Week Forty
|
| "Tovarich" 1937 |
MOVIE NAME: TOVARICH
STUDIO: WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES
PRODUCER: JACK L. WARNER and HAL B. WALLIS
DIRECTOR: ANATOLE LITVAK
DATE: 1937
TYPE: COMEDY, with Songs
CAST:
CLAUDETTE COLBERT as Tatiana, The Grand Duchess Petrovna, CHARLES BOYER as Mikail, Prince Ouratieff, BASIL RATHBONE as Gorotchenko, ANITA LOUISE as Helene DuPont , MELVILLE COOPER as Charles DuPont, ISABEL JEANS as Fernande DuPont, MORRIS CARNOVSKY as Chauffourier, VICTOR KILIAN as Gendarme , MAURICE MURPHY as Georges DuPont , GREGORY GAYE as Count Brekenski , MONTAGUE LOVE as M. Coutois , RENIE RIANO as Mme. Coutois , FRITZ FELD as Martelleau, TOMMY BUPP, as first urchin
SOURCE: A F I, Catalog of Feature Films 1931-1940
STORY: Two Russian exiles, Tatiana, the Grand Duchess Petrovna and Mikail, Prince Ouratieff, have settled in Paris, bringing with them forty million francssmuggled out of Russia. They intend to use the money to finance the counter-revolution. Both the French Government and the Soviets are eager to gain access to the money, but Mikail refuses to spend it, even though he and Tatiana are living in poverty. Finally, having spent their last sou, they decide to find work as servants, since as Russian nobility, their job was to wait on the Tsar and his wife. Using the names Michel and Tina Dubrovsky, they obtain jobs in the housejold of banker Charles DuPont. When they arrive, the household is in total chaos, but Michel and Tina totally charm the family, teach them Russian folk songs, and generally put things in order. It is not until the night of the big dinner party in honor of the Soviet Commissar Gorotchenko, that their noble background is revealed. After dinner, Gorotchenko visits Tatiana and Mikail in the kitchen. He confesses that although he tortured them in Russia, he was so impressed by Tatiana that he allowed them to escape. Now, he begs Mikail to sign the Tsar's money over to the soviets, so that Soviet oil fields will not have to be leased to foreigners. Surprisingly, Tatiana agrees, convincing Mikail that, at least this way, the money will benefit the Russian people and the country that they love.
|
Back |