The Scarlet Empress (1934)

Olive Tell: Princess Johanna Elizabeth

Photos 

Quotes 

• Princess Sophia Frederica : Did you bring me a portrait of the grand duke?

  Count Alexei : I'm sorry, I did not. Would you like him to be handsome?

  Princess Sophia Frederica : Isn't he?

  Count Alexei : Would you like him to be better-looking than all other men, and tall, and gracious?

  Princess Sophia Frederica : Yes, I think I would.

  Count Alexei : Well, he is all that and more. He's the handsomest man in the Russian court, tall and formed like a Greek god, a model in fashion and deportment which all of us strive to follow. Are you eager to see him?

  Princess Sophia Frederica : Yes.

  Count Alexei : His eyes are like the blue sky, his hair the color of ebony. He is stronger than a team of oxen, and sleepless because of his desire to receive you in his arms. And he can also read and write.

  Princess Johanna Elizabeth : So can my daughter. She can also cook and sew and make her own bed if she has to. Can't you, Sophia?

  Princess Sophia Frederica : But I don't like to make my own bed, Mother.

  Princess Johanna Elizabeth : Don't speak unless you're questioned.

  Princess Sophia Frederica : You did question me, Mother.

• Count Alexei : Well, this is unexpected. Your daughter is extremely charming and will be by far the most beautiful woman at Her Majesty's court.

  Princess Johanna Elizabeth : I'd be grateful, Your Excellency, if you were not to turn her head. She's been brought up carefully and is unspoilt, and I've also taught her not to flirt.

• Innkeeper : Your rooms are ready, Your Royal Highness. Can I show them to you?

  Princess Johanna Elizabeth : Yes, you may. I'm prepared for the worst.

• Count Alexei : Be careful with that knife. You'll cut your beautiful hand. Your hand is beautiful, isn't it?

  [He kisses her] 

  Princess Sophia Frederica : Why did you do that?

  Count Alexei : Because I've fallen in love with you. And now you may punish me for my effrontery.

  [He hands her a whip] 

  Princess Sophia Frederica : I deserve punishment far more than you do. We must never do this again. It's disloyal to my future husband.

  Count Alexei : Disloyal? It's treason, and I must be careful in the future, But you must help me by not exciting me with your beautiful eyes.

  [She stares at him] 

  Count Alexei : I told you not to look at me.

  [He kisses her] 

  Princess Johanna Elizabeth : What are you two doing down there? Don't answer me. I don't want to know. Sophia, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

  [Sophia hands back the whip] 

  Princess Johanna Elizabeth : You will instantly follow me to our rooms. Incidentally, our rooms are beneath all contempt, Your Excellency. I want you to know that the stables are probably better than the quarters that you've assigned to us.

  Count Alexei : I'm sorry, Your Highness. The horses are tired. But if you prefer the stables, I'm certain that I can arrange to have the horses quartered in your bedroom.

  Princess Johanna Elizabeth : Barbarian!

  [Leading Sophia away] 

  Princess Johanna Elizabeth : You're going to sleep in my room tonight.

• Princess Johanna Elizabeth : How often do I have to tell you that Sophia Frederica is no longer to play with toys? She's almost seven now. Don't smoke in here. The child's sick. I work and I scheme day and night to arrange a advantageous marriage someday, and you undo everything. How am I to make it clear to you that Sophia might one day become a queen?

  Sophia as a Child : I don't want to be a queen, Mother. I want to be a toe dancer.

  Princess Johanna Elizabeth : Be quiet, Sophia. You're going to marry a king if I have anything to do with it.

• Sophia's Aunt : Grand duchess of Russia. Not bad for this family.

  Princess Sophia Frederica : I wonder what he looks like.

  Princess Johanna Elizabeth : That unimportant detail can be settled when the Russian ambassador gets here.

• Count Alexei : Although for a long time we've heard a great deal about your beauty, Your Highness, I must confess, I was not quite prepared to see such a vision of loveliness. Her Majesty instructed me to present a few gifts as evidence of her graciousness.

  [to the servant with the presents] 

  Count Alexei : Come here.

  [to Sophia and her parents] 

  Count Alexei : This pipe is for you, Prince August. These sables are to keep your shoulders warm. These gloves are to keep your hands warm. This robe is to keep your feet warm. These hot water bottles... to keep Mother warm.

  Princess Johanna Elizabeth : Is it then still so cold in Russia, Your Excellency?

  Count Alexei : Indeed, Your Highness, the rivers are still frozen, and will be until some time after we've arrived.

• Princess Johanna Elizabeth : Well, it is cold. At least you have something to warm you when you get to Moscow. That is, if your husband isn't completely made of ice.

• Empress Elizabeth Petrovna : We must make you very beautiful, Catherine, very, very beautiful so that my nephew will fall in love with you. I expect you two to behave like lovebirds so that Russia will have an heir to the throne. And remember, Catherine, I want a boy, not a girl. Nothing less than a boy will do. We don't want any more women on the throne.

  Princess Johanna Elizabeth : But, Your Imperial Majesty, what would we have done if you had been born a boy?

  Empress Elizabeth Petrovna : I would have had much less trouble in Russia if I'd been born a man instead of a woman. We women are too much creatures of the heart. Aren't we, Catherine?

  Princess Sophia Frederica : Yes, Your Majesty.

• Princess Johanna Elizabeth : Another day like this, and I'll fall apart. When I return, I'll complain to the king about the state of his roads.

  Count Alexei : The roads are bad, aren't they? When we reach the border, there will be snow and we shall change to sleds.

• Empress Elizabeth Petrovna : So, this is the mother. You've raised a pretty child.

  Princess Johanna Elizabeth : Your Imperial Majesty, I've come to lay at your feet feelings of the deepest gratitude for the benefactions which your bounty has heaped upon my house, and of which many instances are given me at every step I take into your Majesty's realms.

  Empress Elizabeth Petrovna : Tush, tush! A pretty speech. What I have done is nothing in comparison with what I shall do.