So MADAM SATAN is a Cecil B Demille picture from 1930. A pre-code sex comedy with neither sex nor comedy, it’s third act is a colossal masquerade party aboard a massive dirigible in which our hapless leading lady (who is in real life james cromwell’s mom) decides to ensnare her sure-to-be-philandering fiance by… masquerading as MADAM SATAN and being the most, uh, fuck-worthy woman on the whole airship. She will seduce him… to teach him a lesson!
Oh and it’s a musical?
Here’s the thing.
They spent, like, a hundred brillion dollars on the masquerade. OK the picture’s budget was under a million. But… look at what it looks like. The costumes and sets are completely insane and it’s worth slogging through that terrible first 90 minutes to get to the last half-hour.
