Magnificent Sinner

Katia
Katia
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Robert Siodmak
Screenplay by	Georges Neveux ; Charles Spaak
Produced by	Michel Safra
Starring	Curd Jürgens; Romy Schneider
Cinematography	Michel Kelber
Edited by	Louisette Hautecoeur ; Henri Taverna
Music by	Joseph Kosma
Release date	20 January 1960
Running time	91 minutes
Country	France

Magnificent Sinner (original French title: Katia) is a 1959 French film by director Robert Siodmak about the romance between Tsar Alexander II of Russia and the then-schoolgirl Catherine Dolgorukov, who later became his mistress and finally his morganatic wife. It stars Romy Schneider as Katia, a schoolgirl who becomes the Tsar's mistress and Curd Jürgens as Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The film, originally released as Katia, was a remake of a 1938 French film of the same name, which starred Danielle Darrieux.

Plot[]

Produced in France, Magnificent Sinner stars Curd Jürgens as Tsar Alexander II, with Romy Schneider as the schoolgirl Katia who first becomes his mistress, before being elevated to the rank of princess. The romance between emperor and commoner leads to court intrigue and a weakening of the ties of loyalty between the Tsar's ministers and their ruler, and is instrumental in Alexander's ultimate assassination.^[1]

Cast[]

Romy Schneider as Katia
Curd Jürgens as Tsar Alexander II of Russia
Monique Mélinand as Tsarina Maria, wife of Alexander II
Pierre Blanchar as Koubaroff
Antoine Balpêtré as Kilbatchich
Françoise Brion as Sophie
Michel Bouquet as Bibesco
Bernard Dhéran as Stéphane Ryssakov
Margo Lion as the superintendent of the Smolny Institute
Hubert Noël as Michel Dolgorouki
Yves Barsacq as Katourine
Gabrielle Dorziat as the Director of the Smolny Institute
as Mlle Trépeau
as Soloviev
as the Tsarevich
as the Governess
Egon von Jordan as the aide de camp
as the Baron
as the serf
as Ryssakov
as Katia's sister-in-law
Hans Unterkircher as General Paskievitch

Reviews[]

Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film two out of four stars, describing it as "lackluster."^[2] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times equally panned it as "an overstuffed costume picture" and "a hackneyed and ponderous bore." "It would be just as good, if not better," he continued, "if it had been a tractor with which the Tsar fell in love."^[3]

References[]

^ Material in this section was obtained from the four film listings given in "external links."
^ Magnificent Sinner, TCM
^ Magnificent Sinner, The New York Times

External links[]

Katia (1959) at IMDb
The Magnificent Sinner (1959), New York Times listing
Magnificent Sinner, TV guide listing
Magnificent Sinner Mubi listing

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[1] Material in this section was obtained from the four film listings given in "external links."

[2] Magnificent Sinner, TCM

[3] Magnificent Sinner, The New York Times

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v t Films directed by Robert Siodmak
Europe 1930–1939	People on Sunday (1930) Farewell (1930) Inquest (1931) About an Inquest (1931, MLV) The Man in Search of His Murderer (1931) Storms of Passion (1932) Quick (1932) The Burning Secret (1933) The Weaker Sex (1933) The Crisis is Over (1934) La Vie parisienne (1936) Parisian Life (1936) Compliments of Mister Flow (1936) White Cargo (1937) Mollenard (1938) Personal Column (1939)
Hollywood 1941–1951	West Point Widow (1941) Fly-by-Night (1942) The Night Before the Divorce (1942) My Heart Belongs to Daddy (1942) Someone to Remember (1943) Son of Dracula (1943) Phantom Lady (1944) Cobra Woman (1944) Christmas Holiday (1944) The Suspect (1944) The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945) The Spiral Staircase (1946) The Killers (1946) The Dark Mirror (1946) Time Out of Mind (1947) Cry of the City (1948) Criss Cross (1949) The Great Sinner (1949) The File on Thelma Jordon (1950) Deported (1950) The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951)
Europe 1952–1969	The Crimson Pirate (1952) Flesh and the Woman (1954) Die Ratten (1955) My Father, the Actor (1956) The Devil Strikes at Night (1957) Dorothea Angermann (1959) Magnificent Sinner (1959) The Rough and the Smooth (1959) My Schoolfriend (1960) The Nina B. Affair (1961) Escape from East Berlin (1962) The Shoot (1964) The Treasure of the Aztecs (1965) The Pyramid of the Sun God (1965) Custer of the West (1967) Kampf um Rom (1968)