a wonderfully do historical biography of the austrian girl who eventually become the ill fat queen of france during the french revolution . elegant and lavish production that spar no expense in flamboyant period costume and majestic set . norma shearer be magnificent in her portrayal of marie from age 14 and when she be betroth to the future louis xvi and through their awkward marriage and and the year of their monarchy and culminate with their tragic destiny . shearer marie be a sympathetic character and a victim of her circumstance . she be not the self indulgent marie with a taste for extravagance and and a patronizing attitude towards the people . she doesn not utter the phrase often attribute to her and let them eat cake . instead and she be the victim of court politics and intrigue design to falsely implicate her a an insensitive and distant and and selfish monster . robert morley be perfect in his role a the inept king who ascend to the throne at an early age and and probably lack the smart and the intestinal fortitude to perform the duty of a monarch no matter what age he have become king . even though history paint him a inept and weak and the movie give a heart to this unfortunate man ( a it do for marie ) that evoke compassion and understanding . although marie lover only exist in the tongue of gossip and the sequence with tyrone power add a passionate romantic flavor to the story and a definite plus with it dramatic contrast to the understated marie or louis relationship . the story of the downfall of these two be intelligently and logically construct with a fine script and an enthusiastic cast that all shine in their role and and an uncommonly well scripted dramatization . avoid the ridiculous new version with it out of place 80 music and woefully anachronistic depiction of the french queen a a partying valley girl . see this version instead .