That Lady in Ermine

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01/02/2014 The 18th century duchy of Bergamo is in grave danger when it is taken over by a cold-hearted Hungarian Colonel. However, his plans for grandeur may be upset by a strange attraction for the portrait of 'The Lady in Ermine', that causes him to fall for her look-alike, Countess Angelina. The film is somewhat of an inconsistent mess, and the elements of the musical, period drama and romantic comedy do not gel. However, a big reason could have been Lubitsch's death eight days into the production. Fairbanks' performance may be the only thing worthy of note. See more 06/01/2013 The film tries too hard for the Lubitsch "touch" and only sometimes succeeds; includes the beautiful (and little known) Oscar-nominated "This Is the Moment." See more 12/28/2012 2 story weaved together with the expert hands of ernst lubitsch. See more 08/19/2011 "That Lady in Ermine" is certainly a nice looking movie, but as a musical ... well, it sucks. Countess Angelina (Grable) has just gotten married to Baron Mario (Romero), but their honeymoon is cut short when Colonel Teglash (Fairbanks Jr.) invades her castle. Angelina is forced to take charge of him and his powerful army, just like her ancestor Countess Francesca (also Grable) had to do hundreds of years back. Oddly enough, Teglash falls in love with the portrait of Francesca, and then he ends up falling for Angelina. But Francesca is in their dreams every night, and she advises Angelina to kill him ... "That Lady in Ermine" was Betty Grable's first colossal flop. Ever. She had made one hit after another from 1940-1948, and this made her career stop for a second. Luckily, the same year she made "When My Baby Smiles at Me" at that saved her, but if she hadn't, well ... I think this movie could have ended her career. This was director Ernst Lubitsch's last movie, and many people call it one of the worst "last movies" by a director ever. Always making very sharp and funny comedies, Lubistch has always been considered a masterful comedian. Since he died only a week into filming, the production was taking over by Otto Preminger, and you can almost tell when the Lubitsch touch stopped, because that's when the movie isn't that funny anymore. Though this movie tries to be a spoof, it ends up being a very try hard, unfunny failure of a movie, that big stars Betty Grable and Doug Fairbanks Jr. couldn't even save. Even with everything from the sets, costumes, and cinematography (Technicolor was very expensive in the '40's) lavishly done, this movie just isn't as good as it could be. "That Lady in Ermine" is not a good movie to see if you want to watch a Betty Grable or Ernst Lubitsch movie. If I were you, I'd watch "Song of the Islands" for BG and "Trouble in Paradise" for EL. See more 11/26/2010 This movie is confusing and pretty bad. See more Read all reviews

That Lady in Ermine

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