is currently available on YouTube. It's a soggy mess (sorry!)