The Fall of the Romanoffs
Cast & Crew
Herbert Brenon
Edward Connelly
Iliodor
Alfred Hickman
Conway Tearle
Charles Craig
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In a vodka shop in pre-revolutionary Siberia, Rasputin, a drunken, illiterate sled driver, learns of the death of the wife of Meliti, a local clergyman. The next day Meliti hires Rasputin as a driver, and Rasputin tells the clergyman his fortune, using his knowledge about Meliti's wife as proof of his soothsaying skills. When Meliti discovers that his wife has indeed died, he falls at Rasputin's feet and declares him a great seer. Soon Rasputin himself begins to believe in his powers and sets off to preach around the countryside where he meets Anna, a gypsy girl who falls under his provocative spell. Although the rough charlatan is arrested for stealing, Prince Felix, upon hearing of Rasputin's prophetic abilities, goes to the village to bring him back to St. Petersburg. After Rasputin correctly predicts the birth of a royal son, his influence in the court grows, and eventually he is installed in a special palace. Rasputin advocates the use of eloquent orators to quell the unhappy masses and tries to join forces with Iliodor, an idealistic Serbian monk. Once Iliodor witnesses the corrupt and manipulative practices of Rasputin, however, he switches his allegiance to the revolutionaries and denounces the Czar. Although Rasputin attempts to destroy Iliodor's power and credibility, Iliodor prevails, and with the help of Kerensky, the commander of the revolutionary forces, the Czar is overthrown.
Director
Herbert Brenon
Cast
Edward Connelly
Iliodor
Alfred Hickman
Conway Tearle
Charles Craig
George Deneuburg
R. Paton Gibbs
William E. Shay
Lawrence Johnson
W. Francis Chapin
Peter Barbierre
Ketty Galanta
Pauline Curley
Sonia Marcelle
Nance O'neil
Charles Edward Russell
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This film was shot at the Herbert Brenon Film Corp. studios in Hudson Heights, NJ. The film had its premiere in New York on September 23, 1917, but did not go into general release until January 1918. First National Exhibitors' Circuit secured the distribution rights in late February or early March 1918. Between the film's first showing in New York and its release by First National in March 1918, Iliodor Pictures Corp. added new scenes to reflect the more recent developments in the Russian situation. One new scene included an appearance by Charles Edward Russell, a writer on political economic theory and a socialist member of the American (Root) Commission before the Russian Duma. Iliodor, known as the "Mad Monk," actually lived during the period of the Russian Revolution and served as confidant to the Czar and Czarina. According to a New York Times news item, William A. Brady, whose production company, the World Film Corp. also made a film in 1917 about Rasputin called Rasputin, the Black Monk (see listing below), and Herbert Brenon got into a fist fight after a pre-release screening in New York on September 6, 1917. The fight was reportedly broken up by Adolph Zukor. A pre-release title of the film was The Downfall of the Romanoffs. In addition to Rasputin, the Black Monk, other films about Rasputin include Rasputin and the Empress (1933, M-G-M), starring John, Ethel and Lionel Barrymore, and Rasputin-The Mad Monk (1966, 20th Century-Fox), starring Christopher Lee.
