Rasputin and the Empress
| Rasputin and the Empress | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Richard Boleslawski |
| Produced by | Bernard H. Hyman Irving Thalberg |
| Written by | Charles MacArthur |
| Starring |
John Barrymore Ethel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore |
| Music by | Herbert Stothart |
| Cinematography | William H. Daniels |
| Edited by | Tom Held |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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121 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,022,000 |
| Box office | $1,379,000 |
Rasputin and the Empress is a 1932 film about Imperial Russia starring the Barrymore siblings (John, as "Prince Chegodieff"; Ethel, as Czarina Alexandra; and Lionel Barrymore, as Grigori Rasputin). It is the only film in which all three siblings appear together.
The film's inaccurate portrayal of Prince Felix Yusupov and his wife Princess Irina (renamed "Prince Chegodieff" and "Princess Natasha") caused a historically significant lawsuit against MGM and gave rise to the "all persons fictitious disclaimer", which has since become standard in Hollywood works of fiction.
The impetus to making the film was Thalberg's discovery that the studio already owned the rights to Alfred Klabund's 1927 novel Rasputin. In June 1932 M-G-M had announced that the three Barrymores would star in the movie.
The highly fictionalized story takes place in the Russian Empire during the last years of the reign of Czar Nicholas II (Ralph Morgan) and the Czarina Alexandra (Ethel Barrymore). Reform-minded Prince Paul (John Barrymore) has long been concerned about the plight of the common people and knows a revolution is brewing. Prince Alexei, heir to the throne, is loved by the people but has hemophilia, and a slight fall turns out to be life-threatening. When royal physician Dr. Remezov (Edward Arnold) is powerless to stop the boy's bleeding, Princess Natasha (Diana Wynyard), Alexandra's lady-in-waiting and Paul's fiancee, recommends Rasputin (Lionel Barrymore) as a healer. He convinces the frantic Empress that he has been sent by God to cure the child. Left alone with Alexei, he hypnotizes the boy and relieves his agony but also gradually makes Alexei a slave to his will.
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