''The Devil Is a Woman'' is a 1935 American
romance film
Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...
directed and photographed by
Josef von Sternberg, adapted from the 1898 novel ''
La Femme et le pantin'' by
Pierre Louÿs. The film was based on a screenplay by
John Dos Passos
John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his ''U.S.A.'' trilogy.
Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a young man, visit ...
, and stars
Marlene Dietrich,
Lionel Atwill
Lionel Alfred William Atwill (1 March 1885 – 22 April 1946) was an English stage and screen actor. He began his acting career at the Garrick Theatre. After coming to the U.S., he subsequently appeared in various Broadway plays and Hollywood f ...
,
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor and activist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years.
His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in c ...
,
Edward Everett Horton, and
Alison Skipworth. The movie is the last of the six Sternberg-Dietrich collaborations for
Paramount Pictures.
Plot summary
During
Carnival in early-twentieth century Spain, the boulevards of
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
are jammed with revelers wearing grotesque costumes and masks. A detachment of
Civil Guards stagger among the masquerading merrymakers, bewildered by the "riotous disorder". A frenzied merriment prevails. Antonio Galvan, a young bourgeois revolutionary home from his exile in Paris to visit his parents, mixes with the crowds while evading the authorities pursuing him. He makes eye contact with the dazzling Concha, who is perched on a
float
Float may refer to:
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* ''Float'' (Aesop Rock album), 2000
* ''Float'' (Flogging Molly album), 2008
* ''Float'' (Styles P album), 2013
Songs
* "Float" (Tim and the Glory Boys song), 2022
* "Float", by Bush ...
in the parade. She flees into the crowd with Antonio in pursuit, and he is rewarded with a secret note inviting him to meet with her in person that evening.
Antonio has a chance encounter with a friend he has not seen in years, Don Pasqual, a middle-aged aristocrat and former Captain of the Civil Guard. The younger man, consumed with the image of the lovely Concha, asks the older gentleman what he knows of the mysterious girl. Don Pasqual solemnly relates, via a series of
flashbacks, the details of a fateful relationship he had with the young temptress, his tale the confession of a man in thrall to the devastating girl. He says Concha subjected him to ridicule and humiliation, manipulating Don Pasqual in the manner of a puppet master, and he could not help but submit. His public prestige and authority were ultimately shattered, and he resigned his commission in disgrace, after which, satisfied with her conquest, Concha flung him aside for a final time.
Don Pasqual says he has not seen Concha for several years, and assures Antonio that any desire he once felt for her is now utterly extinguished. He exhorts the young man to avoid any contact with the temptress, and Antonio vows to heed his warning, but he keeps his date with Concha. He intends to just tell her off and leave, but ends up going to a club with her. While they are there, a note is delivered to Concha from Don Pasqual that declares his undying love for her. She reads the confidential confession to Antonio, who is incensed that his friend misled him. He passionately kisses Concha at the same moment Don Pasqual bursts into their private room. Antonio accuses Don Pasqual of lying to avoid competition for Concha's affections and says he's acting like a fool. Don Pasqual slaps Antonio with a glove, calling him a coward when Antonio says he will forget the insult from his friend, and a duel is arranged. After demonstrating his expert marksmanship with a pistol, Don Pasqual departs. Concha pledges to accompany Antonio to Paris after the duel and Antonio writes farewell letters.
The suitors meet at a secluded location the following morning. Concha tells Don Pasqual that, if he ever loved her, he could not kill "the only man I ever cared for." When the duelists step to their positions, Don Pasqual does not even aim his pistol, something which is not noticed by Antonio until after he fires. Don Pasqual is gravely wounded by Antonio's bullet. The police, notified of the illegal combat, arrive and arrest the fugitive Antonio. Don Pasqual is taken to the hospital.
Concha turns her charms on Governor Paquito to secure Antonio's release from prison, and he somewhat grudgingly issues two passports so Concha and Antonio can escape to Paris. Before reuniting with Antonio, she visits Don Pasqual at the hospital to thank him for sparing Antonio's life. He says his actions were proof of his love for her, but rejects her thanks and refuses to forgive her, so she leaves. She and Antonio make their way to the French border and pass through customs without incident. When their train arrives, Antonio eagerly enters their carriage, but Concha hesitates and then informs the
station master that she is not boarding. The shocked Antonio calls to her from the window of the moving train, and she announces she has decided to rejoin Don Pasqual before reentering Spain.
Cast
*
Marlene Dietrich as Concha Pérez: A beautiful, piquant, and heartless factory girl who seduces and discards her lovers without remorse – an irresistible
femme fatale.
*
Lionel Atwill
Lionel Alfred William Atwill (1 March 1885 – 22 April 1946) was an English stage and screen actor. He began his acting career at the Garrick Theatre. After coming to the U.S., he subsequently appeared in various Broadway plays and Hollywood f ...
as Captain Don Pasqual Costelar: A middle-aged aristocrat and Captain of the Civil Guard. His conservative exterior conceals powerful salacious impulses.
*
Edward Everett Horton as Governor Don Paquito: The despotic commander of Seville's police force, who is responsible for maintaining order during the festivities. He is susceptible to the charms of attractive women.
*
Alison Skipworth as Señora Pérez: Concha's scheming mother.
*
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor and activist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years.
His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in c ...
as Antonio Galvan: A young bourgeois revolutionary, one step ahead of Seville's police. He is narcissistic, yet good-natured, and lucky with women.
*
Don Alvarado
Don Alvarado (born José Ray Paige, November 4, 1904 – March 31, 1967) was an American actor, assistant director and film production manager.
Life and career
Born Jose Paige in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Alvarado first studied agriculture on ...
as Morenito
*
Tempe Pigott
Tempe Pigott (2 February 1869 – 6 October 1962) was an Australian silent and sound screen character actress. She was a stage actress in England and Australia, Canada and the United States for a number of years before entering motion pictures.
...
as Tuerta
*
Luisa Espinel
Luisa Espinel (December 8, 1892 – February 2, 1963), born Luisa Ronstadt, was an American singer, dancer, and actress. She toured, taught, performed in vaudeville, and appeared in a movie with Marlene Dietrich.
Early life
Luisa Ronstadt was ...
as Gypsy Dancer (uncredited)
Production Notes
When Sternberg embarked upon filming ''The Devil Is a Woman'', Paramount was experiencing falling profits. His latest film, the lavishly produced ''
The Scarlet Empress
''The Scarlet Empress'' is a 1934 American historical drama film starring Marlene Dietrich and John Lodge about the life of Catherine the Great. It was directed and produced by Josef von Sternberg from a screenplay by Eleanor McGeary, loosely ba ...
'', had proved unpopular with the public. ''Devil'' was completed on February 6, 1935, premiered without fanfare in March, and released to general audiences in May. Incoming production manager
Ernst Lubitsch (who was replacing
Ben Schulberg) announced that Sternberg's contract with Paramount would not be renewed.
The original title proposed by Sternberg for the film was ''Caprice Espagnol'', a reference to Russian composer
Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestral suite
Capriccio Espagnol, of which several selections accompany the film. Lubitsch changed the title to ''The Devil Is a Woman''. Sternberg later remarked: "Though Mr. Lubitsch’s poetic intention to suggest altering the sex of the devil was meant to aid in selling the picture, it did not do so."
Approximately seventeen minutes of footage, including a musical number in which Dietrich sang "If It Isn't Pain (It Isn't Love)", was cut from the film, reducing the total running time to 79 minutes.
Presumed for a time to be a
lost film
A lost film is a feature
Feature may refer to:
Computing
* Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch
* Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob
* Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...
, a copy of the work was provided by Sternberg for a screening at the 1959
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
, and ''The Devil Is a Woman'' received a limited re-release in 1961.
Reception
On May 5, 1935, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' surprised the studio with a remarkably positive review, describing the film "as the best product of the Dietrich-Sternberg alliance since ''
The Blue Angel
''The Blue Angel'' (german: Der blaue Engel) is a 1930 German musical comedy-drama film directed by Josef von Sternberg, and starring Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings and Kurt Gerron. Written by Carl Zuckmayer, Karl Vollmöller and Rober ...
''."
''The Devil Is a Woman'' is the last of Sternberg's seven quasi-autobiographical films featuring his star and muse, Marlene Dietrich. A box-office failure, panned by most contemporary critics for its perceived "caviar aestheticism and loose morals", the film's highly sophisticated rendering of a conventional romantic conceit left most audiences confused or bored.
Censorship: Spain and US Department of State
Upon its release, the Spanish Embassy issued protests to the US government that led Paramount to withdrawal the film from circulation and destroy available prints. The
US Department of State also, with Spanish and American trade agreements in mind, pressured Paramount Pictures to stage a private burning of a "Master Print" of the film for the Spanish Ambassador in Washington D.C. This diplomatic action was widely reported in Europe, but surviving prints of ''The Devil Is a Woman'' continued to be screened at domestic and overseas theaters.
In October 1935, Spain formerly requested that Paramount cease international circulation of the film. A portion of the complaint cited a scene that showed "a Civil Guard drinking
lcoholin a public cafe", and depicting the national police as buffoons, who appeared "ineffectual in curbing the riotous carnival". Studio head
Adolph Zukor "agreed to suppress the film" and prints were recalled in November 1935. Sternberg's feature was marked as a ''film maudit'' (a cursed film) for many years. The movie was subsequently outlawed in
Francoist Spain
Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
.
Critical response
''The Devil Is a Woman'', in its "worldly attitude toward the follies of romantic infatuation" makes a mockery of Hollywood's standard plot devices that prevailed up to that time. Sternberg acknowledged that it was "my last and most unpopular of this series", but Dietrich herself cherished ''The Devil Is a Woman'' as her favorite collaboration with Sternberg.
Ostensibly a light romance, the story examines that fate of a self-respecting and urbane older gentleman who foolishly falls in love with a beautiful woman indifferent to his adoration – and suffers for his passion. Sternberg's "grisly" tale is also a precise, unadorned and "heartless parable of man’s eternal humiliation in the sex struggle." Dietrich, as a "devilish" and "devastating" Spanish ''joie de vivre'', brandishes her cruelty with the rejoinder "If you really loved me, you would have killed yourself". The horror and pathos of the Don Pasqual character is that of a man in thrall to a woman who has no intention of satisfying his desires, and who perversely "derives amusement from his own suffering."
Andre Sennwald Andre David Sennwald (August 4, 1907 — Jan 12, 1936) was a motion picture critic for ''The New York Times''.
Life
After graduating from Columbia University School of Journalism, Sennwald was hired as a reporter for ''The New York Times'' in 193 ...
, daily reviewer at ''The New York Times'' in 1935, defended Sternberg, calling the movie "one of the most sophisticated ever produced in America" and praising its "sly urbanity" and "the striking beauty of its settings and photography."
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
film curator Charles Silver regards ''The Devil Is a Woman'' as a veiled confessional of Sternberg's complex relationship with Dietrich. The leading male protagonists bear a striking physical resemblance to the director.
Sternberg leaves the interpretation of Dietrich's Concha a mystery: "One of the most beautifully realized enigmas in the history of cinema." Sternberg's attitude towards his male protagonists is less ambiguous. Both the pathetic old Don Pasqual and the virile young Antonio are regarded more with irony than sympathy: each are "symbols of the endless futility of passion...
ey are the last lovers Sternberg postulated for Dietrich’s screen incarnation and their absurdity only marks the death of desire."
Film critic
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism.
Early life
Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Katav ...
described ''The Devil Is a Woman'' as the "coldest" of Sternberg's films in its uncompromising, yet humorously cynical, appraisal of romantic self-deception. This, despite the film's "sumptuous surface". Silver remarks upon the film's "diamond-like hardness", where romanticism is trumped by "cynical introspection and fatalism".
On Dietrich's character, Concha Perez,
Cecelia Ager
Cecelia Ager ( Rubinstein; January 23, 1902 – April 3, 1981) was an American film critic and star reporter for ''Variety'' and the ''New York Times Magazine''.
Life and career
Ager was born Cecelia Rubenstein in Grass Valley, California, a mi ...
, film critic for ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', was "particularly lucid on the subject":
Sarris summed up the film this way: "Sternberg did not know it at the time, but his sun was setting, and it has never really risen again...Still, as a goodbye to Dietrich, ''The Devil Is Woman'' is a more gallant gesture to one's once beloved than
Orson Welles’ murderous adieu to
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...
in ''
The Lady From Shanghai
''The Lady from Shanghai'' is a 1947 American film noir directed by Orson Welles (uncredited) and starring Welles, his estranged wife Rita Hayworth, and Everett Sloane. It is based on the novel ''If I Die Before I Wake'' by Sherwood King.
Altho ...
''."
[Sarris, 1966. P. 42]
Awards and honors
The film won the Award for Best Cinematography at the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
in 1935.
References
Sources
*Malcolm, Derek. 2000. ''Josef von Sternberg: The Scarlet Empress'' in ''The Guardian'', May 25, 2000. Retrieved April 14, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2000/may/25/artsfeatures
*Sennwald, André. 1935. ''The Devil is A Woman'' in The New York Times, May 4, 1935. Reprinted in ''American Movie Critics: An Anthology From The Silents Until Now''. p. 85–86. Ed. Phillip Lopate. The Library of America. New York, New York.
*Sarris, Andrew. 1966. ''The Films of Josef von Sternberg''. Museum of Modern Art/Doubleday. New York City.
*Stafford, Jeff. 2018. ''The Devil is A Woman'' in Turner Movie Classics film review, May 17, 2017. Retrieved on April 14, 2017. http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/410471%7C87829/The-Devil-Is-a-Woman.html
*The Film Sufi: ''The Devil is a Woman'' by Josef von Sternberg (1935) in The Film Sufi, July 22, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2018.http://www.filmsufi.com/2015/07/the-devil-is-woman-josef-von-sternberg.html
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Devil is a Woman
1935 films
1930s historical romance films
1935 romantic drama films
American historical romance films
American romantic drama films
American black-and-white films
Films based on French novels
Romantic period films
Films set in Spain
Films set in the 19th century
Paramount Pictures films
Films directed by Josef von Sternberg
Films based on works by Pierre Louÿs
1930s English-language films
1930s American films