The Rise of Catherine the Great

“The more he hated her, the more she loved him...this girl of MANY loves who rose to rule a hundred million souls but could not govern her own heart.”

In the Russian court under Empress Elisabeth (Flora Robson), a young German princess named Catherine (Elisabeth Bergner) is brought in to marry the Empress's nephew, Grand Duke Peter (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.). They share some good moments, but his cruel, erratic temper pushes the two apart. Paul Czinner, working from a 1912 stage play, keeps the film close to its court intrigue and its quarrelling royal household.