"Tovarich" is the story about two members of the Russian royalty who are married and living in exile in France following the Russian Revolution of 1917. Prince Mikail (Charles Boyer) and Grand Duchess Tatiana (Claudette Colbert) are living in poverty and they eat by Tatiana stealing food from the local market....but she doesn't just steal, she steals luxury items like champagne and caviar because, as she sees it, they are above laws that apply to commoners and they NEED caviar and champagne.
After years of living in squalor, Mikail decides that it's finally time for them to get jobs (you think?!?!?!). You learn all this in the first few minutes of the film...and I found myself thoroughly hating the couple. While I am no fan of the Revolution, rich pigs like this couple were the reason for such a revolution...and the film gives you no reason to look on them positively!
When they obtain jobs as domestics, the pair are happy and their employers, at first, have no idea their servants are members of royalty. But problems develop when Commissar Grotochenko (Basil Rathbone) comes for dinner, as he represents the new Russian government and he naturally hates royals. What's next? See the film.
I was very torn while watching this film. I love Boyer and Colbert, they are wonderful here as far as their acting goes. But the problem is the plot...and I mentioned that above. Caring about the communists or royals is a real chore for me....as both sides are very nasty pieces of work. And, it's odd that in the 1930s that apparently Americans were supposed to somehow care about royals...royals who in the 'good old days' killed serfs with complete impunity and watched them starve due to indifference. I normally never get political in my reviews...but it really is difficult to divorce yourself from history with a film like this.
Overall, this is a slick looking and well acted film about folks I just didn't care about at all. I do think my being an ex-history teacher made watching this much more difficult for me than the average person...most might not realize how truly awful and cruel the Russian royals actually were.
