AllMovie

This is the original German-language version of the early-talkie Warner Bros. drama The Royal Box. Based on the Alexandre Dumas stageplay Kean, the plot concentrates on famed 19th-century British thespian Edmund Kean and his clandestine romance with Countess Toerek, the paramour of the Prince of Wales. The near-surrealist conclusion finds Kean going crazy during a performance of Hamlet, revealing his secret affair with the Countess for all to hear -- including the Prince. Alexander Moissi stars as Kean, with Camilla Horn as his true love Alice, Elsa Ersi as the Countess, and William F. Schoeller as the Prince; also on hand in a bit part is the great Sig Rumann. The simultaneously-filmed English version of The Royal Box was briefly released to television in the 1950s.