1932 movie "Rasputin and the Empress"

[Ally Kumari]

Just saw this. Not that bad, considering the time of the making.
Not very accurate, but some of the scenes were interesting.

I did like the court dresses at the very beggining and family lunch in the garden.

[RichC]

Isn't this a copyrighted film?  If not I guess the file sharing is ok, but I wouldn't do it unless I was sure.  However, there are a few scenes of the film available on YouTube.  Just search Rasputin and the Empress.  I always thought the stuff about her voice was cool and you can hear it in these clips if you don't want to watch the entire movie.

Did anyone ever figure out if Barrymore actually met Empress Alexandra in person?  I actually did buy her memoirs a few years ago and didn't see anything in there about meeting the Empress.  Apparently Churchill proposed marriage to Ethel Barrymore in 1900.

According to the website Corbis, the caption in a photo of Barrymore dressed in costume for Rasputin and the Empress includes a floppy hat which was actually worn by the Empress.

[Imperial_Grounds]

You're welcome,

It's a good movie, not accurate but it's a good drama. The scenery and costumes are really amazing, as we are used from MGM, and there is one scene that gave me chills. The final scene, not accurate but the emotion of it is really strong, no word is being said, only footsteps heard and all of the sudden guns are fired. Great scene, and of course the one in the garden is also enjoyable and really shows the loving family they were.

The only problem i have with this movie is the audio, in the beginning it is synchronized, but after an hour it starts to change, and you really do notice it at some parts. But it's a good movie, worth to watch and it has certainly it's charm, the scenery and costumes, of course.

[Carolath Habsburg]

This is one of the pictures i want to see soo badly!! (im a huge fan of John and Lionel Barrymore )

As a sneak peak some stills of the movie







 

[Robert_Hall]

The design of the film is great. And the Barrymores are OTT when acting [well, thier real lives were as well].  The script was just junque though. Which is the reason the Yussoupovs won the lawsuit.
 

[Imperial_Grounds]

Intresting news - there was an official DVD, but now there is an official DVD available.

Here is the link:
http://www.wbshop.com/Rasputin-and-the-Empress-+EST-MOD/1000088097,default,pd.html?cgid=ARCHIVE

It is a good movie on its own, and the execution scene, well it is haunting.

Just hope there'll be an international release, but then again "Marie Antoinette" also got a R1-release only.

Anyway, for those intrested....

[Robert_Hall]

I have Rasputin  on vhs,  just for  curiosity, as it is a  well made film, but the overacting by the Barrymores and the historical liberties taken a bit too much, even for me.  I will transfer it to dvd when I figure out how the machine works.
 As for MA, which film are you talking about? I have the Coppola version on R2 and the Norma Shearer version as well. As I recall, I bought both from Virgin UK, which sadly, no longer exists.

[Imperial_Grounds]

To the classic movie on MA, so with Norma Shearer - which is wonderful.

I have a non-official dvd of this, but sadly the audio and image often are not going alike, which annoys me a bit to be honest.
I agree also that it is a good film, but not for a historical drama because of the liberties taken.

[LisaDavidson]

Regarding the Barrymores' overacting - it actually took some time for the craft of film acting to develop and it was in its infancy in the early 1930's when this film was made. Many of the actors in early films were stage trained actors and the craft of stage acting does involve such techniques as exaggerated movements and projecting one's voice which is noticeable in early films - such as this one. It took them awhile to realize what worked on the boards does generally not work on film and vice versa.

[Alixz]

Also - what was needed in silent films was not needed in the "talkies".

Over reacting and broad sweeping movement were needed to convey a lot in the silent films and I don't think that some actors ever learned that is wasn't needed when they transferred to "talkies" or from the stage to the  "talkies" as Lisa said.

This movie is copyrighted and I have removed all links to any kind of download.  In fact one of the "torrents' was removed because of copyright infringement.

And OT but just the same. When I bought my first copy of Nicholas and Alexandra, I paid $75 for it.  It listed for $125, but I had a special new member coupon and other discounts and that brought it down to the $75 I paid.  As Greg King said about Rasputin and the Empress, "I had to have it". 

All VHS were equally expensive when they first came out.  It wasn't until movies makers started adding commercials and trailers for other movies that the cost of producing them went down to where it is today.

[Geniebeanie]

I have it on VHS and it just became available on DVD.  If you go to Turner classic movies, you can order it.

[RealAnastasia]

Yes. Silent films were all what we will call nowadays "overacted". Since they've not words to say, they must said everything with gestures, and they were almost always, very exagerated. That's one of the reasons for most of good actors from silent movies couldn't fit in "talkies". The other reason was that...some of them had really UGLY voices! 

I've seen this film long time ago and I remember that I've liked it...However, there was a fact I never could swallow: what's the matter about a CURLY Alexei? I know he was somewhat curly unti he was a toddler, but after a while, his curls were gone. I know it's a minor detail in a movie. But I like the characters appareance more accurate that it's used to be. In the case of Alexei, they could have used a wig!

RealAnastasia.

[Alixz]

I don't think the idea of matching facial features to the real life characters came about until the mid 1960s.

Before that the idea was to cast a "big name star" to get the audience into the theater.  Especially someone like the Barrymores;
 
The first time I recall any actor being cast who looked like the real person was Cliff Robertson when he played JFK in PT109.

Of course Nicholas & Alexandra tried to cast actors who looked like the Romanovs and Lenin, etc.  It was a partial success.

[blessOTMA]

This movie will be shown on Tuner Classic Movie channel  ( TMC ) at mid-night , eastern standard time , Aug 5th 2010

[azrael7171918]

I have it on VHS and it just became available on DVD.  If you go to Turner classic movies, you can order it.

You can go to Warner Archives on the Warner website as well.