A remake of a 1938 French movie of the same title, directed by Raymond Bernard, I Was an Adventuress probably isn't as good as its inspiration, but is more fun since it is built around the colorful personalities of von Stroheim and Lorre. Again, its world of Nice-Vienna-Riviera glamor and showcase for romance and jewel-thief intrigue was about to vanish, and today, if not then, it emerges as a virtual apotheosis of the genre. In 1940, critics were not kind. Perhaps its was, and is, predictable "merchandise" all the way-but it's rather alarming to realize how we once took all of its craftmanship so much for granted. Today, it's a pleasure just to sit back and marvel at the elaborately constructed sets, and to enjoy the impeccable photography of Cronjager and Shamroy as their cameras glide over the marble floors of salons, ballrooms and restaurants. When there's an emotional scene, it's "big" in the old tradition and even the "throwaway" linking scenes are on the grand scale, as witness the brief love scene on the silhouetted rock with the crashing white spray. And yet despite the size, there's always the neat little bit of production economy to be intrigued by, such as the neat intercutting of Riviera long shots with carefully angled back-projected palm-tree-lined avenues in Pasadena!--WKE