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The Scarlet Empress, the classic 1934 Josef von Sternberg historical biographical German-Princess-forced-to-marry-Russian-Duke-and-ends-up-ruling-the-country melodrama ("Her whisper was a command to love!"; "Based on the intimate diary of Catherine the Great"; a highly fictionalized biography of Catherine II) starring Marlene Dietrich (in the title role as Catherine the Great), John Lodge, Sam Jaffe, Louise Dresser, C. Aubrey Smith, Akim Tamiroff, and Jane Darwell (in an uncredited role). Note that this was the second to last movie of the seven movies that von Sternberg and Dietrich made together, and many reviewers think this was their best collaboration (one described it as "the most jaw dropping, sexually charged piece of cinema anyone could ever ask for"). It is a fictionalized biography of the story of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, and in the movie, Dietrich is required to change from an innocent young girl to a jaded experienced older woman, and everyone agrees that she did so magnificently. Movie posters of any kind from this movie have always been incredibly rare, at least as rare and possibly more so than those from the other Josef Von Sternberg/Marlene Dietrich films. Also note that male lead John Lodge has an interesting background! He came from an important New England family (his grandfather was William Henry Cabot Lodge), and he shocked them by becoming a movie actor! He appeared in a couple dozen movies between 1932 and 1940. He quit the movies to serve in World War II, and afterwards, in 1946, he became the second major movie actor ever to hold national political office, serving as a Congressman (the first was Helen Gahagan Douglas). In 1950, he became Governor of Connecticut, and later, he served as ambassador to several countries!
NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography.

Important Added Info: Note that we have never before auctioned this English pressbook, which has a great full-color cover with a completely different image of Marlene Dietrich. Plus, page 9 pictures six great posters (including three three-sheets, two six-sheet, and the twenty-four-sheet (the sizes are all doubled, which is what England did at that time)

Note that we have provided an image of the front and back covers of this English pressbook, and of course, the winner of this auction will receive the entire single pressbook we are auctioning (plus any supplements or heralds described above)! Also note that this English pressbook is complete and uncut! Given that theater owners received pressbooks partly in order to create their newspaper advertising, and quite frequently cut them up for that purpose, it is rare to find a pressbook that IS complete and uncut!

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