NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA (1971) C widescreen 189m dir: Franklin J. Schaffner

w/Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman, Roderic Noble, Ania Marson, Lynne Frederick, Candace Glendenning, Fiona Fullerton, Harry Andrews, Irene Worth, Tom Baker, Jack Hawkins, Laurence Olivier, Brian Cox, Ian Holm

From Variety's contemporary review of the film: "[Producer] Sam Spiegel comes up with a rarity: the intimate epic, in telling the fascinating story of the downfall of the Romanovs.

"The tone is set from the opening sequences depicting the birth of the Russian Emperor and Empress's first boy and heir to the Russian throne, followed closely by the tragic discovery that the child is hemophilic.

"Slowly, intrusively, the viewers get to know more about the dominant Alexandra and the frequently vacillating Nicholas, whom she influences in misguided political decisions.

"Complicating factors, of course, are the growing unrest of the Russian people, culminating in the confused revolution, the constant, distracting worry about the 'bleeding' Czarevitch and, most of all, the dominant influence on the Empress of Rasputin, without whose occult, hypnotic presence she feels the heir will die.

"Scripter James Goldman (with an assist from Edward Bond) has provided literate, sparse dialog in fashioning a crystal clear picture of a confused and confusing period. Certainly, as in the Robert K. Massie book, there's a feel here for tragically opposed worlds both heading blindly on a collision course towards the inevitable bloody clash.

"Michael Jayston makes a most believable Nicholas, while Janet Suzman is also just right in the perhaps more difficult role of the Empress."

NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA won two Oscars: Best Art Direction (John Box, Ernest Archer, Jack Maxsted, Gil Parrondo, Vernon Dixon) and Costume Design (Yvonne Blake, Antonio Castillo). It was also nominated for Best Picture, Actress (Suzman), Cinematography (Freddie Young), and Score (Richard Rodney Bennett).