Main Cast: John Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Ralph Morgan, Diana Wynyard
Release Year: 1932
Country: US
Run Time: 123 minutes
Plot
It's hard to separate fact and fancy from the many accounts of what happened on the set when all three of the fabulous Barrymores -- Ethel, John and Lionel -- appeared together for the only time in Rasputin and the Empress. As for the end result, John offers the subtlest (!) performance as Russian Prince Paul Chegodieff; Lionel throws all caution to the four winds in the role of "Mad Monk" Rasputin; and Ethel comes off as rather artificial as Empress Alexandra (Ethel was more appealing in her character roles of the 1940s and 1950s). The plot covers the years 1913 through 1918, during the tumultuous final years of the Romanov regime in Russia. When young Prince Alexis (Tad Alexander), a hemophiliac, hovers near death after an accident, the royal physicians regretfully predict an imminent demise. At the advice of Prince Paul's impressionable sweetheart Natasha (Diana Wynyard), Alexandra and her husband, Czar Nikolai (Ralph Morgan), call in the mysterious Rasputin to look after Alexis. Using hypnosis, Rasputin is able to "cure" the boy-and to slowly gain control over the royal family. Prince Paul, concerned that Rasputin's despotic misuse of his new-found authority will cause the people to revolt, does his best to discredit the oily holy man, but to no avail. When Natasha is raped by Rasputin, Paul attempts to shoot the miscreant down. But Rasputin, who has taken the precaution of wearing a bullet proof vest, is not so easily killed off. In a last, desperate measure, Paul and his cohorts try to poison Rasputin to death-and even this doesn't work. Only a climactic fight to the death puts an end to Rasputin's reign. Alas, the damage has already been done, and the royal family is doomed to be toppled from power...and, ultimately, to be shot down like dogs by the Bolsheviks. Perhaps it's true that the three Barrymores spent more time trying to upstage one another than concentrating on the script at hand, but we wouldn't have it any other way. When seen today, Rasputin and the Empress seems rather choppy in spots, with isolated lines of dialogue and sometimes whole scenes completely missing. This is due to a million-dollar lawsuit brought against MGM by Prince Yusupov, the man who really engineered Rasputin's assassination. The Prince wasn't offended by being depicted as a murderer, but he was distressed when MGM suggested that his wife had been raped by Rasputin. As a result, Rasputin and the Empress was withdrawn from distribution, and all prints were later bowdlerized when released to television. Also as a result, all future Hollywood films were obliged to carry the "Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental" disclaimer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Rasputin and the Empress is a 1932 film starring the Barrymore siblings, John (as Prince Chegodieff), Ethel (as Empress Alexandra), and Lionel Barrymore (as Grigori Rasputin). This is the only film starring all three siblings. The film's inaccurate portrayal of Prince Felix and Irina Yusupov as Prince Chegodieff and Princess Natasha caused a major lawsuit against MGM.
The model for Princess Natasha in the movie was Princess Irina Romanoff Youssoupoff spouse of Felix Yusupov, who filed a lawsuit against MGM in 1933, claiming invasion of privacy and libel in portraying her as a mistress of Grigory Rasputin. She won an award of $127,373 in an English court and an out-of-court settlement with MGM, reportedly of $250,000, in New York. As a result of the success of Princess Youssoupoff's lawsuit against MGM over this movie, Hollywood studios began inserting the disclaimer "This motion picture is a work of fiction..." in the credits of every film.
Upon its initial release in 1932, the movie was the subject of a lawsuit issued by Prince Felix Yusupov, who had actually been involved in the death of the real Grigory Rasputin. Although names in the film were changed (Yusupov's character, as portrayed by John Barrymore, was called Prince "Paul Chegodieff"), Yusupov recognized Diana Wynyard's character of "Princess Natasha" to be that of his wife, Princess Irina. Yusupov sued for libel as a result of a scene which suggested that his wife had been raped by Rasputin. MGM lost the suit, and the scene was cut, which rendered Wynyard's character somewhat incomprehensible if the viewer of the film is not aware of this cut - in the first half of the film, Princess Natasha is a supporter of Rasputin, and in the second half she is extremely afraid of him, for no apparent reason. The laserdisc release of this film includes the original theatrical trailer, which contains a portion of this deleted scene.
The only film in which all three Barrymore siblings - John Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore - appeared together.
Ethel Barrymore's only starring role in a sound movie.
Ethel Barrymore (Tsarina Alexandra) plays the lover of her real life brother Lionel Barrymore (Grigori Rasputin) in this film.
