Erich von StroheimCritiques

A womanizer tries to seduce a neglected wife.

A movie filmed in the Alps should really be more spectacular than this. As far as melodrama goes, having your climax on a mountain peak is pretty good, but it's still just melodrama.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: D
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: C

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 1.9/4

A womanizer tries to seduce an ambassador's wife to get her money.

It's 2½ hours, cut down from the original 8-ish (now lost). There's no reason for it to be longer than 90 minutes. And in all that time, they never bother to explore the title character, or make her anything more than a plot device (in a very weak plot). I guess that would take away too much of Stroheim's own screen time. Still, for a drama of the era, it's not bad. It has some excitement, high production values (notoriously so), and even a sense of humor sometimes.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C

Enjoyment: C

GPA: 2.0/4½

Universal Film Manufacturing Company