Marie Antoinette (1938 film)
| Marie Antoinette | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | W. S. Van Dyke |
| Produced by | Hunt Stromberg |
| Screenplay by |
Donald Ogden Stewart Ernest Vajda Claudine West F. Scott Fitzgerald (uncredited) Talbot Jennings (uncredited dialogue) |
| Based on |
Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman 1932 novel by Stefan Zweig |
| Starring |
Norma Shearer Tyrone Power John Barrymore Robert Morley Anita Louise Joseph Schildkraut Gladys George Henry Stephenson |
| Music by | Herbert Stothart |
| Cinematography | William H. Daniels |
| Edited by | Robert Kern |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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157 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2.9 million |
Marie Antoinette is a 1938 film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starred Norma Shearer as Marie Antoinette. Based upon the 1932 biography of the ill-fated Queen of France by the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, it had its Los Angeles premiere at the legendary Carthay Circle Theatre, where the landscaping was specially decorated for the event.
The film was the last project of Irving Thalberg who died in 1936 while it was in the planning stage. His widow Norma Shearer remained committed to the project even while her enthusiasm for her film career in general was waning following his death.
With a budget close to two million dollars, it was one of the more expensive films of the 1930s, but also one of the bigger successes.
In Vienna, 15-year-old Marie Antoinette (Norma Shearer) is informed by her mother, Empress Marie Therese of Austria (Alma Kruger), that Marie is to marry the future King of France, the Dauphin Louis XVI (Robert Morley). The young princess is excited to meet her future husband and live as a queen, but the Dauphin she married is actually a shy man, more at home with locksmithing than attending parties at the court at Versailles. After they are married, Marie tries desperately to please her husband, and after some trepidation, the Dauphin realizes he can trust Marie and tells her he cannot produce heirs. Without children to occupy her time and attention, Marie is bored and associates with the power-hungry Duc d'Orleans (Joseph Schildkraut), even though the Dauphin does not like him.
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