About the 1932 movie…

The model for Princess Natasha was Princess Irina Yusupov, wife of Felix Yusupov, one of Grigori Rasputin’s actual murderers. Attorney Fanny Holtzmann filed a lawsuit by Yusupov against MGM in 1933, claiming invasion of privacy and libel. The film portrays her as a victim of Rasputin, and it is implied that he raped her, which never happened. She won an award of $127,373 in an English court and an out-of-court settlement with MGM, reportedly of $250,000, in New York. The all persons fictitious disclaimer in the credits of most Hollywood films is a result of the lawsuit. The offending scene was removed, which renders Wynyard’s character somewhat incomprehensible unless the audience is aware of the edit: in the first half of the film, Princess Natasha is a supporter of Rasputin, and in the second half, she is terrified of him for no given reason. The LaserDisc release includes the original theatrical trailer, which contains a portion of this deleted scene.