User Reviews

This 1937 film was the third version of a rather creaky Victorian era play Under The Red Robe written by Edward E. Rose and debuting on Broadway in 1896. This British production is the only sound version and given the material is rather arcane we're not likely to see another version made.

The Red Robe of the title refers to the vestments of Cardinal Richelieu, minister to King Louis XIII in 17th century France and first statesman of Europe. The man who said on his deathbed that he had no enemies save those of the state is played with a combination of subtlety and fanaticism by Raymond Massey, two qualities normally not compatible.

Massey has a mission and it requires a guy who can think fast on his feet and be both a courtier and a duelist. He's got such a man in Conrad Veidt. But Veidt is under a death sentence for violating the Cardinal's edict against dueling.

But if Veidt brings in the leader of the Huguenot Protestants who hops back and forth over the Pyrenees to Spain stirring up revolt, he can get the sentence commuted. To aid and assist Veidt, Massey assigns his man Romney Brent.

One small complication Veidt falls for Annabella whom he thinks is the Countess. A real mess all around.

The cast does well by the material, but it's ancient and dated and some of the motivations are a bit hard to follow. The play was written in a far more romantic era and was old fashioned when it got to the screen in 1937 let alone seeing it now.

But as a curiosity it might be worth a look.

Congenital swashbuckler Conrad Veidt (as Gil de Berault) can't keep his sword in its sheath, despite a law against dueling; so, he is sentenced to death. Mr. Veidt receives an offer of exoneration from ruthless and powerful Raymond Massey (as Cardinal Richelieu); but, he must first capture Mr. Massey's enemy, a revolutionary Duke. Veidt manages to install himself as a guest in the Duke's castle, with its master away. While waiting for his prey to return, Veidt becomes smitten with the Duke's sister, Annabella (as Lady Marguerite).

Notable as Victor Sjöström final film as director; and, the direction of "Under the Red Robe" is certainly a highlight. The performances of the three leads are also excellent, intensified by Mr. Sjöström, a master filmmaker. Unfortunately, this re-make of a 1923 swashbuckling silent doesn't offer very much action, which doesn't help its already slow-moving story. Romney Brent (as Marius) contrasts the intense lead performances, as Veidt's light-heeled lackey.

****** Under the Red Robe (5/31/37) Victor Sjöström ~ Conrad Veidt, Annabella, Raymond Massey

This is an enjoyable period drama that combines a little history, some action, some romance, some dry and occasionally macabre humor, and most of all plenty of intrigue. It has an interesting historical setting, centering on the devious Cardinal Richelieu, one of history's more interesting (if hardly admirable) figures. While there isn't much here to take seriously, it is good light entertainment.

Conrad Veidt stars as a dreaded duelist under sentence of death, to whom Richelieu offers a pardon if he can bring in a Huguenot duke whose plans for an uprising have the Cardinal in a panic. Raymond Massey is very well cast as the Cardinal, and he does full justice to the role. Veidt is believable as Gil, and his deadpan style works rather well with some of the occasional lines of dry humor.

Veidt's character is accompanied by a slippery servant played with good humor by Romney Brent. The heart of the movie comes in Veidt's interactions with the duke's sister, played by Annabella, who makes her a worthy adversary for the swordsman, both with her beauty and with her brains.

Beyond the basic details of the anticipated conflict, the story relies less on the historical background than on the easily understood human drams among the characters. Veidt finds himself torn between his word, his affection for Annabella, and his fear of death. The servant and the duke's sister likewise have their own dilemmas to face, and these give some depth to the story, which is nothing deep, but is rather entertaining and interesting in its own right.

Victor Sjöström's last movie as a director, is a mixed result of a try at a prestige movie to celebrate Denham Studio's opening, what with a script co-written by Lajos Biros and camera-work by James Wong Howe. Raymond Massey is Cardinal Richelieu. To thwart an uprising by Hugenots, he reprieves Conrad Veidt from hanging and sends him to capture Wyndham Goldie, the leader of the Protestants. Veidt is a rogue, but when he falls in love with Goldie's sister, Annabella....

It all starts out very well, given strong compositions and a typically Sjöström-like storm raging as he slips the leash of his watchdog, Romney Brent, recovers the diamonds and offers to duel the soldiers sent to arrest anyone they can. By the end of the movie, alas, the director is overwhelmed by the rigors of dramatic form and having Mr. Brent as his dialogue director. Sjöström retired from directing movies, although he would distinguish them as an actor for the next twenty years.

For the first half, it's a great movie. Too bad it couldn't finish that way.

With the aid of the Swedish Film Institute, a collection of Victor Sjöström's movies will "tour" around the world to various film clubs and like so I have had the pleasure of watching most of the movies he directed. Sadly though, Sjöström's final effort proves to be the most disappointing. Conrad Veidt is without a doubt less dashing than Errol Flynn playing a debonair French swordsman - with a German accent.

He's not the only one though with an accent, Annabella with a thick French one, her sister the countess speaks the Queen's English and the men at the inn sounds like peasants from the English countryside. It is all rather confusing.

I don't know why Sjöström accepted the direct this movie, perhaps he was eager to direct again but too many constraints were put on him. The end result looks like any movie that includes musketeers or cardinal Richeliu.

Told with deft comic timing from Veidt (as the feared duellist known as the 'Black Death') and his faithful sidekick (Brent) as they try to fulfil the Cardinal's (Massey) hopeless mission to infiltrate the enemy and bring back the Duke of Fiox alive from behind enemy lines. Though he initially charges like a bull with impunity, and for the exoneration offered to him if he should succeed, things get complicated when the fiercely patriotic and honourable Veidt falls for the Duke's sister (Annabella), forcing him to improvise tactics that will not only fulfil his agreement, but deliver also the damsel with whom he is now enamoured.

Veidt delivers his dialogue with precision displaying a keen sense of comic timing with a lightly-parodied chivalry, while dialogue director and veteran stage actor Brent is a scene-stealer from first to last (don't miss the hilarious closing scene) as the faithful 'puppy' like servant with a sleight of hand and an uncanny knack for acquiring information. Annabella is a classy characterisation of the aristocratic resistance and Massey plays his role of perceived cruelty and dictatorial ambivalence with aplomb.

There's more than meets the eye here (as I found) and contrary to some reviews claiming the opposite, this Baroque-era romantic swashbuckling yarn is funny, exciting, sometimes tense and remains true to form throughout thanks to enthusiastic direction from a noted director (Sjostrom) and an accomplished cast who keep the momentum energetic and entertaining throughout.

Victor Sjostrom's final directorial effort is made in England by the resourceful silent film taskmaster, and he is aided by a competent cast, magnificent score (Arthur Benjamin) and a clever scenario (Arthur Wimperis) in this engrossing historic drama which deals with the efforts of Cardinal Richelieu (Raymond Massey) to quell rebellious Huguenots in 17th century southeastern France. To achieve his purposes, Richelieu employs the services of Gil de Berault (Conrad Veidt), a dashing swordsman, to serve as a spy for Catholic King Louis XIII, assigning the duellist to travel to Foix in order to infiltrate the castle of the Huguenot leader, the Duke of Foix, wherein Berault falls in love with Lady Marguerite (Annabella), the Duke's sister, and where many adventures take place during the course of this romantic, witty and exciting film.

I say "unearthed" because the film seems to have been buried -- the condition of the print is pretty bad, and the soundtrack is so worn that half the subtitles say, "Inaudible". Apparently this is an orphaned film, in the public domain, without a decent print to remaster. Considering that many fine films have disappeared, we are lucky that this one survived at all. Lucky, because we see here what made this movie's era "Golden". Even routine costume dramas/comedies such as this one were blessed with fine production values, interesting scripts, and great directors and actors.

You can't have everything, and I wanted to see more of the deliciously ruthless Raymond Massey, who got second billing as Cardinal Richelieu but only a few minutes of screen time. A great discovery for me was Romney Brent. I looked him up, and most of his career was on the stage, so to see this delightful character player on the screen is a real treat. Annabella's heavy accent is hard to decipher, but she's so lovely, who cares, especially when she's framed by Victor Sjöstrōm, who brought us Garbo.

The sets are impressive, and the story is an interesting piece of historical fiction. There really is a Château Foix (subtitles call it "Fiox"), which did have a connection to Richelieu. If you're a movie lover, then look past the poor print and be grateful for this unearthed gem.

Two of the greatest film villains act together in this lavish costume drama of the 17th century, Raymond Massey as Cardinal Richelieu and Conrad Veidt as his spy and traitor. They are no less villains here although they both survive, and Conrad Veidt is so thoroughly groomed in as a villain in film history that he just can't be taken seriously as a victor of the happy end. The film is not original, the script is very ordinary Hollywood history stuff spinning yarns on legends, and not even the heroine is very beautiful. It was films such as these that the great silent film director Victor Sjöström of Sweden was given to make in Hollywood, lacking all his original ingenuity and just showing off Hollywood in stale artificiality of cramped efforts at romantic intrigue and solemn scenery of elaborate sumptuousness. This was his last film, he then went home to Sweden to work occasionally with Ingmar Bergman, while Raymond Massey and Conrad Veidt both went on as successful scoundrels in Hollywood, Conrad Veidt though just for a few years more, since he died far too young at only 50. The film is not bad, it's a valid costume drama with plenty of intrigue, but it has no soul of originality, only superficiality.

Swedish filmmaker Victor Sjöström was one of the early greats of cinema, an icon whose name deserves to be remembered alongside the likes of F. W. Murnau, Erich von Stroheim, Buster Keaton, and so on. I've watched several of his silent films and have found each to be absolutely perfect. It's a shame that more haven't survived, and that the sound era didn't agree with him, but we can at least treasure those works of his that remain. 'Under the red robe,' Sjöström's last directed feature, doesn't necessarily impress right away the way some of his other works do. Exposition in the first ten minutes or so is rather gawky, in fact, not articulating with total clarity all the history that is relevant to the tale to come, and this is on top of audio and picture quality that is a tad difficult to bear (though in fairness, that's hardly the director's fault). On the other hand, despite a rougher start the title quickly starts to prove its worth thereafter. I don't know if I'd say this is wholly flawless as so many of Sjöström's other features are, but it's nonetheless quite well crafted and entertaining, and continues to stand fairly tall even almost ninety years later.

As ever the man demonstrates a keen sense for orchestrating shots and scenes. Between his vision, and the eyes of James Wong Howe and Georges Périnal with their vivid, dynamic cinematography, we see the same especial talent for allowing the setting to somewhat become a character in its own right. Rich detail in each exquisite set, and careful use of light and shadow, helps every space to stand out and lend flavor to the scene. The effect isn't as pronounced as in early classics like 'A man there was' or 'The outlaw and his wife,' but still one must commend Sjöström, his photographers, and the crew for such splendid work. The production design and art direction really are terrific, and so is the costume design and hair and makeup. Those sparing stunts or effects that are employed look great, and I'm further pleased with the humor and cleverness that fills small corners of the screenplay (not least with supporting character Marius). Nothing about 'Under the red robe' is so remarkable as to leap out and grab our attention, perhaps, yet like those tinges of particular wit, little bits and pieces scattered throughout together comprise a viewing experience that is highly enjoyable and solidly satisfying.

One does wonder what this might have looked like had it been produced as a silent movie. I can't help but think at times that Arthur Benjamin's music, though pleasant, is superfluous; there are times when even dialogue and sound effects seem excessive and unnecessary. Maybe this says more about me and my love of the silent era, but I'm also inclined to think Sjöström is likely to have agreed that the earnest simplicity of those bygone techniques are missed here. Whether as a product of his direction or the cast's own similar notions, there are points when even the acting feels needlessly embellished, or possibly a smidgen forced, with the administration of spoken dialogue. Still, for what it's worth - despite any such thoughts that might enter one's mind - overall I believe the Swede shaped a fine, absorbing title, and the cast give strong performances. That includes premier silent star Conrad Veidt, firmly commanding the lead role; mononymous Annabella, shining brightly as love interest Marguerite; and Romney Brent, as silver-tongued and five-fingered sidekick Marius. Moreover, 'Under the red robe' ably balances facets of drama, adventure, and romance, with touches of comedy peppered on top, and the result really is a reliable good time.

If I'm being honest I had mixed expectations when I sat to watch. Despite my adoration of Sjöström, this was both a sound feature and his last one after all, and for a man who excelled so greatly in the silent era those two notes are ill harbingers. Ultimately I feel this film does distinctly stop short of the pure brilliance of, say, 'The wind,' or 'He who gets slapped, and that includes a certain looseness in the narrative writing, with sometimes weaker connections between ideas. Yet though imperfect, by and large I think it's one last grand testament to the Sjöström's skills, that he was able to push through his own misgivings and craft a movie that does still stand rather tall. To the extent that 'Under the red robe' is in any way lesser than, I'd argue it's only a step behind. For anyone who is a fan of older cinema this remains well worth checking out if one has the chance, and it earns my glad, hearty recommendation.