This version of the notorious Russian monk/charlatan's life, presents Rasputin, not as an evil manipulator of the czar's family, but as more of a victim. The story begins in a tiny village where he miraculously healed peasants. He is then taken to court to treat the czarina's hemophiliac son, but because Rasputin was a wild drunk and womanizer, he is sent back to his home. When...
The European mentality of this German silent was a bit racy for mainstream American tastes of the era; nevertheless, the images created by director Paul Czinner told this story well. A wife (Elizabeth Bergner) is bored by her overweight slob of a husband (Emil Jannings). She gives in to the temptation of a slickly seductive poet (Conrad Veidt). The cuckolded husband (a common r...