This is essentially a soap opera, and all the alterations and reconstructions haven't changed that fact. Despite its complicated production history, it remains a visually appealing melodrama. Erich von Stroheim directed nearly every aspect of this diverting, though somewhat repetitive, story about a scoundrel. That scoundrel, "Count Sergius Karanzim" (EVS), flaunts himself along the Côte D'Azur, enticing unsuspecting…