Marie Antoinette (1938) User Reviews (83)

MGM's lavish look at the French Revolution...a Shearer triumph...

[Doylenf · 7/10 · 22 October 2006]

MGM's lavishly budgeted look at the French Revolution during the reign of King Louis and his famously selfish MARIE ANTOINETTE spares no expense in detailing the grim background of court conspiracies and the people's unrest that led to their downfall.

Too bad none of this eye-popping splendor wasn't captured in Technicolor, as originally planned--but with a budget well over 1.5 million it was decided to film it in glorious B&W. No matter, it's still a spectacle for sore eyes.

There can be no doubt about NORMA SHEARER's triumph in the title role nor is any of the acting in the large cast below standard. ROBERT MORLEY as the weak and indecisive Louis is immensely touching and effective as he realizes the gravity of their predicament. JOHN BARRYMORE is fine and Joseph SCHILDKRAUT is wonderful as an aristocratic fop. TYRONE POWER lends his romantic presence to a role that requires little more than his good looks. He and Shearer make a physically appealing romantic team.

It's interesting that Irving Thalberg died before production began on the film. One wonders whether his influence on it might have made it an even stronger production. There are definite lulls in the telling but it builds dramatically to all of the final scenes. It's the kind of film that leads one to read more about the actual events and that's always a good thing.

Summing up: Sumptuously produced, well acted and well directed--what more could you want for an interesting glimpse of a life of royalty among a time of social upheaval? Shearer's triumphant return to the screen after a two-year absence.

Rediscovering Norma Shearer

[Andrew_Eskridge · 8/10 · 22 June 2001]

As a young actress still in her 20s, Norma Shearer was hailed as the First Lady of MGM, and she reigned as queen of the studio throughout the 1930s. For about two decades after early retiring in 1942, she was fondly remembered by fans and critics, but slowly she was mostly forgotten. Then in the early 70s, antagonistic film critic Pauline Kael, grudge-holding MGM rival Joan Crawford and others took delight in trashing her, usually with the implication that Norma's greatest talent was finding a powerful husband (Irving Thalberg). Unfortunately, those unfair remarks carried great weight since Shearer's movies were unavailable on video and rarely shown on TV.

We're now able to see her talent for ourselves, thanks largely to Turner Classic Movies, and Norma Shearer's star is rising again.

If you've never seen a Shearer movie, Marie Antoinette is a good beginning. It is one of Hollywood's great epics of the 1930s, with lavish costumes and scenery, and its historic setting holds up well. Shearer plays the doomed French queen from teenager to the Guillotine, and the final scenes as she awaits death in prison are among the finest of her career.

In recent years, Shearer has gained new respect for her silent and pre-code films, in which she was one of the most accomplished young actresses of the era. She often played sexually sophisticated women with a sly wit. She was not a typical ingénue, and you can see why audiences of the time were enchanted by her.

Norma's zenith and with one exception the end of her reign

[jjnxn-1 · 8/10 · 15 February 2014]

Made directly after Irving Thalberg's death but arranged by him beforehand this was Norma's final solo showcase. A mixture of the loss of her behind the scenes champion, poor script judgment and her vanity which caused her to turn down possible career savers Mrs. Miniver and Old Acquaintance lead to her days as a top star coming to an end. She still had a few decent pictures in her future, most notably The Women, but this is the last of her big star vehicles and her final big success as the main star of a film.

But this is certainly a grand way to end her time at the top. Norma does well in the lead her occasional lapses into grandiosity are well suited to a queen and don't get in the way of her characterization like they often did in several of her other films and her smaller moments are well played. Although this really should have been in color, the sets, wigs and costumes are almost impossibly lavish and are dazzling even in B&W. It's an enjoyable if questionably accurate historical account of Marie's rise and fall.

Aside from Shearer Robert Morley gives a gem of a performance as the not terribly bright Louis XVI, never making him seem a simpleton just a gentle man unequal to the role thrust upon him by birth. There are a few other good performances from Gladys George as the cheap but flashily dressed Madame du Barry and Joseph Schildkraut as the queen's venal cousin. Tyrone Power is impossibly handsome but his part is really window dressing so he doesn't make much of an impression.

Fine through they all are the film would be nothing without Norma. The title role requires someone whose well seasoned star power couldn't be overpowered by the sumptuous trappings and this is Norma's show straight down the line. Perhaps the one she was most suited to it's certainly one of her strongest performances. The film itself is a trifle overlong but for those who stick with it worthwhile entertainment.

Norma Shearer's Greatest Triumph!

[voodoochild-2 · 19 July 2000]

This is a fantastic movie, a real emotional roller coaster, one feels emotionally exhausted at the end, the last 20mins are truly harrowing. How Norma Shearer didn't win the academy award for best actress is beyond me. Other great performances include the debut of Robert Morley and the incredible acting of Joseph Schildkraut, the makeup he wears must have been truely scandalous at the time. The costumes are spectacular you really are taken back to the late 1770's. another point of note is how Norma Shearer ages in the film is incredible, from the young girl in the beginning to the much older broken woman at the end, very well done indeed. Tyrone Power is very good as well, one can go on for ages about Marie Antoinette, it truly is a spectacle in the grand MGM scale. 8 1/2 out of 10!

Oui Oui Marie

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 2 March 2006]

Although the story of Marie Antoinette starts when Marie was a teenager, unlike in her Romeo and Juliet, Norma Shearer ages in this part. If she's not quite convincing as a teenager, Shearer more than makes up for it as the character of the luckless Queen of France ages into wife, mother and royalty.

Norma was the dowager queen herself of the MGM lot by dint of her marriage and widowhood to the late chief of production Irving Thalberg. She got the first call on properties at MGM with the exception of Greta Garbo.

The only problem with Marie Antoinette was the choice of a leading man. The story is such that her husband Louis XVI does not cut a romantic figure so none of the available leads at MGM would or could be considered for the part. Her great romantic love before she settled down into domesticity was Count Axel Fersen, the Swedish Ambassador and his screen time is probably not even 40 minutes. So Louis B. Mayer and Darryl Zanuck worked out a deal. MGM got the services of Tyrone Power who was Zanuck's number one male star at Fox. It was Power's last film outside of Fox until 1952's Mississippi Gambler.

But without a doubt the best performance in the film is that of Robert Morley as the shy and bumbling Louis XVI. The adage at least taught in American schools was that if Louis XVI had been a king, he'd have stayed a king. One of the great ironies of history is that Louis XVI was the last thing from a tyrant you could be. If family inheritance didn't force the issue, he would have preferred being a clockmaker. And about matters of sex, he was at best ill informed. Morley brings out the whole range of Louis's personality and makes the audience really care about the tragedy befalling his family.

Other performances of note are Joseph Schildkraut as the scheming Duke of Orleans who was not the prime mover of the events that took place as this film makes him to be. Also Gladys George as Madame Dubarry, the last favorite of Louis XV. What this film does not cover is what happens to Dubarry after Louis XV dies and Louis XVI takes the throne. She meets ironically the same end as Marie Antoinette although with hardly as much dignity.

This was the final large scale film of John Barrymore who plays Louis XV who arranges the marriage of the ruling houses of France and Austria in alliance. Hereafter Barrymore left the big studio of MGM for smaller studios, taking roles in films well beneath his abilities, but due to dissipation, all he could handle. Still he cuts a fine figure here as Louis XV, who aptly prophesied, apres moi l'deluge.

If it ain't good history, Marie Antoinette is great entertainment.

Top Ten Reasons why "Marie Antoinette" is quite possibly the best movie ever made in Hollywood

[benoit-3 · 10/10 · 23 March 2002]

10. The script

Uncredited as a scriptwriter is novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. His love scenes are extremely elaborate and exquisitely structured. They also introduce innovations that have since become clichés and the hallmark of 'women pictures' everywhere.

9. The actors

Barrymore is unforgettable as the regally cranky Louis XV. Morley gives one of his best interpretations. Schildkraut plays the best two-faced villain of his entire body of work. As for Power... remember the anecdote about the reporter asking romance-writer Barbara Cartland (Lady Di's stepmother) how she could possibly have written so many romance novels before she was even married and while she was still a virgin? Her answer was: 'Oh! We didn't have sex in those days. We had Tyrone Power.'

8. The director

Van Dyke was an expert at handling large crowds and acts of God. His directing style was a compromise between time-efficiency and giving the stars leeway as long as they respected the general style of the piece. This 'honour system' seems to have encouraged the actors to do their homework and present a credible, coherent performance every time. He also got an assist here from uncredited French genius Julien Duvivier.

7. Artistic direction

What can you say about a period film that tackled the challenge of recreating Versailles in the XVIIIth century on the MGM back lot? The production values are staggering. The Gallery of Mirrors is actually longer, higher and wider than the original. The costumes tread a fine line between historical accuracy (covered shoulders and revealed cleavage) and the requirements of the movie code (exposed shoulders were tolerated but bosoms had to be covered) but still manage to convey the era and the fairy-tale quality of Marie's court. The costumes were also specially constructed to shine, glitter and shimmer on black and white film.

6. Historical accuracy

The film's script is based (in part) on Stefan Zweig's groundbreaking biography of the Queen, "Marie Antoinette, Portrait of an Ordinary Woman", which tried to create the first accurate, adult, factual but Freudian-inspired narrative of the Queen's life by using documents and correspondence that had long been overlooked or suppressed. The book was the first to reveal Louis XVI's mechanical sexual problems, which prevented his consummating the marriage during its first seven years (until a slight surgical intervention) and explained in turn the Queen's extravagant spendthrift personality, in Freudian terms, as extreme sexual frustration. This story actually makes it to the screen in a large degree. Compare this to recent biopics like "A Beautiful Mind", whose scriptwriters conveniently 'forget' essential but non-mainstream plot elements like the fact that John Nash's paranoia may have been caused or amplified by the McCarthy era persecution of homosexuals. Some historical events have been telescoped into one another in order to accommodate the general American public's limited understanding of French history and the Orléans character was used to maintain tension by representing the turncoat part of the nobility which exploited MA for their own various agendas.

5. The music

Herbert Stothart may not be a household word but he did win an Oscar for his original score to "The Wizard of Oz", based, of course in part on Harold Arlen's melodies. Besides giving Miss Gulch/the Wicked Witch her immortal theme, he is also one half of the composing team that produced the operetta "Rose Marie". Stothart shines in two respects: the approximate recreation of XVIIIth century dance music in the court scenes, emphasizing the bored grandeur of the proceedings, and the psychological music that accompanies everything from exciting chase scenes to the love scenes between Shearer and Tyrone. Note especially the use of the harpsichord in a rupture scene between Orléans and MA and the use of the viola d'amour in the garden love scene.

4. The cinematography

MA is in 'glorious black and white', but especially in the escape to Varennes sequence which has the most credible - and suspenseful - 'day for night' sequence ever filmed. The marriage scene may have inspired Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. Also notable are the matte paintings, the overwhelming use of cranes to move in on particular characters in a crowd scene and the chiaroscuro of the last meeting with Fersen.

3. Detail and scope

Every scene has something special added to it in characterization, movement, rhythm, lighting, art direction, choreography (and not just in the dance scenes). The costumes could have starred in a picture by themselves.

2. The lost art of story-telling

This film was planned with intelligence and skill and was built around the principle stated by Selznick when filming GWTW: 'The secret of adapting a book to the screen is to give the impression that you are adapting a book to the screen.' Which means that many literary devices are used to give the story many interesting arcs and recurring themes. The story is well balanced in terms of spectacular action, recreation of important historical events (giving the impression of the passage of time) and intimate scenes. It is truly 'the intimate epic' that Mankiewicz's 'Cleopatra' was supposed to be. Need I add I am really dreading the Sofia Coppola version...

1. Norma Shearer

Norma Shearer is an unjustly forgotten star of the first magnitude. MA is permanent testament to her uncanny abilities. In this film she portrays the main character from the age of sixteen to her death as a prematurely aged and debilitated woman of 38, all with perfect verisimilitude, thanks to her magnificent vocal instrument and stage presence. As a fairy-queen, she makes Cate Blanchett as Galadriel (in LOTR) look like Carol Burnett's charwoman. Her virtuosity as the fated widowed Queen is all the more poignant when one realizes that at the time she was Thalberg's widow in her last husband-approved venture and that the Hollywood suits were rapidly closing in on her.

She never even says, "Let them eat cake"

[marcslope · 6/10 · 29 August 2005]

The dauphine-turned-queen of France is not a self-centered spendthrift aristocrat in this MGM retelling -- no, we can't have an unlikable Norma Shearer -- but a Woman of the People who was misunderstood and framed, and whose goodwill and largess extended even to the starving rabble who sent her to the guillotine. Lord knows it looks like a zillion dollars, with sumptuous Adrian gowns (the best of his career, he felt) in every corner of the frame and D.W. Griffith-sized sets, and with some good supporting vignettes by the likes of John Barrymore and Gladys George. Ty Power at his handsomest effectively underplays amid all the tumult and beheadings, and a young Robert Morley is an affecting Louis XVI. As for Norma, she's diligent, varied, and even touching in the closing third, but fatally movie-starrish; you know she'd rather go to the guillotine than ever look ridiculous or lose audience sympathy. It's a capable movie star performance in a Hollywood spectacle that has more integrity than most of its era. But she plays everything on the top, and her subtext always seems to be, "Where's my key light?"

absolutely adored it - and Adrian worked overtime

[blanche-2 · 9/10 · 10 September 2005]

Adrian went all out for this lavish, gorgeous production of "Marie Antoinette" starring Norma Shearer, who is never more beautiful or glamorous than in this epic biography. This Marie is quite the heroine, a woman of the people, generous to a fault, and never says, "Let them eat cake," and would only have said it in reference to her children. History tells us that Marie's downfall was really the "Affair of the Necklace," and she was no different from other aristocrats in being totally out of touch with what was going on with the French people.

This film is jaw dropping in its splendor. Adrian's costumes are totally magnificent, as are the palace settings. Tyrone Power is drop-dead gorgeous as Marie's Swedish lover, who comes to her aid in her time of need. Power was the inspiration for Barbara Cartland to say, when asked how she could write so convincingly about sex while she was a still a virgin, "We didn't need sex. We had Tyrone Power." The rest of the cast is fantastic, including Robert Morley, John Barrymore, Joseph Schildkraut, and Gladys George. As for Norma, she does a great job, giving a vivid, if movie star, performance in one of her last films. The last scenes are very touching and beautifully done.

I had no expectations for this film and as a rule am not crazy about period pieces, but this one swept me away. It does follow history quite closely - for those who commented that the Tyrone Power character was fictional, he was not, and he did try to help her.

Don't miss this one.

**A funny Marie Antionette anecdote: The studio wanted Shearer to use their contract star, Robert Taylor, but Shearer got a look at Power at a dinner, invited him to be part of the film, and got her way. During their first kiss, she held on so long the kiss had to be edited down. Power apparently did not return her affections. She became angry. At a photo shoot, she appeared with gigantic plumes that hid him as he posed behind her and the plumes shot up. The photographer gave Power a box to stand on. As the photographer activated the flash, Power crashed through the box and hit the floor. Though he escorted Shearer to the premier, he snuck out to see his soon to be wife, Annabella.

A sympathetic Marie Antoinette

[MartianOctocretr5 · 7/10 · 23 October 2006]

A wonderfully done historical biography of the Austrian girl who eventually became the ill-fated queen of France during the French Revolution. Elegant, lavish production that spares no expense in flamboyant period costumes and majestic sets.

Norma Shearer is magnificent in her portrayal of Marie from age 14, when she was betrothed to the future Louis XVI, through their awkward marriage, and the years of their monarchy, culminating with their tragic destiny. Shearer's Marie is a sympathetic character, a victim of her circumstances. She is not the self-indulgent Marie with a taste for extravagance, and a patronizing attitude towards the people. She doesn't utter the phrase often attributed to her, "Let them eat cake." Instead, she is the victim of Court politics and intrigue designed to falsely implicate her as an insensitive, distant, and selfish monster.

Robert Morley is perfect in his role as the inept king who ascends to the throne at an early age, and probably lacked the smarts and the intestinal fortitude to perform the duties of a monarch no matter what age he had become king. Even though history paints him as inept and weak, the movie gives a heart to this unfortunate man (as it does for Marie) that evokes compassion and understanding. Although Marie's lover only existed in the tongue of gossip, the sequences with Tyrone Power added a passionate romantic flavor to the story, a definite plus with its dramatic contrast to the understated Marie/Louis relationship.

The story of the downfall of these two is intelligently and logically constructed with a fine script, an enthusiastic cast that all shine in their roles, and an uncommonly well scripted dramatization. Avoid the ridiculous new version with its out of place '80's music and woefully anachronistic depiction of the French queen as a partying Valley girl. See this version instead.

Norma at her best!

[Monica4937 · 10/10 · 5 June 2005]

I was delighted to see this at the rental store because I absolutely adore Norma Shearer and had yet to see this piece of work. Overall it was very nice, with extravagant costumes (This must have been high up on Liberace's top 100 list), good acting, and fantastic directing. The only thing I have a major problem with is the fact that the director tried to cram in too much of her life into the span of only 2 and a half hours. You first start the movie with Marie Antoinette finding out she is to be married to Louis the XVI, then during the film so much goes on that you sort of have a hard time keeping up with how much time has past in her life, until finally you get to the crucial part in the film where her and her husband are to be executed. I don't know much about her life so I honestly have no idea how much they left out, but as a regular film watcher, I found this piece to be just wonderful. Norma Shearer did such a great job near the end, when she was about to be beheaded. When Count Axel de Fersen comes down the stairs into her dungeon to bid her a final fairwell, you really get the feeling that she is just completely drained with all emotion by the simple look in her eyes. I must admit to shedding some tears during that scene. Another highly recommended film. 8/10

Don't Start the Revolution without Marie

[wes-connors · 7/10 · 18 December 2007]

Indulgent MGM version of the life of "Marie Antoinette", as portrayed by Norma Shearer. The production is very beautiful looking, and well-performed. It is, however, excruciatingly long, and is without enough story embellishment to sustain interest; an even more fictionalized account might have been a wiser course of action. Ms. Shearer must be credited with crafting an vivid character; it's difficult, however, to feel much sympathy for her predicament, in this presentation. Robert Morley (as Louis XVI) elicits more sympathy, due to an almost oafish, but sensitive, portrayal; he is impressive, in his first feature film. John Barrymore (as Louis XV) and Gladys George (as du Barry) are among those delivering expert support. Particularly recommended for viewers with a longer life span than Marie Antoinette.

******* Marie Antoinette (7/8/38) W.S. Van Dyke ~ Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power, Robert Morley, John Barrymore

Simply Great

[Mukanil · 10/10 · 16 November 2005]

I just saw this on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), and from now on, Norma Shearer is the face I will put on Marie Antoinette. Such great acting from such a beautiful woman who truly embodied the role.

These days, it seems that every big movie has to have some cursing, nudity, sexual references of every kind or strong violence, but this old film is better than many of the latest, and it's in black and white, no nudity, or anything else that we have come to expect from movies.

For instance, if this film were made today, we would expect to see the beheading. This film doesn't show it, so it doesn't leave you with the shock or awe of seeing a beheading, but it does leave the cruelty of the situation which is much more enduring and meaningful to the tragedy.

Whether this is historically accurate wasn't a concern with me since all I really remembered from school was that she was beheaded, so this shouldn't be a spoiler. But the story was engrossing and very enjoyable regardless of whether it was historically accurate. Indeed, if anything, it may inspire personal research as to what Marie Antoinette was really like.

Full stars because this film truly is an excellent film and should be watched. I'm really liking some of these old great movies for some of the reasons already stated. Take away color, special effects, gratuitous violence and nudity, and you're pretty much left with having to make a movie with great photography, acting, and writing. Take the cream of that crop, and you're pretty much guaranteed an enjoyable experience.

Forgive me, I just recently became willing to pay for cable TV, and I'm really starting to dig these classics that I would probably never have seen otherwise. It's like finding hidden treasure in a way!

"Marie Antoinette"-1938

[francescof86 · 7/10 · 18 February 2013]

The 1938 version of the story of the ill-fated queen of France boasts amazing aspects and not so good aspects as well. However,we must bear in mind that the film is loosely based on Stefan Zweig portrayal and that in 1938 every single reference that might be perceived as inappropriate had to be removed for the public decency. The good: -Norma Shearer as Marie Antoinette is simply perfect in every detail. It's a towering performance from one of the most talented actresses in old Hollywood, almost a tribute to Marie Antoinette. Without Shearer the film would have been almost unbearable to watch and we can clearly say that she carries on her shoulder the entire picture. - The film manages effortlessly to show the rise and fall of M.A. and the sudden change of her fortune from the opulent splendour of the court of Versailles to the frightening days of the French Revolution and how the revolutionaries were cruel with M.A.,depriving her of her only living son. That scene is one of the most moving scene ever put on a film. The not so good: - The script is somewhat full of holes. We never understand why and when M.A. changes from spoilt queen to devoted mother and courage woman. There's no explanation of her actions and many facts of her life are completely invented such as the issue of how the rivalry between M.A. and Du Barry turned, the supposed isolation decided by the King Louis XV and Du Barry for M.A. and the Douphin Louis, the decision of Louis XV to banish M.A. and abolish the marriage of M.A. and Louis because she mistreated his mistress, how the affair of the necklace began and evolved. Such are the most significant changes from the actual events. - The relationship between Fersen and M.A. is blown out of proportion, although for cinematic purpose. - The role of the Duke of Orleans is too forced since he never was in such intimacy with the Queen(for example in one beautiful scene they passionately kissed each other). The bad: - The dialogues are almost entirely inconceivable for the rigid etiquette of the french court and the hierarchy between the King and his relatives. Instead we see M.A. and Louis addressing to Louis XV with no reverence or submission. So is Du Barry who speaks to M.A. as she is nothing but a mere courtesan and with no tact and M.A. ,in the most awkward scene of the film, publicly speaks about her humble beginnings in front of the King and the court. - The supporting cast -exept Tyrone Power and John Barrymore- varies from useless to terribly miscast or perhaps bad conceived such as Robert Morley's King Louis XVI as a totally imbecile which is quite annoying.

Morley almost redeems it...but not quite.

[MOscarbradley · 3/10 · 7 August 2018]

You know you're in for an epic and one of M.G.M's most opulent productions when you begin with an overture, (it even precedes the lion's roar), and before you have time to say The Palace of Versailles, a thousand extras are flooding the screen and a teenage Marie Antoinette, (played by the 36 year old Norma Shearer), is being wed to Robert Morley's Dauphin. The fact that Shearer gets away with it shows what a good actress she could be and the fact that Robert Morley holds his own against the assembled company shows what a better actor he was.

Unfortunately Miss Shearer was only good up to a point. She seemed to have two acting styles, 'giddy and gay' (in the old fashioned sense of the word) and 'tremulous and tragic' and she was slightly better at giddy and gay. As the film progresses, and she's apt to lose her head, she reverts to the kind of acting that went out of fashion around 1910. As for the film itself, it's pretty terrible. It may have been expensive and gorgeously designed but it's badly written and the director, W.S. Van Dyke, seems to have forgotten when to say 'cut'. Scenes go on and on long after they have made their point and an otherwise decent cast is wasted.

A somewhat dashing Tyrone Power may be cast as the romantic lead but he's hardly in the picture. John Barrymore, who plays the old king, must have been strapped for cash; Gladys George as his mistress, Mme Du Barry, is lively if out of place. The previous year's Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actor, Joseph Schildkraut makes an excellent foppish villain, mincing around as if he should be Queen in the early part of the film before scrubbing off his make-up so he can blend in with the mob, (rough trade, all), later on. Worst of all, that appalling child actor Scotty Beckett is cast as Shearer's son, the young Dauphin. I kept praying Mademoiselle Guillotine would fall on his little neck from the outset.

As for historical accuracy, let's just say the main facts of the case are there in school-book fashion. I don't recall hearing Marie say 'Let them eat cake' at any point but then with Shearer in the role she had to be made to look as sympathetic as possible. In the end it's Morley's picture; he gives it a touch of class all the fancy sets and costumes never could and he should have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1938.

One of the best and most sumptuous film biographies of all time.

[brisky · 14 April 1999]

This film boasts a number of wonderful performances and is a great example of film acting in the thirties and the power of the studios. Robert Morley steals the show as Louis XVI, but equally fine are John Barrymore as the dying Louis XV, Gladys George as Madame du Barry, Joseph Schildkraut as the Duke of Orleans and a whole slew of wonderful character actors who enlivened even the smallest role. Norma Shearer admirably tackles the nearly impossible task of portraying the life of Marie Antoinette from a young girl to a broken woman on her way to the guillotine. In the style of the time, the film has a tendency toward histrionics but for the viewer with patience the overall effect is fascinating. Of special interest to students of art direction. The sets and costumes are incredible.

A rewrite of history

[richard-1787 · 6/10 · 28 April 2013]

This movie is more interesting to watch if you have a decent knowledge of the history that is being changed by it. I don't think I have ever seen such a sympathetic portrait of the French queen. She is truly presented as without flaw, a wonderful, warm woman. This makes her end truly difficult to bear, especially given the highly emotional final scenes of the movie. When they take her son from her, it is hard to hold back the tears.

The truth, of course, was otherwise. This is, therefore, a whitewashing of the historical Marie Antoinette, and it is worth asking why.

In part, it seems to be a conservative's rewrite of history. The revolutionaries are portrayed as uniformly bad, so this is a condemnation of revolution and a positive presentation of absolute monarchy. MGM had done the same sort of thing just a few years before with the much better A Tale of Two Cities, which also centers on the French Revolution.

I suspect MA is also whitewashed so that Norma Shearer would have a sympathetic character to portray. That backfires, though, at least from hindsight. A good actress could do more with a complex character who has merits but also flaws. Here, MA is less difficult to portray, and comes off as less interesting than, say, Shearer's portrayals in "The Women" or some of her other better-remembered movies. She may not have been the greatest of actresses, but she would have been more interesting, and more memorable, if the character had not been written in such a one-dimensional fashion.

There are lots of lavish ballroom scenes, lots of magnificent costumes, by Adrian. If you like that, you will love this movie. It's just a shame that the characters so beautifully costumed don't come off as more interesting, especially given the exceptional length of this movie.

The MGM Queen Plays France's Fallen Queen

[nycritic · 8/10 · 18 February 2006]

At the time, only MGM could bring forth this overproduced, lavish drama detailing the rise and fall of Marie Antoinette and her husband Louis XVI of France. Their preference for elaborate sets and ornate costumes made this story a natural for the studio to give it all their best and bring that dazzling, rococo period to life. The casting of Norma Shearer in the title role -- one of the perks of being married to Irving Thalberg who had had this movie in production for more than a year before its release in 1938 and was in many ways the person above Louie B. Mayer -- is a bit of an irony since she at the time was considered the Queen of MGM, now its Widow, at the height and end of her acting career. Never allowing her Adrian costumes to out-wear her, her rendition of Marie-Antoinette is moving, convincing as a girl about to be married, who evolves into a woman aware of her position as Queen of France but is a little out-of-touch, and who later becomes one of the many victims who lost their heads under the guillotine's deadly blade. One of her finer performances, she was Oscar nominated but lost to Bette Davis who won for JEZEBEL. Robert Morley, a character actor who made his film debut in MARIE ANTOINETTE and went on to appear in many films until the 80s, is also dead-on as the awkward Louis XVI and was also nominated for his supporting role but lost to Walter Brennan for KENTUCKY.

With wealth comes opulence and hatred.

[michaelRokeefe · 7/10 · 6 January 2007]

M-G-M's overstuffed costume drama traces Marie Antoinette's(Norma Shearer)life from Austrian princess, marriage, motherhood, Queen of France and her beheading. The arranged marriage to Louis XVI(Robert Morley), the Dauphin of France, brought about estrangement and hatred from the French populace and eventually a spark for the Revolution. M-G-M borrowed Tyrone Power from 20th Century Fox to play the Swedish Count Axel de Fersen, who entered a romantic dalliance with Marie. The cast was over loaded with star-power: John Barrymore, Anita Louise, Reginald Gardner, Gladys George, Joseph Schildkraut, Henry Stephenson, Albert Dekker and George Meeker. The 2 hr and 40 minute run time is well spent.

Surprisingly well-acted and crafted

[HotToastyRag · 8/10 · 9 May 2019]

Here at The Rag, we've learned our lesson: No matter what, give a movie a chance. Just give a movie ten minutes, and if you still hate it as much as you thought you would, feel free to turn it off. If the movie stars an actress you despise, contains a supporting cast you don't normally like, and centers on a subject of which you have no interest, you just might find yourself riveted and impressed. What movie made us learn our lesson? Marie Antoinette, starring Norma Shearer, someone whose movies we'd previously avoided.

The first fifteen minutes of this movie are incredible. Adrian's costumes belong in a museum, as gown after gown after gown are breathtaking, and surprisingly did not bring home an Oscar for the remarkable designer. The Academy Awards didn't have an Oscar for costume design until 1948, which, when you think of all the incredible costumes present in the 1930s and 1940s, is shocking. The art direction, while awarded with a nomination, was passed over in favor of The Adventures of Robin Hood. The incredible sets laden with paintings, chandeliers, rugs, beautiful dishes, jewels, ballroom decorations, draperies, bedroom pieces, and other furniture, was passed over for a forest. When you watch this movie, you'll realize how silly that is. Another silliness is the lack of nominations for Best Picture and Best Director for W.S. Van Dyke. This is a large-scale, expensive, lush epic, and it's ridiculous to look back at Frank Capra's wins for You Can't Take It With You when Marie Antoinette wasn't even nominated.

This heavy epic chronicles Marie's time from age fourteen until her death. Norma Shearer is given an enormous amount to do, and she does it very well. She has to be giddy and young, excited for her marriage, disappointed, afraid, frivolous, betrayed, in love, a mother, and finally, destroyed. As a young girl, she gets betrothed to the soon-to-be King of France, and her wedding night with Robert Morley is an especially emotional scene. They both give excellent performances, and since I normally can't stand either, it's quite a compliment from me. Robert is simple and an introvert who doesn't want to expose himself to potential ridicule, and Norma just wants to be a good wife. When she realizes her marriage will be different than promised, she turns to material pleasures and surface relationships to make her happy.

With a supporting cast of Joseph Schildkraut as an enormously slimy villain, Gladys George as the famous du Barry, John Barrymore as an ailing king, Tyrone Power as the pretty but poorly acted love interest, and Henry Stephenson as a sympathetic ear, there are plenty of varied scenes in this long movie to keep you interested. As one of the earliest films to have an intermission, overture, and entr'acte, this takes a bit of the epic factor out of the following year's Gone With the Wind, which boasted of being the grandest epic of all time. Marie Antoinette is one of the great classics that is dramatic without being grotesque and manages to win you over even if you don't expect to be. Well done, Norma.

A Bit of a Dirigible

[ducdebrabant · 7/10 · 31 May 2006]

Shearer's all right, but I'll always wonder if Marion Davies, who was dying to play the part, might not have been better. Davies had it tough at this point getting good scripts, but she was a natural for Marie. Her talent has been underrated. The movie definitely has its moments, but there are problems. The opulence is so unrelenting that it's actually rather numbing. Shearer is supposed to be attracted to Joseph Schildkraut, but with his painted face and lipstick and funny eyebrows it's hard to believe it. Power has never looked better, but he's a bit flat in a role that lacks dimension anyway. Daryl Zanuck (Power was under contract to Fox) was apparently so appalled that he vowed never to lend him out again. John Barrymore is a welcome addition, but what a bizarre decision to make Madame DuBarry (Gladys George) merely a vulgar and aged (George was supposedly 38, but seems older) roadhouse "ho"! DuBarry had too much competition at Versailles not to make a better appearance than that. Crass she may have been, but come on! I'm afraid they stacked the deck, as usual, to make Shearer shine, but she'd have shone more with a worthier adversary -- not necessarily the Dolores Del Rio of the marvelous "Madame DuBarry," but at least an Ona Munson type. I'm afraid Woody Van Dyke was a little journeyman-like in his direction. Probably his heart wasn't in it. The strain of such an "important" production seems to have sapped his flair and sense of play. That said, Shearer works hard (too visibly so, much of the time) and a lot of it pays off.

An elaborate costume masterpiece...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 9/10 · 20 February 2000]

The Austrian archduchess Marie Antoinette (Norma Shearer) is seen being married off by her mother Maria Theresa (Alma Kruger), the Empress of Austria, to the immature dauphin Louis (Robert Morley) grandson of France's king Louis XV (John Barrymore).

She is soon disillusioned at her first meeting with the timid, uninspiring Louis who proves to be an inattentive husband, frigid in his relations with his young beautiful wife... Louis lacks self-confidence and is completely dominated by his grandfather, King Louis XV... He also is ridiculed by his cunning cousin, the Duke of Orléans (Joseph Schildkraut) and the king's mistress, Madame Du Barry (Gladys George).

On her wedding night, Marie Antoinette is left confused and tearful by Louis, who admits he is incapable of being a husband... She soon becomes a hopeless forsaken figure at Versailles...

Denied the love of a husband and the counsel of trusted friends, Marie Antoinette becomes a pawn in the hands of the dishonest Duke of Orléans - cousin of Louis - who plays her against Du Barry: "Conquer Paris", he said, "and you will conquer Madame Du Barry."

Left into the companionship of a small circle of frivolous court favorites, Marie Antoinette becomes the most lavishly dressed woman in France, losing fortunes at the gambling tables... There she meets a Swedish nobleman with whom she falls in love, the attractive Count Axel de Fersen (Tyrone Power).

When the alliance with Austria is threatened, Marie Antoinette is persuaded by Count de Mercey (Henry Stephenson), her mother's clever ambassador, to give a ball at which she can in public recognize Madame Du Barry... Instead, her insulting manner toward the mistress of the king enrages Louis XV who informs her that he is annulling her marriage and he is sending her back to Austria...

Marie Antoinette goes to the Count de Mercey for help, where she meets there Axel de Fersen who reaffirm his love for her...

The sudden death of Louis XV places her husband on the throne and Marie Antoinette finds herself Queen of France... Fersen, realizing that he could not dare to love a queen, leaves her that night and sails for America...

Marie Antoinette, determined to become a good queen bears a son and a daughter... The king (a loving father) had not sufficient strength of character or power of decision to combat the influence of court factions...

Marie Antoinette's close associations with the more dissipated members of the court aristocracy prompted her enemies to circulate false and insulting reports of her alleged extramarital affairs... These vilifications culminated in the 'Affair of Diamond Necklace' in which the queen was unjustly accused...

Duke of Orléans plots against the throne and becomes a leader in the Revolution... As a result, Marie Antoinette becomes the main target of the popular agitators, and the royal family hostages of the Revolutionary movement...

Count Fersen, hearing of Marie Antoinette's danger, goes to her and arranges an escape from Paris...

Norma Shearer, billed by M.G.M as "The First Lady of the Screen" receives her sixth Oscar nomination for her performance... She plays with dignity the title role of Marie Antoinette, the unfortunate French queen sank to the deepness of cell, tumbrel and guillotine...

Tyrone Power is convincing as the Swedish nobleman who gave the ill-fated monarch romantic surcease...

Robert Morley makes a memorable film debut, playing the feeble-minded Louis XVI - a role that earned him an Academy Award nomination...

John Barrymore plays King Louis XV and in flashing traces of his old sardonic glee, he says: "The state will last my time. After me the deluge!"

Norma Shearer "come-back" picture, is an elaborate costume masterpiece, glamorized in satin wardrobes, elaborate costumes, elegant huge sets... It traces the life of the Austrian princess who becomes queen of France covering her romantic attachment for the Swedish Count Axel de Fersen...

Norma Shearer is a delight to watch, even in the role of a disenchanted, ill-fated, and despicable queen.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 6/10 · 21 February 2023]

Marie Antoinette (1938) : Brief Review -

Norma Shearer is a delight to watch, even in the role of a disenchanted, ill-fated, and despicable queen. The man behind "The Thin Man" and "The Prisoner Of Zenda" (uncredited), W. S. Van Dyke, took on Marie Antoinette's biography and almost did it justice. Actually, the life of Antoinette wasn't fair enough to make a good storyline for a feature film, so I wouldn't dare blame Dyke for that. He has made so many films in his career but hardly few of them are recognised and The Thin Man series is on top, even though, my personal favourite of his is "I Love You Again" (1940), that's of course, besides The Prisoner Of Zenda. So I wasn't expecting much from Marie Antoinette, but somewhere in the beginning, it felt good and increased my expectations. However, my expectations were quickly brought down in the next two hours. The film starts off with a young and exciting Maria Antonia, who is eager to get married and has so many dreams. She is on cloud nine when she learns that she is to be queen of France. Here, you see an enchanting girl who seems pretty smart too. But soon after her marriage and disappointing husband, she becomes ill-fated, greedy, and despicable. She is loyal to her husband but still loves another man while having one more platonic affair with a cousin. Some queen, wasn't she? Her husband couldn't produce kids, but I don't know what happens later-that they bear a daughter and a son and live a quite happy married life too (dare you, she still loves the Austrian inside of her heart). After you are done with all these uninteresting and dumb affairs, there is a big fuss over the necklace. I can't believe that people back then were so dumb and illiterate. The intelligent quota (IQ) developed better in the 20th century, I assume. I don't know what others have liked about this film, but I just can't accept a cockeyed King and Queen's stories when there are so many other inspiring tales to cherish.

RATING - 6/10*

By - #samthebestest.

"They don't make them this way anymore!"

[willyboy_ky · 8/10 · 19 July 2000]

Often said, and, for better or for worse, just as often true: "Marie Antoinette" is one of THE definitive examples of an MGM prestige picture, 1930s style. Years in planning and preproduction, "Marie Antoinette" was Norma Shearer's first film after Irving Thalberg's death: little expense was spared in making the "First Lady of MGM"'s return to the screen a royal one in every sense.

Technically superb, the film suffers from erratic pacing and a patchwork script. But the supporting cast alone almost compensates for these deficiencies: Robert Morley side-stepping caricature to make Louis XVI touchingly human; John Barrymore and Gladys George contributing brilliant, razor-sharp vignettes as Louis XV and Madame du Barry (indeed, the confrontation between Marie Antoinette and du Barry is one of the film's highlights); and Joseph Schildkraut redefining the term "oily" as the scheming Duke of Orleans. Only Tyrone Power (borrowed from 20th Century-Fox) comes off less well; this, perhaps is due more to an ill-conceived role in the script than to a lack of acting ability as such.

But it is, first and foremost, Shearer's film and she is superb. From the young, light-hearted Austrian Archduchess to the fun-loving, lightheaded Queen to the prematurely aged but proud and defiant widow on her way to the guillotine, Shearer is in full command, giving a splendid display of her artistry (including, in the prison scenes, an outstanding example of silent film technique): it is her finest mature dramatic performance.

Carps, quibbles, and differences of opinion? Yes, every film lover has them, if only out of love for the medium or a specific film. But after viewing a film such as "Marie Antoinette," it can with utmost conviction be stated, "They DON'T make them that way anymore."

Shearer and Morley are great!

[hemisphere65-1 · 7/10 · 22 June 2021]

A little tough to watch because of the melodramatic flair, but well done. Costumes and sets are fantastic, but the dialogue is sometimes stilted. Good movie.

Tumbrils Amid the Soap.

[rmax304823 · 3/10 · 23 April 2008]

One hundred and fifty-seven minutes of lavish romance, intrigue, and politics, dished up by MGM's superb spectacle factory. There's an "entre act" and everything.

The problem, for me anyway, is that the thing is so exquisitely dull. The first half -- before the entre act, that is -- is a kind of late 18th-century soap opera. Norma Shearer is the young Austrian bride of the future king of France, Louis XVI, played by Robert Morley as impotent and inept but not unkind. When Shearer learns of this arranged marriage, she positively kvells. "Oh, just think of it! I'll be the Queen of France!" Things don't turn out all that well for her, though. (Do they ever, in these genre movies?) She's resented as a foreigner and barbarian at the French court, especially by the waspish Madame DuBarry, the consort of Morley's grandfather, the current king. Such gossip you never heard. And then there's Morley's apparent indifference to her. ("I like to be alone.") What's a girl to do? She drowns her sorrows in wine and flings with lovers in seriatim. This is nice work, if you can get it. You get to indulge yourself in every sensory modality known to man or beast -- AND you get the sympathy of the audience too, because they know you're just being flighty out of a desperate loneliness.

The second half turns a little darker, but then, as they say, it's always darkest just before it turns completely black. By this time Morley has come around enough to give Shearer two children, from whom she is of course eventually separated, giving the audience a reason for still more tears. Let's see. I checked the spoiler box so I guess I can give away the ending: Marie Antoinette gets her head lopped off.

Kids, I hope I didn't ruin it for you but, see, this is the French Revolution and revolutionaries tend not to be very kind. All through history, it seems that some merciless dictator, like a king, mistreats his subjects until they depose him. Then they show that, unlike him, they are full of New-Testatment-mercy by slaughtering the deposed ruler, his family, and anybody who was ever associated with him. (Fidel Castro worked his way down to mailmen.) At that, the peasants are treated in this movie with the contempt the writers think they deserve. What an uncouth bunch! Shearer explains the unrest to her children this way: We didn't do anything, but they're ignorant and unhappy and must take it out on somebody. In this movie, nobody ever says "Let 'em eat cake." Most of the cast overact, but this is understandable because it's common to the period. I don't know what "charisma" is supposed to mean these days. It was originally used to describe the quality of someone who was blessed by God and exuded a magnetism that was religious in its properties. Now, the word is slung around loosely to describe rock stars. Whatever it is, and however it's measured, I don't think Norma Shearer has any. Joseph Schildkraut, effete and painted like a mannequin, gives the best performance. Robert Morley seems to have only one note on his instrument. In a relatively minor role as Shearer's one true love, Tyrone Power has a part that is familiar to devotees of these kinds of movies. The woman is haunted by demons, surrounded by knaves, impostors, ninnies, and exploiters -- and this is the only man who will return from time to time to rescue her from some folly or to reassure her with his understanding and candor. (Cf., Paul Newman in "I'll Cry Tomorrow" or Sam Shepherd in "Frances".) This must have been an eye opener in 1938. Today it seems stale and bound by conventions common to genre films. Anyone who wants a more balanced and adult point of view should see Ronald Coleman in "A Tale of Two Cities." It would be a far, far better thing to do. It will jerk almost as many tears but it will challenge you too.