El zar loco

I will never miss the opportunity of singing the praises of the great Harry Baur who has here created another of his unforgettable characterisations as Tsar Paul. He has captured the mercurial, childlike, generous, vindictive and sometimes unstable nature of the man.

He was assassinated in St Petersburg in 1801 not because he was a so-called 'mad despot' but because the nobles felt threatened by his attempts to curb their excesses and by his reforms to improve the lot of the peasantry.

This is not made clear in the film however.

Despite this and other inaccuracies this film of Maurice Tourneur is actually very good indeed.

The 'patriot' of the title is Count Pahlen played by the excellent Pierre Renoir whose scenes with Bauer are sensational. Suzy Prim also excels as Anna.

Art direction is by Roger Mercanton and there is a marvellous score, sparingly used, by Jacques Ibert.

It is a pity that the assassination scene although excellent, is historically inaccurate but perhaps strangulation was not considered 'suitable' for audiences in the 1930's. Likewise, although Pahlen might have felt remorse for his actions he certainly did not kill himself.

This should hopefully not mar one's enjoyment of this film as the production values are first class and the three leads exceptional.