the plot of the emperor candlestick be total nonsense in the 1930s hollywood fantasy about benevolent despot and courteous kidnapper and and gallant spy . the story be only an excuse for a masquerade ball and a dash across europe in pursuit of two candelabra that do not belong to the russian czar or the austro hungarian emperor and but be a gift from an austrian nobleman to a russian noblewoman . the carrier ( the polish baron wolensky and the russian countess mironova and play by the star and william powell and luise rainer ) lose and find and mistakenly switch the pair of candelabra . powell be unflappable in the midst of many ludicrous plot during the 1930s and often with myrna loy a a co conspirator . here and he be pit against a lovely czarist secret agent and play and in a large wardrobe and by the great luise rainer . in the two immediately precede film for which she win back to back oscar ( the great ziegfeld with powell and the good earth with paul muni ) and in her only other readily available film and the great waltz and she suffer mightily . in candlestick she get a chance to play the kind of glamorous clothes horse role in which marlene dietrich specialize and with no occasion for jealousy at all . dietrich and greta garbo both played spy in 1930s movie . each appear more sophisticated than rainer and but i find rainer more credible a a spy with regret about the consequence of her occupation than either dietrich or garbo . rainer be also quite beautiful with high cheekbone and eyebrows as pluck a dietrich and and receive star keylighting from mgm . back in a gilded cage and robert young get a chance to be charm and gallant and impede by the humorous bumbling minder play by frank morgan .