Tovarich (1937)
Directed by Anatole Litvak
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Synopsis by Michael Betzold
Two members of the Russian monarchy pose as French servants while hiding the Czar's fortune. This unlikely plot is at the core of this successful 1937 Hollywood comedy-drama starring the French-born Charles Boyer as Prince Mikail Alexandrovitch Ouratieff. The prince and his wife, Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna (Claudette Colbert), are entrusted with a huge fortune by the Czar, which they take with them while fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution. They arrive in Paris and put all the money in a bank, not wanting to take any for themselves. To fend off poverty, they take a job as servants in the home of wealthy businessman Charles Dupont (Melville Cooper) and his wife Fernande (Isabel Jeans). At a dinner party, their secret is exposed by one of the invited guests, a top Soviet official named Gorotchenko (Basil Rathbone), who had tortured and interrogated Ouratieff before the prince left Russia. Gorotchenko now asks for the fortune to help Russia, which is in economic trouble.
Characteristics
Keywords
anger, aristocracy, bank, couple, Czar, employment, espionage, exile, expose [revelation], fortune [wealth], France, government, guest, home, loot, monarch, official, oil, party, politician, poverty, reputation, revolution, royalty, Russia, secrets, servant, wife, help, lord
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