RASPUTIN AND THE EMPRESS (MGM 1932) Warner Archive Collection


Hollywood's historical epics are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they report to be a factual recreation of events that shaped the world. On the other, as with all forms of mass entertainment, they seek to engage and captivate their audience - usually through spectacle, and largely at the expense of factual substance. All to the good, the dream merchants would probably argue. Certainly, they are lavish reasons for pure escapism for many who might not otherwise have either the time or the inclination to pick up a history book and actually read the true story behind Hollywood's glittery myth. Perhaps no other event in world history has been as mythologized and/or bastardized through the lens of fantasy wish-fulfillment as those tragic last days of the Russian Romanov dynasty. Owing to the diligence of the revolutionaries who overthrew the monarchy - and thereafter effectively wiped most of the slate clean of any reference to Nicholas II and his family for the premiere half of the 20th century - the final days of Russia's last monarch were long considered viable fodder for constructive hypotheses and pure conjecture. What is known today is hardly more conclusive than what was known then, thus allowing the Hollywood myth to be perennially perpetuated for good box office.
Of this ilk is MGM's lavish 1932 film, Rasputin and the Empress. As scripted by Charles MacArthur (with unaccredited assists from Lenore J. Coffee, Ben Hecht, Robert Sherwood and Mercedes de Acosta) and rather haphazardly directed by Richard Boleslowski (who basically dedicates the last 7 ½ minutes to 12-yrs. of history) the film brings together for the first and only time, the American theatre's 'royal family': John, Lionel and Ethel Barrymore. In layman's terms, this Rasputin and the Empress is pure hokum, though artistically salvaged from descending into pure tripe by its three stellar leads. As with most epics from this vintage, Rasputin and the Empress opens large, with Czar Nicholas II (Ralph Morgan) and Czarina Alexandra (Ethel Barrymore) celebrating 500 years of the Romanov dynasty - a milestone anniversary. To a packed cathedral, the royals - including Czarevitch Alexie Aloysha (Tad Alexander), princesses Natasha (Diana Wynyard), Maria (Jean Parker), Anastasia (Ann Shirley) (though oddly, not Olga or Tatiana) - parade majestically past their loyal court, while outside a restless mob of peasants impatiently wait to catch a glimpse of their sovereigns. Also present at court is Grand Duke Igor (C. Henry Gordon) - a fiery diplomat who is informed by Prince Paul Chegodieff (John Barrymore) that his brother has been assassinated while attending the theatre. Demanding vengeance, rather than justice, Igor and Paul clash, both in their political views and their loyalties. Igor is more tyrannical - constantly encouraging the Czar to impose his will on the people via autocratic rule as is his divine right. But Paul represents the democratic approach – that, the changing political landscape of Europe, the future of Russia lies in the hands of the people and the establishment of a Duma (or parliament).
From here, the story shifts to Czarina Alexandra and her love for the Tsarvich - Alexie. After the boy falls in the garden and suffers a bout of hemophilia, Alexandra summons the court doctor, A. Remezov (Edward Arnold), only to realize no modern medicine can stop his chronic bleeding. Desperately grasping for salvation, Alexandra is persuaded to allow a rebel monk, Grigori Rasputin (Lionel Barrymore) to 'pray' over Alexie in private. Here, the script begins to delve into pure fantasy with Rasputin casting some sort of 'magic' spell over Alexie that, while momentarily arresting his hemorrhaging, also transforms the child into a sort of walking zombie who is loyal only to Rasputin from this day forward. In a bizarre moment in the script, Rasputin terrorizes Alexie by forcing him to watch an ant devour a fly under a microscope, comparing the fly to the monarchy. Feigning mercy, Rasputin promises Alexie he will never allow this to happen to the royal family. And all evidence to the contrary, as Rasputin slowly bribes and cajoles his way into the government, replacing loyalists with cronies who basically sponge off the excesses of absolute power while inflicting misery on the Russian people for their own profit. Only Paul remains true to his Czar - though his loyalty too is tested and then misrepresented by Rasputin who suggests to the Czarina, Paul is really the one responsible for driving a wedge between the Czar and the people’s devotion.
The last act of Rasputin and the Empress is a very dark fiction, compelling - even disturbing - melodrama. Rasputin's hold on the royal family has become omnipotent. The monk shows signs of plotting to rape Princess Maria - a minor - as she sleeps in her bed. Natasha, however, discovers Rasputin's devilry. First attempting to beat, then murder Natasha, Rasputin instead casts a powerful hypnotic spell on her. In the midst of his sorcery, he is found out by the Empress who exiles him from court once and for all. At a party at Paul's estate, Rasputin is fed dessert pastries by a waiter (Misha Auer), laced with a powerful poison. Before discovering the plot against him, Rasputin learns Paul is hiding in a closet and forces him down into the cellar of the estate, locking the door behind them. It is Rasputin's intent to murder Paul. Instead, Paul reveals to Rasputin he has been poisoned, with only moments to live. The two men struggle and Paul - in a powerful rage to avenge the royal family - murders the monk, first by bludgeoning him repeatedly with a hot poker from a nearby fireplace, then, dragging the still conscious and extremely bloody Rasputin outside into a raging snow storm, before submersing him in icy waters just beyond the estate grounds. Until this moment, the narrative has been evenly paced and made rather compelling. Unfortunately, by now 2-hrs. have run their course and with still much history to cover, director, Richard Boleslowski slaps together a brief series of vignettes in a rather shoddy to summary analysis of the demise of the Russian royal family. The Czar publicly exiles Paul for Rasputin's murder, but privately expresses his gratitude for discharging his duties to the crown. Paul encourages the Czar to seek exile outside of Russia, or at the very least, send his wife and children away to parts unknown for their own safety. Barring this suggestion, Nicholas and his family are led away by the revolutionaries to a cellar where they are assassinated before the final fade out.
Before exploring the quality of the Warner Archive’s (WAC) burn-on-demand DVD, there are curiosities in the cut of this movie that bear brief mention. First, it is important to remember Rasputin and the Empress was made in pre-code Hollywood. Hence, rape, murder, and other such atrocities could be depicted on celluloid. Buy it appears as though some very heavy-handed editing was performed after the original premiere, presumably, in the intervening decades, either to pare down the run time, possibly to fit the movie on a double bill and/or, more than likely to satisfy the censors in subsequent reissues after the code's installation. A handful of scenes throughout are ‘jump cut’ together with obvious portions of dialogue and situations sanitized/omitted. These cuts damage the overall continuity of the plot and negatively impact some of the performances, most noticeably, Lionel Barrymore's mad monk. His Rasputin is a diabolical anarchist, consumed by greed and haunted to his depths by his incapacity to justify a relatively Godless existence. If a more complete cut of Rasputin and the Empress exists – and it just might, as MGM’s archival program was generally more progressive – then Warner Home Video should do all it can to research and restore this movie to its full feature-length cut. 
Rasputin and the Empress has been released from WAC. The B&W transfer exhibits all of the shortcomings of a movie that has never had the benefit of a proper preservation/restoration. Although the image can be rather sharply detailed, contrast levels appear boosted with the mid-range of the gray scale blown out. Close-ups have excellent detail, but master shots tend to digress into a muddy, softly focused mess. Age-related artifacts are prevalent and often distracting. Thankfully, there is no edge enhancement or shimmering of fine details to contend with. The audio is 1.0 Dolby Digital mono and exhibits considerable hiss and pop, all par for the course of a ‘bare bones’ offering. The only extra is a theatrical trailer. Bottom line: Rasputin and the Empress is a movie worthy of further consideration, at it marks the one and only time MGM shelled out for all three Barrymores in a single offering. This DVD is merely adequate. A fully restored and remastered Blu-ray is preferred.
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
3
VIDEO/AUDIO
2.5
EXTRAS

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