Rasputin and the Empress

Rasputin and the Empress (1932)

Beautiful girls who came to pray! Caught in the web of debauched Rasputin, whose crafty mind toppled a throne!

The story of corrupt, power-hungry, manipulative Grigori Rasputin's influence on members of the Russian Imperial family and others, and what resulted.

Date of release
1932-12-23
TMDB
5.4 / 10 (17)
Runtime
2h 1m
Genres
Drama, History
Director
Richard Boleslawski

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Awards: 0 · Nominations: 1

Rasputin and the Empress is a 1932 American pre-Code historical drama film directed by Richard Boleslawski and written by Charles MacArthur. Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), the film is set in Imperial Russia and stars the Barrymore siblings. It is the only film in which all three siblings appear together.

Background

The impetus for making the film was Irving Thalberg's discovery that the studio already owned the rights to Alfred Klabund's 1927 novel Rasputin. In June 1932, MGM had announced that the three Barrymores would star in the movie. This film marked Ethel Barrymore's sound film debut and is the earliest known recording of her famous voice.

That is the only film which features all three Barrymore siblings - John, Ethel and Lionel - together; although all had starring roles, there are only a few short scenes where all three are on the screen at the same time.

"I gradually learned that this was an unusually disorganized company, and it was a miracle that the film ever got finished–no script except for one day ahead; the three Barrymores, who were tough enough to take individually, together they spelled disaster," wrote Barbara Barondess in her memoir. This was her first talking film. "I rehearsed the scene without a hitch. But the strong Klieg lights were killers.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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