The Devil Is a Woman (1935)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Josef von Sternberg

Writers:

Pierre Louÿs (novel)
John Dos Passos (adaptation)

Release Date:

1935 (Turkey)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Kiss me .. and I'll break your heart!

Plot:

Film told in flashbacks of an older man's obsession for a woman who can belong to no-one but can frustrate everyone...

Plot Keywords:

Spain | Carnival | Revolutionary | Cigarette Manufacturer | Temptress

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Marlene Dietrich	...	Concha Perez
Lionel Atwill	...	Capt. Don Pasqual 'Pasqualito' Costelar
Edward Everett Horton	...	Gov. Don Paquito 'Paquitito'
Alison Skipworth	...	Senora Perez
Cesar Romero	...	Antonio Galvan
Don Alvarado	...	Morenito (bullfighter)
Tempe Pigott	...	Tuerta
Francisco Moreno	...	Alphonso (Paquito's secretary) (as Paco Moreno)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hank Mann	...	Foreman on snowbound train (scenes deleted)
Joel McCrea	...	Antonio Galvan (replaced by Cesar Romero) (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Caprice Espagno (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

Germany:75 min | USA:79 min | Portugal:80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Portugal:17 | Portugal:(Banned) (original rating) | UK:A (original rating) (1935) | UK:U (re-rating) (2006) | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | USA:Approved (PCA #538)

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

In Maximillian Schell's documentary "Marlene", Marlene Dietrich said that this was her favorite of her films.

Quotes:

Concha Perez: Listen to me, Pasqualito. You never loved me or you couldn't do this.
Capt. Don Pasqual 'Pasqualito' Costelar: You know very well that I loved you.
Concha Perez: You've always mistaken your vanity for love. It's your final mistake. Go and kill the only man I ever cared for.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sex at 24 Frames Per Second (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Then It Isn't Love

A 'real' story of a man's frustration

It has to be said that this film is an amazing achievement. The Devil is a Woman is a lush and vibrant film, and you really do get the impression that a lot of thought has gone into every scene. The script allows the characters to grow in front of the audience's eyes both in relation to each other and in their own right. Furthermore, the acting is fantastic; with Lionel Atwill convincing as a heartbroken former lover of Marlene Dietrich's cold hearted femme fatale. It's Dietrich that commands every scene she's in and gives an all round amazing performance in the title role. Furthermore, the Spanish setting is superb, and provides a beautiful location for this complex love story to take place in. But it's not the technical elements that make this film so great; it's the plot. We first get to know the characters during a conversation between a fancy man and a former lover of the same woman. The older man tells the younger of his times with said lady, and we get a fully painted picture of all the protagonists through this. The film offers a great portrait of love and frustration; with the title itself referring more towards the lead man's experience with the title character rather than the character herself. The Devil is a Woman is certainly not a fluffy romance flick, but it is a film that works on two levels; on one hand, it tells its story straight and so is easy to get into, but on the other it provides a story with a chasm of depth if you're willing to look for it.