Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
Director: Richard Boleslavsky.
Cast: John, Ethel and Lionel Barrymore, Ralph Morgan, Diana Wynyard, Tad Alexander, C. Henry Gordon, Edward Arnold, Jean Parker.
Historical Background:
1869 -- Gregory Efimovich Rasputin born to peasants in Prokovskoe, Siberia. As a boy he was known for drunkenness, stealing and womanizing.
He came under the influence of the followers of the Skopsty who believed that the only way to reach God was through sinful actions. This faith of course appealed to a debauched man and he become a traveling monk.
turn of the century -- in Kazan he impresses the local clergy.
1902 -- he heads to St. Petersburg where he comes to the notice of many of the country's leading religious leaders.
1894 -- death of Tsar Alexander III and ascendancy of the 26 year old Tsar Nicholas II. He marries German Princess Alix of Hesse.
They had a daughter within a year of their wedding, the future Grand Duchess Olga Nicholaievna. Three more daughters followed.
1897 -- daughter Tatiana Nicholaievna born.
1899 -- daughter Maria Nicholaievna born.
1901 -- daughter Anastasia Nicholaievna born.
Wanting to insure a male heir, Alexandra comes under the influence of mystics
and faith healers.
1904 -- son Alexis born. He has hemophilia, an affliction that affected many
of the inter-breeding royal families of the era.
1905 -- Alexis has another serious bleeding episode.
Rasputin had a small following in royal circles in St. Petersburg, among them the Grand Duchess Militza and Anastasia and Anna Vyrubova, a close companion of Empress Alexandra. These women recommended Rasputin to Alexandra.
Rasputin managed to stop Alexis' bleedings and this brought him the gratitude and support of the parents. The developing relationship caused great worry among royal society. Rumors spread that Alexandra was having a sexual relationship with the mad monk. And Rasputin himself boasted of having sex with the Empress and her daughters.
Nicholas exiled Rasputin to the provinces, but another bleeding of his son brought Rasputin back to the palace. Subsequently, Alexandra became almost grew completely dependent on the monk.
1914 -- outbreak of World War I. Things went badly for Russia. Fear spread that because Nicholas relied on Alexandra for advise and Alexandra relied on Rasputin, that it was actually the monk that was making the important decisions in the government. They tried to convince the royal couple to get rid of Rasputin.
1915 -- Nicholas II's dismisses Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholaievich as the head of the Russian armies and assumes command itself. He heads for the front lines leaving Alexandra in charge back home. Rasputin takes advantage of the situation to get his own men into the government. The Tsar's cousin, Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich and Prince Felix Youssoupov plot to kill Rasputin.
1916 December 16 -- Rasputin killed in Youssoupov's Petrograd palace. He was drugged, poisoned, beat and shot. He did not die, however, probably because the poisoning slowed down his whole system, including bleeding. Rasputin finally died by drowning when his body, wrapped in a carpet, was thrown into the Moika Canal on the Neva River.
Nicholas and Alexandra vowed to punish the assassins. He sent the two men into
exile.
Three months after the death of Rasputin, Nicholas loses his throne, then he and
his family are arrested, and eventually assassinated.
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