Nicholas and Alexandra **** (1971, Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman, Lynne Frederick, Fiona Fullerton, Harry Andrews, Laurence Olivier, Tom Baker, Michael Redgrave, Irene Worth, Jack Hawkins, Alexander Knox) – Classic Movie Review 4,811

Tsars in their eyes

Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman grab their chances to shine as the Russian royal pair Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra in Franklin J Schaffner’s sumptuous double Oscar-winning 1971 film Nicholas and Alexandra.

Those distinguished actors Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman grab their movie star opportunities to shine as the Russian royal pair Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Tsarina Alexandra in director Franklin J Schaffner’s film Nicholas and Alexandra, a careful, level-headed 1971 historical epic about the final days of the tsars. It is a double Oscar winner.

Jayston and Suzman are supported by an extremely fine all-star cast of the day, and among those enjoying themselves most are Tom Baker in the showy role of mad monk Rasputin and Irene Worth as the Queen Mother Marie Fedorovna.

This sumptuous movie was expensively and gorgeously photographed by cinematographer Freddie Young in Yugoslavia and Spain. But, alas, not enough people bought tickets to recoup the $11 million cost, grossing $7 million at the box office. Was it too long, too historical, too cerebral or just too depressing? It is of course the story of the last ruling Russian monarch and his wife from 1904 until their deaths in 1918.

Maybe if producer Sam Spiegel had got the stars he wanted in Peter O’Toole as Rasputin and Vanessa Redgrave as Alexandra, it might have been a different story at the box office. But Columbia Studios decided they were too expensive. Instead, for Rasputin, Tom Baker was recommended  by Laurence Olivier, director of the Royal National Theatre, where Baker was a member of the company.

James Goldman [screenplay] and Edward Bond [additional dialogue]’s literate, historical-minded screenplay, adapting the 1967 book by Robert K Massie, is the strongest possible asset.

And so is the handsome production by designer John Box, as well as those guest appearances of seemingly all of British Equity from Laurence Olivier (as Count Sergei Witte) down, notably including Harry Andrews, Michael Redgrave, Irene Worth, Jack Hawkins, notably also including Brian Cox as Leon Trotsky, Ian Holm as Vasily Yakovlev, and Vivian Pickles as Nadezhda Krupskaya.

Also in the marvellous vintage cast are Roderic Noble, Ania Marson, Lynne Frederick, Candace Glendenning, Fiona Fullerton as Anastasia, Harry Andrews, Michael Redgrave, Jack Hawkins, Alexander Knox as The American Ambassador, Timothy West, Katherine Schofield, Jean-Claude Drouot, John Hallam, Guy Rolfe, John Wood, Eric Porter, Maurice Denham, Ralph Truman, Gordon Gostelow, John McEnery, Vivian Pickles, Brian Cox, James Hazeldine, Stephen Greif, Martin Potter as Prince Yussoupov, Richard Warwick as Grand Duke Dmitry, Vernon Dobtcheff as Dr Lazovert, Steven Berkoff as Pankratov, Ian Holm as Yakovlev, Alan Webb as Yurovsky, Leon Lissek as Avadeyev, David Giles as Goloshchekin, Ralph Neville, George Rigaud, Curd Jürgens, Julian Glover, John Shrapnel, Diana Quick, John Forbes-Robertson, Robin Askwith, Jeremy Brett, and Roy Dotrice as General Alexeiev.

Yes, the film received six nominations at the 44th Academy Awards, including for Best Picture and Best Actress (Janet Suzman), Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Cinematography, and it is a double Oscar winner. The superb Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (John Box, Ernest Archer, Jack Maxsted, Gil Parrondo, Vernon Dixon) and Best Costume Design (Yvonne Blake, Antonio Castillo) won Oscars.

There were no Golden Globe or, surprisingly, Bafta award wins.

Producer Sam Spiegel decided to tackle Nicholas and Alexandra after he was shut out from working with David Lean on Doctor Zhivago, also set during revolutionary Russia. Spiegel and Lean fell out when working together on Lawrence of Arabia. Spiegel hired writer James Goldman to adapt Massie’s book as a screenplay, since Goldman had written the popular play and film The Lion in Winter. Goldman recommended Franklin J Schaffner as director after seeing Patton.

It was shot in Spain in November 1970 for 20 weeks and in Yugoslavia.

Nicholas and Alexandra is directed by Franklin J Schaffner, runs 184 minutes, is made by Horizon Pictures, is released by Columbia-Warner Distributors, is written by James Goldman [screenplay] and Edward Bond [additional dialogue], is shot by Freddie Young, is produced by Sam Spiegel, is scored by Richard Rodney Bennett, and designed by John Box, Ernest Archer, Jack Maxsted, Gil Parrondo, and Vernon Dixon.

Release dates: 29 November 1971 (Royal Command Performance) and 13 December 1971 (release).

RIP Spain’s Gil Parrondo, double Oscar-winning art director for Patton and Nicholas and Alexandra, who died on 24 December 2016 in Madrid, aged 95.

RIP Roy Dotrice (1923–2017).

RIP Michael Jayston (born Michael James  29 October 1935 – 5 February 2024),

He played Peter Guillam opposite Alec Guinness in the series Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy in 1979.

His films include Cromwell as Henry Ireton (1970), Nicholas and Alexandra – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (1971), Follow Me! – Charles (1972), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Charles Dodgson (1972), Bequest to the Nation – Captain Hardy (1973), The Homecoming – Teddy (1973), Tales That Witness Madness – Brian (segment 3 “Mel”) (1973), Craze – Detective Sgt Wall (1974), The Internecine Project – David Baker (1974), Dominique – Arnold Craven (1978), Zulu Dawn – Col. Crealock (1979), From a Far Country – Narrator (1981), Highlander III: The Final Dimension – Jack Donovan (1994) and Element of Doubt – Kirk (1996).

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4,811

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com