The Devil Is a Woman (1935 film)  The Devil Is a Woman is a 1935 romance film directed and photographed by Josef von Sternberg, adapted from the 1898 novel "La Femme et le pantin" by Pierre Louÿs. The film was based on a screenplay by John Dos Passos, and stars Marlene Dietrich, with Lionel Atwill, Cesar Romero, Edward Everett Horton, and Luisa Espinel. The movie is the last of the six Sternberg-Dietrich collaborations for Paramount Pictures. The story unfolds amidst the festivities of Seville's Carnival set in the fin de siècle Spain. The events revolve around four characters – there are no subplots. "Concha "Conchita" Perez": a beautiful, piquant and heartless factory girl who seduces and discards her lovers without remorse – an irresistible femme fatale. "Antonio Garvan": a young bourgeois revolutionary, one step ahead of Seville's police. He is narcissistic, yet good-natured, and lucky with women. "Captain Don Pasqual Costelar": a middle-aged aristocrat and Captain of the Civil Guard. His conservative exterior conceals powerful salacious impulses. "Governor Don Paquito": A minor character. The despotic commander of Seville's police force, who is responsible for maintaining order during the festivities. Don Paquito is susceptible to the charms of attractive women. The film's narrative is presented in four scenes, the second of which contains a series of flashbacks. Scene 1 – The boulevards of Seville are jammed with revelers wearing grotesque costumes, masks and parade sculptures. A detachment of Civil Guards stagger among the masqueraded merrymakers, bewildered by the “riotous disorder”. A frenzied merriment prevails. Antonio Galvan mixes with the crowds, evading the authorities who pursue him. He makes eye contact with the dazzling Concha, who is perched on an garish street float. The coquette flees into throng with Antonio in pursuit: he is rewarded with a secret note inviting him to meet with her in person that evening. Scene 2 – Antonio has a chance encounter with a friend of years past, Don Pasqual. The younger man, consumed with the image of the lovely Concha, asks the older gentleman what he knows of the mysterious girl. Don Pasqual solemnly relates the details of his fateful relationship with the young temptress in a series of vignettes.