Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

John Bailey I'm won't give a play-by-play of the plot. The film follows history fairly closely. An Austrian girl of royal birth becomes queen of France, only to run into the French Revolution and it's Terror.Norma Shearer gives an excellent performance as Marie Antoinette. Her real-life husband, Irving Thalberg, one of the top producers at MGM, had died at age 37, only a year before this film began production. That Ms Shearer was able to bring off such a performance at such a time was a testimony to her professionalism.Another great performance was that of John Barrymore as King Louis XV. It's so good to see these wonderful actors of the Golden Age do their stuff. Every facial tic says so much. Most of the actors of today can't do it, only a very few.I reserve my highest praise for the man who plays the Duc de Orleans, Joseph Schildkraut. When you first see him in the film, with his makeup, painted eyebrows, lipstick, and mouche (beauty patch), you know you're in the 18th century. That's only the beginning of his portrayal. His body is supple and he bows before royalty with such grace, he must've had many lessons in 18th century comportment. His dancing is wonderful, as he circles the queen, his body arches toward her and his head leans in her direction. He plays a bad guy, but as in many films, the bad guy steals the show.Tyrone Power as Swedish Count Axel von Fersen, (a real historical character who was a possible lover of the queen), is on the other hand, a bit too goody- goody for this film. His real-life character, von Fersen, a Swedish count who fought in the American Revolutionary War, did try to save the queen's life during the French Revolution, so to leave him out would have been regrettable. The film ends with the death of the queen, but the real Count Fersen also met a violent death twenty years later in Sweden during a riot.As a contrast, I saw the 2006 version of 'Marie Antoinette' the same week and it did not move me. It was a throw-away of no consequence. The 1938 MGM version, available on Amazon, on the other hand, was fabulous. It cost a fortune to make, used hundreds of extras, the costumes must've cost a fortune, the script is well done, and the acting superb. Sometime these big budget films were dead on arrival, but not this one. Score one for the Golden Age. Perhaps we should bring back Royalty. After all, it was France who supported the American Revolution and bankrupted herself - leading to the end of the French Royalty.

jarrodmcdonald-1 At first I was hesitant...I thought, oh no, this is going to be an over-blown costume epic, a film that was probably trying to exaggerate its own importance. But it really doesn't play that way. Norma Shearer in the title role is not exactly subtle, but she's not over-the-top, either. I agree with others who say that the ending of the film is the strongest section, but I also loved the 'Russian' scenes when Marie met Axel. There should be more movies like this today, not because we need to bring back a certain time in American cinema, but because we need to be reminded that life is simple and grand at the same time. This picture captures that perfectly. The only quibble I have about some of the film is that it does seem a bit too American and British to me...I had difficulty believing there was a French or Austrian element. I think the sentimentality could've been muted a bit and if it were remade today, I think more of the execution scenes should be featured, instead of played off-camera. Also, we should've seen the part when the son was forced to testify against his mother. Nonetheless, the entire effort is very memorable. My favorite scene was when Marie was being led to the guillotine and her eyes locked with the peasant woman in the crowd who could empathize with her. Very powerful!

romanorum1 Marie Antoinette, born in 1755, a daughter of Austrian empress Maria Theresa, was 15 years old when she was told by her mother that she was to be betrothed to the French heir to the throne, the future Louis XVI. Maria Theresa's ultimate reason was to secure strategically the Austrian-French alliance in balance of power Europe. Marie was of course excited in a little girl sort of way. She was to leave home forever and travel to France with a small entourage (1770). The first meeting with Louis XVI was awkward, to say the least ("I like to be alone."). The king, although well-meaning and moral, was dull, fat and introverted; he was far too awkward to preside over a worldly-wise royal court. His main interest was in clock making and repairing. In fact, it was said that the marriage with Marie Antoinette was not consummated for quite a few years.The French court at Versailles was flamboyant, to say the least. There were gilded furniture, expensive paintings, and many amusements. (The movie itself is of lavish scope and sets.) Minuets were danced and childish games were played. The men were dandies: they had perfumed wigs, ruffled shirt cuffs, silk stockings and knee breeches (culottes). The women used heavy makeup, powdered their cheeks, wore jewelry, and had grand wigs and huge gowns that barely could cross an open doorway. Oh, their attire is something to behold! There certainly was no lack of intrigue and back-stabbing. In such a degenerate atmosphere the naïve Marie Antoinette was seduced; over time, Marie became known for her extravagance. France was really a rich country, but the good life was not shared. The French populace demanded attention to their wants; they were hungry and wore rags. They grumbled over the high taxes need to run the government, especially the court. Relief was not forthcoming for a variety of good reasons. After a series of scandals and odd events, especially the startling "Affair of the Diamond Necklace" (1785, see additional information below), the royal family's situation was doomed. On 14 July 1789 the fall of the Bastille to the uncouth and unwashed people began the two-year process whereby the king's power was first reduced then revoked entirely. Had he been smarter and sophisticated, the king may have been able to broker a deal that would have made him a constitutional monarch (instead of an absolute one). The people's leaders ran the courts, and they were none-too-merciful. The royal family was moved from the Palace of Versailles to the Tuileries Palace in Paris (1789). But after the royal family's failed escape (June 1791), they were housed in a Paris prison known as the Temple. First the king was stripped of his power, and then the queen's son was taken from her (he would mysteriously die in 1795 although his sister did live a long time). The last royal dinner in prison consisted of onion soup and bread; and the entire scene was heartbreaking. It occurred the night before the king's execution. First the king, then the queen, was guillotined (in 1793, about nine months apart); both did actually go to their deaths bravely. Count Axel Fersen survived and went back to Sweden; his end would come in 1810.Norma Shearer sympathetically portrays Marie Antoinette, and Robert Morley does the same for Louis XVI. The gorgeous Anita Louise plays the Princess de Lamballe, who, loyal to the royal family to the end, dies cruelly at the hands of a mob. Tyrone Power, Count Axel Fersen, was the loyal lover to the end who unsuccessfully engineers the escape of the royal family. John Barrymore portrays the unpopular and unlikeable Louis XV, who has the famous quote: "After me, the deluge." Joseph Schildkraut is the Duke of Orleans, an untrustworthy and ambitious radical who is in a powdered wig and heavy make-up. Gladys George is Madame du Barry, a putty-headed mistress who was later guillotined for treason (her inglorious end is not covered in the movie). Like other court mistresses she had no foresight to understand that her days were numbered once her king and benefactor died. BONUS INFORMATION ABOUT THE AFFAIR OF THE DIAMOND NECKLACE (an historical fact): The discredited adventuress, Countess de La Motte, duped Louis Cardinal de Rohan into believing he would regain his long lost court favor with Marie Antoinette if he would broker a deal for an extremely valuable necklace worth 1.6 million livres (originally intended for Louis XV's mistress, Madame du Barry). Mme. La Motte and her accomplices then engineered a sham correspondence between de Rohan and the queen. Mme. La Motte forged letters from the queen to Rohan attesting to her interest in the necklace. There was even a brief, sham meeting in the Gardens of Versailles between de Rohan and a woman impersonating the queen (the impersonator was really a prostitute). When de Rohan did obtain the necklace from the jeweler, he turned it over to Mme. La Motte. Her husband then took it to London where it was broken down and sold. The scandal became public when de Rohan, left on his own, could not make the payments on the necklace. De Rohan was acquitted of larceny although he lost his position in court. Mme. La Motte was found guilty and imprisoned, but later escaped. Unfortunately, as the affair came at a critical time in the reign of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette was unjustly implicated by the French public. When the verdict of Rohan's acquittal was announced in the packed Paris Opera House in the presence of the queen, the crowds cheered as Marie Antoinette left in dismay (1786). Never again would she regain a semblance of public favor.

chuck-reilly Although not nearly as historically accurate as it could've been, the 1938 version of "Marie Antoinette" still stands as one of the best films of the 1930s and certainly the finest ever made about the late queen of France. The high-powered and second-to-none cast includes Norma Shearer as the tragic queen and Robert Morley as King Louis XVI. Morley's sympathetic characterization of the king almost steals the picture, but there's too much happening in this film for anyone to be able to get away with that. The great John Barrymore plays Morley's father (Louis XV) with an understated cruelty and disdain for humanity. A radiant Gladys George is also on hand as his famous mistress, Madame DuBarry. Norma Shearer, one of the greatest stars of early cinema and wife to MGM production chief, Irving Thalberg, has the role of her life as the title character. Her "Antoinette" runs the gamut between frivolous coquette to protective mother and finally to one of history's most tragic figures. Shearer's silent film techniques are also put to good use near the end of the film when the totally distraught and prematurely aged queen is awaiting execution in her cell. Through her skillful well-honed hand and facial expressions, she's able to project her feelings of dread for the horrors that are about to be unleashed upon her without so much as one spoken word. A young and up-and-coming Tyrone Power is second billed in the film and his part seems more intended for box-office appeal than anything else. That said, he does an adequate job providing the love interest for Ms. Shearer, even though that subplot mostly gets in the way of the historical aspects of the film. Other cast members include an excellent Anita Louise as the queen's best friend, the Princess de Lamballe. Joseph Schildkraut rounds out the leading roles as the unctuous and oily Duke of Orleans. His voice-overs during the early days of the French Revolution give the film some much-needed gravitas and it quickly and effectively alters the mood of the entire proceedings. As any student of history knows, there's no happy ending to this story.What's truly amazing is that most modern film-goers have never even heard of Norma Shearer much less know anything about her work. Her contemporaries (i.e. Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo) all outlasted her with the general public. That may be because Shearer retired soon after her husband died; her final film was 1942's forgettable "Her Cardboard Lover." The rest of the cast, however, went on to bigger and better things. Robert Morley worked forever in both films and TV as did Schildkraut. Of course, John Barrymore's body of work stands in a class by itself. Tyrone Power became one of the great superstars of cinema, dying too young at the age of 44 in 1958."Marie Antoinette" is competently directed by W.S. Van Dyke and MGM studios spared no expense for their First Lady (Shearer). The carefully constructed sets for the lavish parties at Versailles are extravagant to the extreme and the total cost of the film was astronomical for its time. Even critics of the film agree that there's an eye for detail in nearly every scene. It's unfortunate that Norma Shearer isn't as well-known as she should be in this day and age. Maybe now is the time for her "revival." The same goes for this excellent film. Compared to Sofia Coppola's modern-day well-deserved flop on the same subject, W.S. Van Dyke's "Marie Antoinette" is a film for the ages.