A con artist masquerades as Russian nobility and attempts to seduce the wife of an American diplomat.
Direction
Von Stroheim's obsessive detail — he built a full Monte Carlo set in Hollywood
Production
So over budget they fired him from his next two films
Costume
Military uniforms so fake-noble they'd make Rasputin laugh
Director
Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim
Count Wladislaw Sergius Karamzin
Rudolph Christians
Andrew J. Hughes
Miss DuPont
Helen Hughes
Maude George
Princess Olga Petchnikoff
Mae Busch
Princess Vera Petchnikoff
Dale Fuller
Maruschka
Cesare Gravina
Cesare Ventucci
Mary Philbin
Crippled Girl (uncredited)
Nigel De Brulier
Monk (uncredited)
Robert Edeson
Andrew J. Hughes
Louise Emmons
Mother Garoupe
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Von Stroheim insisted on filming in real rain for one scene; they had to wait weeks and it lasted 30 seconds on screen.
The film's budget scandal helped create the studio system that would crush director autonomy for decades — von Stroheim's own fault, honestly.
US
