I Was an Adventuress (1940)

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A phony slap-happy countess (ballet legend Vera Zorina) is fooling the social elite of the most upscale of European hotels, walking up to total strangers (whom she's researched, of course), clobbering them and then profusely apologizing for mistaking who they were. Of course, she then cons them and quickly disappears, that is if she isn't selling them a valuable piece of jewelry for much more than its worth (and having the victim of the con sign a statement indicating that they were told that the piece of jewelry that they overpaid on was a copy). She's not the mastermind behind these schemes; That falls to the autocrat Erich Von Stroheim and his somewhat dimwitted sidekick (Peter Lorre) who took Ms. Zorina under their wing from the streets.When her attempt to fleece a handsome stranger (Richard Greene), fails, she finds herself falling in love and decides to leave her con-game with Von Stroheim and Lorre behind. All it takes is for Greene to slap Ms. Zorina back to get her to change her fleecing ways and wake her up. But that can't get Von Stroheim and Lorre off her back; Once a beautiful meal ticket, always a beautiful meal ticket, but she's gone onto become a ballet star and become Greene's loyal wife. With her past ready to come back and haunt her, she's got some pretty quick thinking and scheming to do, and her intended victims are pretty formidable.Beautifully filmed and acted with a delightful tongue-in-cheek, this shows Von Stroheim in a light he rarely had an opportunity to take on. He seems to enjoy being less serious than normal, although he does play the role totally seriously. There's a sparkle in his eye in this one, and his pairing with Lorre is equivalent to what Lorre would do over at Warner Brothers with Sydney Greenstreet. Zorina (as she is billed) makes an enticing heroine, and if not given a terribly difficult role to play, she does so beautifully, and when she dances, she's magnetic. Greene is a handsome, feisty hero, giving as much to Zorina as she gives to him. This is a film which deserves higher recognition, as sophisticated a comedy as other more well known films.

This film stars Vera Zorina and since she was once an accomplished ballerina, several dance numbers and an allusion to "Swan Lake" was inserted into the film. I'd love to make some humorous comment about a stunt dancer now claiming credit for all this, but Ms. Zorina was a world-famous dancer before she became an actress.This film is set in a weird Europe--one where there is no war at all--even though it came out in 1940--during the German occupation of France, the Battle of Britain and Mussolini--none of which are even mentioned in the movie! Zorina, Erich von Stroheim and Peter Lorre (all three who had strong Germanic roots) are a team of swindlers who prowl the hot-spots of Europe ripping off unsuspecting members of the upper class. However, when Zorina meets sweet Richard Greene, she falls instantly in love and can't continue her wicked ways. She reforms and they soon marry--though she never tells him about her very sordid past. So, when her old 'comrades' show up some time later, she's afraid to say anything--though she knows von Stroheim and Lorre are up to no good.This is a somewhat familiar theme for Hollywood. With films like "Lady Eve", "Jewel Robbery" and "Trouble in Paradise" (just to name a few), it's obvious the public had a great fascination with these 'lady or gentleman criminal' movies. Here, like these other films, there is some comedy and some romance--and the ending is rather predictable as it follows a familiar pattern. Compared to these other films, "I Was An Adventuress", it's about average--not as good as some and a bit better than others. I liked the actors--they were all pretty good choices. The script was decent---not outstanding or as sweet as "Trouble in Paradise" or "Lady Eve"--but still pretty good. Overall, it's worth watching and a nice time-passer.

This was an absolutely miserable film. It's basically the story of 3 thieves-ballet dancer Zorina, who was basically no actress, as she proved when she was replaced by Ingrid Bergman in "Casablanca," as well as Erich Von Stroheim and Peter Lorre. They use all sorts of tactics to woo their victims and then steal from them, primarily jewelry. Of course, one of the victims is Richard Greene, but love follows between Zorina and Greene, and they wed.The film fails to explain why Lorre took the actions he did in the end. Was he really a good natured guy?The most exciting scene of this dull film was the car chase, but that literally loses gas as well.Suddenly, Zorina is performing "Swan Lake." The whole film is one big mystery, and badly made at that. There is definitely a problem of continuity and lack of interest here.

"Lubitsch lite" might be the best description of this beguiling romantic comedy. Its charm relies to a surprising extent on the effervescent chemistry between its two male stars, Peter Lorre and Erich von Stroheim. These are not the most likely of sidekicks, but you'd be surprised how deftly these two play off one another, like a Mittel European Laurel and Hardy, as the cherubic kleptomaniac Polo (Lorre) and his sly con-artist buddy Andre (Stroheim). It's easy to imagine a series of comedy adventures based on Polo and Andre--actually, Stroheim and Lorre make a more entertaining duo than Lorre and Greenstreet. The lovely Zorina keeps up with them beautifully, as well as delivering a very photogenic performance in the "Swan Lake" ballet sequence (choreographed by her husband, George Balanchine) which anticipates "The Red Shoes" in its dynamically cinematic, semi-surreal style.