The Scarlet Empress (1934) dir. Josef von Sternberg. USA. Von Sternberg (1894-1969) was one of the true Hollywood characters, sometimes a great director, always a great show. He dressed in costumes appropriate to the films he was directing, made his assistants remove their wristwatches because he could hear the ticking, and calmly claimed he did … Continue reading Film 30: The Scarlet Empress