Night They Killed Resputin, The

2724. THE NIGHT THEY KILLED RASPUTIN (Nights Of Rasputin) (Giant Monster) (1960-France-Italy). With EDMUND PURDOM, JOHN DREW BARRYMORE. Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (otherwise known as “Rasputin The Mad Monk”) is one of the most controversial characters of the early 20th-century. Actually, he was not a monk but a mystic whose extraordinary powers of hypnotism allowed him to restore to health the ailing son of Czarina Alexandra Fyodorovna. For this deed, he was granted access into the inner circle of the Czar and Czarina. However, Rasputin’s excesses along with his involvement in Russian politics helped in no small way to sabotage his country’s existing government during World War I, and he was murdered in 1916. His story is recounted with flair in this stark and stirring drama. Barrymore’s father played the same role in 1932 (“Rasputin and The Empress”). The scenario opens in 1905, at which time Rasputin is a peasant who is called to St. Petersburg by the Czarina because word of his power as a healer has reached her ears. It seems that her son has become ill and no one knows what is wrong with him. He grows weaker every day. If he dies, so does the Romanoff dynasty. Via hypnosis, Rasputin “chases away all the boy’s pain.” The ever-grateful royals thus give him whatever he wants. As depicted here, Rasputin is a complex man. He drinks wine as if it is water. He indulges in sex orgies. He advises beautiful women that they must not only yield to temptation, but seek it out. Yet, at the same time, he is capable of great kindness. His plight and fate are portrayed with relish amid the swirl of political conspiracy and intrigue. A black and white print of a film originally released in color. Dubbed in English. 86 minutes. Drama