THE SCARLET EMPRESS
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
I saw this 1934 Marlene Dietrich historical drama when I was a college student taking a film course – and now, whenever I teach film at Rowan University, I try to find time to show this same movie, hoping it’ll warp and amaze them now the way it affected me then. Dietrich was Josef von Sternberg’s muse, and he lit and photographed and showcased her in ways that redefined cinematic glamour – and, in this movie about the rise and ruthlessness of Catherine the Great, movie kinkiness as well.