That Lady in Ermine
| That Lady in Ermine | |
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Original poster
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| Directed by |
Ernst Lubitsch Otto Preminger (uncredited but completed the film) |
| Produced by | Ernst Lubitsch |
| Written by |
Samson Raphaelson Based on an operetta by Rudolph Schanzer and Ernst Welisch |
| Starring |
Betty Grable Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Cesar Romero |
| Music by | Alfred Newman |
| Cinematography | Leon Shamroy |
| Edited by | Dorothy Spencer |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million |
| Box office | $1.5 million (US rentals) |
That Lady in Ermine is a 1948 American musical film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The screenplay by Samson Raphaelson is based on the operetta Die Frau im Hermelin by Rudolph Schanzer and Ernst Welisch.
Although Lubitsch received sole credit as director, he died after only eight days of filming, and the project was completed by Otto Preminger.
In 1861, Countess Angelina, ruler of Bergamo in southeastern Europe, marries Mario, a baron she has known since childhood. When the castle is threatened by Hungarian hussars led by Colonel Teglash on their wedding night, Mario flees.
At midnight, the paintings in the ancestral gallery come to life, and their subjects ask Francesca, Angelina's great-great-great-great-grandmother who looks exactly like Countess Angelina, to save the castle just as she did in the 16th century. Through a spyglass, Francesca observes Teglash leading the advancing army and finds herself attracted to him. When he sees her portrait, Teglash is puzzled by the fact she is wearning an ermine coat but no shoes.
Angelina greets Teglash, who flirts with her when he learns her bridegroom has escaped, but she makes it clear she respects her marriage vows and is concerned about her husband's safety. Angelina's servant Luigi, seeing how smitten the colonel is with his mistress, tells Teglash how three hundred years earlier, Francesca retained control of the castle when a tyrannical duke attempted to seize it. Via flashback, we see her, barefoot and in ermine, present herself to the duke and accompany him into his tent. After a period of time, Francesca departs, leaving the duke, with a dagger in his back, lying dead on his bed. Luigi tells the colonel that, according to rumor, she killed the duke because she feared she was falling in love with him.
Disguised as a gypsy, Mario returns to the castle but runs off when soldiers come to investigate. When he is captured, Teglash, unaware of his identity but impressed by his musical ability, decides to spare Mario's life and make him his personal gypsy. When he realizes he is Angelina's husband, he offers to free him if she dines with him that night, but she fails to rendezvous with him.
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Wikipedia