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Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

A baby born in a Paris jail, twenty-something adult criminal George Sanders (as Eugene François Vidocq) escapes from a prison with his portly cell-mate Akim Tamiroff (as Emile Vernet). True to form, Mr. Sanders becomes a debonair jewel thief and elegant dresser. Remember, foppish powdered wigs are the height of fashion. Sanders spends time romancing scantily-clad singer-dancer Carole Landis (as Loretta) and love-struck heiress Signe Hasso (as Therese). The former lights up the screen in a fiery shadow dance and the latter likes to swim with her girlfriends in their undergarments...Sanders rises in Parisian society and is effective in some later parts of this overly-mannered, comic-laced crime adventure. However, the much admired character actor is not very engaging through most of the running time. Sanders is miscast as the swashbuckling French rogue. His neatly trimmed, bored, and suave British demeanor simply doesn't fit the part. Some strengths are director Douglas Sirk artfully setting up some scenes, the cute "little sister" performance essayed by Jo Ann Marlowe (as Mimi), and the choreographed acting of "Satan" the pet monkey. In the end, the monkey wins.**** A Scandal in Paris (7/19/1946) Douglas Sirk ~ George Sanders, Signe Hasso, Akim Tamiroff, Carole Landis

his costume drama is ill cast and without charm.George Sanders was a superb character actor. But he is thoroughly implausible here as the lead, an Eighteenth Century rogue known for his philosophy and great good looks. His costar is, of all people, Akim Tamiroff. Some Frenchman! Then there's Signe Hasso, in a dark wig, as the virginal daughter of a wealthy family. Carole Landis fares best. The movie opens with her in silhouette. She is a soubrette, and a naughty girl at that. She disappears for a while but turns up in an improbably situation. But she's good. She was always an appealing actress. Here she is cast closest to her usual type of role.It's meant to be a little naughty, kind of ooh-la-la. It ought to have had a light touch but it's a leaden affair from start to finish.

The often-reliable Leonard Maltin says this is a "delightful romance" and that Sanders is "superb." Maltin must have confused this movie with something else. Sanders is snide and droll and superb, as usual, – you can imagine his delivery of the line regarding adultery, "Sometimes the chains of matrimony are so heavy they have to be carried by three," –but dull, wooden and dated describe this movie more accurately. The storyline itself, an autobiography with Sanders as a suave jewel thief, Francois Eugene Vidocq, who becomes chief of police but can hardly resist the lure of fine jewels, is entertaining enough, but it has the same kind of hollow historical Hollywood treatment that marred such period epics as *Marie Antoinette*, and certainly the deplorable *Forever Amber* (which screams for a classy remake). Though, in his defense, Sanders tries mightily to add some depth to his character, it is all for naught. I am an unabashed Douglas Sirk fan, but this is 1946, and it is one of Sirk's earliest American efforts, lacking many of the signature touches that would define his florid, breast-heaving potboilers. Sirk is just getting his feet wet here, and made a number of unmemorable films over the next ten years until he struck gold with *Magnificent Obsession*, and hit his stride, bombarding us with such estrogen-fests as *All That Heaven Allows*, *Written on the Wind*, and *Imitation of Life*. But *Scandal In Paris* is hardly his best work – a relatively low-budget affair with cheesy sets and ineffective costuming.

I was already a fan of George Sanders - but this film really gives him the witty language that he can spin under his breath better than any actor in movies. The story itself is far more interesting in its twists and turns than expected. Listen carefully - and you hear real style and imagination.