The Scar­let Empress is an Amer­i­can his­tor­i­cal dra­ma film direct­ed by Josef von Stern­berg and released in 1934. The movie is a fic­tion­al­ized biog­ra­phy of Cather­ine II of Rus­sia, also known as Cather­ine the Great, who reigned from 1762 until her death in 1796. The main char­ac­ter is played by Ger­man actress Mar­lene Diet­rich. The film por­trays Cather­ine’s life before she ascends to the throne, as well as her rela­tion­ship with her lover Grig­ori Orlov, a leader of the 1762 coup which over­threw her hus­band Peter III of Rus­sia and installed her as empress. The Scar­let Empress is known for its sump­tu­ous art direc­tion and high­ly styl­ized visu­al style, both of which have con­tributed to its sta­tus as a cult clas­sic film.