Rasputin and the Empress (1932)

Wow - a chance to see the three Barrymores together.Kind of underwhelming."Rasputin and the Empress" is the amazingly inaccurate story of Rasputin and his influence on the royal family. Lionel is the man himself, John is the man who wants him dead, Prince Chegodieff, and Ethel is the Empress.This film cost MGM a lot of money in lawsuits even though the names were changed to protect the guilty. The Yusupov family made quite a bit of money thanks to their portrayal in this film, as Prince Chegodieff and Natasha.The movie doesn't hold up for reasons beyond its plot. Ethel, who was very good as a character actress in films, here does the sort of acting popular in the day, melodramatic and with a quivering voice. She just may not have been used to film acting, I don't know.Lionel played Rasputin and he was good, except that his Rasputin is apparently a rapist as well as a madman. And John, my favorite, is wasted. He really should have played Rasputin, and this film would have gone up a level or two.At any rate, seeing the three Barrymores together was a big bust. Also, John and Lionel didn't get along at least at that point, and while on the set, Lionel called the director from a pay phone and told him to tell John to stop touching him. John would put his hand on Lionel's arm in a scene, which was a way of drawing the focus to John.One big happy family. Skip it.

Rasputin and the Empress (1932) *** (out of 4) Lionel, John and Ethel Barrymore star in this film, which was the only one that all three legends appeared in together. After her son is near death, Czarina Alexandria (Ethel) lets the monk Rasputin (Lionel) pray with her son who eventually heals and the monk gives credit to God. Saving her son, the monk soon finds himself gaining power inside the government but this doesn't sit well with Prince Chegodieff (John) who will stop at nothing to prove the monk is mad. Apparently MGM was sued due to how inaccurate the story is here so if you want a history lesson you should go read a book but if you want to see all three Barrymore's together then this is the only film out there that will suit you. The film should have been a lot better than it is but the thing drags at several points and I'm sure fifteen or so minutes could have been trimmed from the 123-minute running time, although apparently the film ran longer when originally released. The performances aren't what you'd expect but it's certainly fun seeing the three Barrymore's working together. Lionel actually goes way over the top, which is something you'd expect from John but he actually manages to be quite calm and cool throughout the film. John certainly gives the best performance but it's Lionel who steals the film with his fake beard and over the top antics. Ethel is good in her role as is the supporting work from Ralph Morgan. The costumes and set design are wonderful and I really enjoyed the made up ending, which contains some pretty strong violence.

Rasputin and the Empress shouldn't be used as a lesson of pre-Soviet Russia. Names have been changed (and that didn't prevent MGM from law suits) and a lot of the information we now know about this period of Russian history - was not known in 1932.As other people have commented about this being the only film that Ethel, John, and Lionel Barrymore appeared together, this movie doesn't show why the Barrymores have the reputation that they have. John Barrymore's career started going downhill after the introduction of sound. Lionel Barrymore, wearing one of the phoniest fake beards, tries to capture the charisma and sense of control that Rasputin had over Czarina Alexandra and the Czarevitch. Ethel Barrymore gives an understated performance - too understated at times. When her only son seems to be close to possible death, she doesn't seem all that bothered.C. Henry Gordon is a great Grand Duke Igor, Ralph Morgan is a convincing Czar Nicholas II, but they don't appear that frequently. Don't expect anyone to speak with a Russian accent or even attempting and accent.Rasputin is one of the most interesting people in the world during the early 20th Century. He was also one of the most enigmatic and contradictory. A holy man who was accused of raping a nun, excessive drinking, and being power hungry. Barrymore's portrayal of Rasputin plays this up, plus making claims that he will be Russia. He seems almost like Charles Manson at times in the way he can make someone, especially the Czarevitch, behave like they are totally different people compared to the way they acted before meeting Rasputin.It is best to watch this movie as just that - a fictional representation of various accounts of what happened in the royal court of Russia in its final days. The writers included Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht, Robert Sherwood, Mercedes de Acosta, and Lenore Coffee - some of the best writers of the period.It's worth a view - don't expect historical accuracy, but it is an interesting film that tries to show a much different world than what Americans would have known.

In Margot Peters excellent book The House of Barrymore she characterized what MGM had to deal with in the only time the three Barrymore siblings were in a film together, John on drink, Lionel on drugs, and Ethel on her high horse. More truth than humor there.John's drinking and self destruction from same are well known. Lionel was on all kinds of pain killing medication which Louis B. Mayer kept him supplied with in return for being the fifth column of management whenever his contract players started getting ideas. For Ethel however this was her first venture into sound films and she was one who took the title of First Lady of the American Theater quite seriously with all the royal prerogatives of same.Somehow this retelling of the last days of the Romanovs did get made and in it Lionel Barrymore who had the most colorful part of the film, takes the acting honors. His Rasputin, the malevolent monk who held sway over the Tsar and Tsarina because of his ability to control the symptoms of the Tsaretch's hemophilia is a classic study in evil. Ethel is properly regal and John is the noble prince who eventually does something about the curse over the Romanovs, though too late.Rasputin was bad enough in history though here the writers went a bit overboard. There's no accusation against him of having designs on the royal princesses, yet we see Lionel casting a lascivious eye on the Princess Anastasia.Though the name was changed for the film, the real assassin of Rasputin, Prince Felix Yousapov did sue MGM and collect a bundle from them. Personally I think he robbed the lion studio because if anything John Barrymore's portrayal was far more noble than Yousapov was in real life. To add insult to injury though another guy with the name of Chegodieff which was John's name in the film also sued MGM and claimed he was defamed and won.The biggest historical error I find though was the fact that Rasputin was urging Tsar Nicholas to enter World War I. In fact the opposite was the case. Speaking of the Tsar, he's played here as the nebbish he was in real life by Ralph Morgan.For reasons I don't understand the film did not end with Rasputin's demise. Dramatically speaking it should have. But the film continued on until the execution of the royal family by the Bolsheviks. No proper dramatic foundation was laid for that event. There is some mention of revolution in the air, but nothing in the story suggests what will take place.Rasputin and the Empress is bad history and mediocre drama. But it is a chance to see the Barrymore siblings all in the same film and shouldn't be missed for that.