TBT: The Missing Madame Du Barry (1934)

27 thoughts on “TBT: The Missing Madame Du Barry (1934)”

1. Have you tried Fandor, Kanopy or a good University film library???
   (though I am sure you did …) but they are usually good sources for old movies.

   Yikes, what costumes!

   1. It’s not on Fandor or Kanopy & my nearest libraries don’t have it, alas!

2. Do you have DirectTV? It says they have it available online. I don’t have DirectTV, so can’t verify that the movie actually works, but the website says they have it.

   1. Hmm, doesn’t say anything is available in my ZIP code. And I wonder if it would be the right year — there’s a 1954 Madame Du Barry movie that comes up a lot when I search too :(

3. I’ve seen it! I can’t remember if it was on TCM or if I got the DVD from Netflix (like, the actual physical DVD, not streaming) because it was years and years ago. But it’s loads of fun! In the scene where she meets Marie Antoinette she calls her a “poor little redhead” which is very exciting since every other Marie Antoinette ever is always platinum blonde instead of strawberry blonde.

   1. I bet it was TCM! They have a review plus an article about it on their website.

4. That… That is the most gigantic Meringue I’ve ever seen! And the pink carriage is a nice touch, too. On the other hand, I’m somehow glad we don’t have the lamé/fur thing in color, it must have been something else. Good luck on the hunt!

   1. It’s a lot of look, that’s for sure :D

5. I would definitely watch this if TCM aired it. Orry-Kelly seems to be addicted to poofy frou frou which although not period does invoke it.
   Didn’t he design Norma Shearer look in Marie Antoinette and Marlene Dietrich as Catherine in The Scarlet Empress?

   1. The ruffles are very Orry-Kelly, aren’t they just? Actually, Adrian did the Shearer M-A & someone else did Dietrirch’s Empress — bec. that era had SO many great designers!

6. The National Gallery of Art held a screening of it last summer.

   1. Omg!

7. SQUEE!!!!!! I just want all the poof and ruffles! I will have my hunny bunny search the ethos for it. When I find the film I will share the love. Now I have the image of me cosplaying in that black gambling dress at Dragoncon.

   1. I know, I want that one too!!!! I want alllll of them!!!!

8. God, this looks like fun. Lubitsch wrote and directed a 1919 DuBarry film with Pola Negri and Emil Jannings that I would love to see. Probably not as lush and floofy, but that’s quite a line-up of talent.

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_DuBarry_(1919_film)

   http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Madame-DuBarry-Blu-ray/108705/ (great poster!)

   1. Oooo, nice! One of us has a TBD article about all the various incarnations of Madame du Barry on film — I’ll make sure she sees these links.

9. Want to come to California? http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/423154932

   1. Dammit! It’s not at Berkeley (my alma mater), only LA :(

      1. I was going to suggest “World Cat” as well! Try it as an interlibrary loan through your local library. Seriously – My local library can order stuff from World Cat for me. They may charge a fee, but…?

      2. Oh, and P.S. they have it on VHS at Berkeley! [supposedly]:
         https://www.worldcat.org/title/madam-du-barry/oclc/747049173&referer=brief_results

      3. Here’s a more direct link to it: http://oskicat.berkeley.edu/search/o747049173

         1. Wasn’t sure where you are located. I thought is said Berkley. I’m an elementary school librarian and I love Worldcat!

10. Those facial expressions during the nightgown scene are priceless! And worth watching over and over again! Good luck finding a source for the full movie.

    1. I’d only seen Delores del Rio in the Bob Hope movie ‘Flying Down to Rio’ before, so I knew she had comedy chops, & this film looks delightful.

11. Historical accuracy be damned – 1770s meets 1930s is the best historical mash up ever.

12. And the trailer is already gone from YouTube. They move so quick sometimes.

13. https://ok.ru/video/1244487879310

    Lots of old movies on this website. In Russia, copyright doesn’t exist!

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