Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)

[Ally Kumari]

There are several threads already where you can find information onthe movie and also different points of view. As for me, I enjoyed it, it was the first Romanov movie I´ve seen (not counting animated Anastasia), and although there are mistakes and also the portrayal of the children was somewhat flat, it definitely IS worth watching.

[Nayomini]

 I just started watching the movie which I downloaded from the internet and I am excited. I haven't seen it in full yet but the maginificance of the costumes, the palace as it would have looked back then, the majesty of the guards saluting the Tsar including the massive Nubian guards who guard the door to the inner sanctum of the palace, the grandeur of it all on film, is what excites me. The plot looks bad I agree with most of you (after all, it was 1971 and classics of the period aren't exactly perfectly executed plots) but I love it for the fact that we can actually see Nicholas and Alix and the children in action, the palace (yes the palace) and most of the key figures in the drama. For that, I am grateful to the makers of the movie. I can watch it again and again, never mind the plot. I feel I am back there in time, when I watch the scenes.   

[Alejandro Spain]

I enjoyed it, because it have been the first film about the Tsar and his family that I have seen (I would like to see other film, but I guess that there isn't any film about them), but it have some mistakes, like the awful palace, the jewels that seemed made in plastic and some scenes.

But it's good and I was excited of see it

[mercman]

N&A was the first film I ever saw on the last Tsar and have seen at least ten others since.  I agree there are some historical problems with the film, but
I feel the the portrayal of Nicholas II by Michael Jayston stands alone as the best, in my opinion, both for his remarkable physical similarities and character interpretation. 

[Massine]

I wonder why the actress who played Tatiana did not play Maria who's eyes were referred to as 'Marie's Saucers'.  Tatiana was very thin like the actress who played Marie.  Also in Massie's book we are told that Marie wanted to be a wife and mother.  So it would make more sense for her to yearn to be loved by a man.

Now, something to think about.  When the Nicholas and Alexandra film was made, there was probably one fourth of the information available in the free world as there is now.  The general public hardly had access to pictures of the Royal Palaces let alone the lives of the Imperial Family.  The producers probably didn't think that anyone would ever be able to know any of the truth for sure.

Also - I had the privilege of dinner with Suzanne Massie a few years ago and she told me that she and her then husband felt that they had been 'taken to the cleaners' with the film.

[markjhnstn]

Just wondered if this is an extra on the dvd?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNHsEO_UrDY&feature=related

[Alixz]

I have both the VHS and the DVD and I know I have seen it somewhere.  I think it is on the DVD.

[RomanovsFan4Ever]

I have the Italian version of the DVD, and unfortunately that extra it's not included in it, a pity...at least now I can watch it on youtube.

[koloagirl]

Aloha all!

The "Behind the Scenes" is indeed one of the "extras" on the (at least American version) of Nicholas and Alexandra DVD - it is narrated by one of the young actresses who played one of the Grand Duchesses - it is cute and sweet and is
a nice addition to the DVD.

Janet R.

[Douglas]

The best part was the the actress that played the Tsar's mother.  Well done.

The Empress:  Too beautiful and not believeable.  The real Empress was much harder and less emotional.

The Tsar:  Way overly dramatic....somewhat of a ham.

The Heir:  Excellent and well done.

The GDs:  Overall well done.

[blessOTMA]

The best part was the the actress that played the Tsar's mother.  Well done.

Irenie Worth!!  So fabulous! She doesn't get much time , but boy does she ever get MF across.



 
 
 

[Ally Kumari]

The Heir:  Excellent and well done.

Did we two seen the same movie? Alexei from this film is the spoilt brat I cannot stand!!! Plus he looks nothing like the real boy....

[Douglas]

The Heir:  Excellent and well done.

Did we two seen the same movie? Alexei from this film is the spoilt brat I cannot stand!!! Plus he looks nothing like the real boy....

Well, I may have to re-evaluate Alexie.  I just saw a small part of his contribution.  You are probably correct.

[blessOTMA]

It seems to me Alexi is always portrayed as physically  smaller than he really was in 1918. He was quite tall for his age anyway.
By the  time of the murders, he was most likely even taller than we see him during captivity photos in the spring of 1917.
This makes the fact his father carried him to the cellar even more moving since they were closer in size than we usually see.
Nicholas was very strong and Alexi's size would have no been a trouble for him.

I think the young actor did a good job...but he doesn't look like Alexi in the least and don't get me started on how little the actress who played Olga looked like the actual Grand Duchess. It seems they trying to get it wrong there. However  the other girls weren't bad  given the  movie industry's way of getting things wrong! lol! 

[historylover]

I had some issues with the way in which the Tsarina is portrayed in the film.  She appeared to be a nasty, autocratic woman who completely dominated her husband.
What do others think?