The unfortunate principessa Tarakanova was a pretender to the Russian throne. Catherine the Second sent count Alexis Orlov to take her back as a prisoner ;he seduced her and lured her into a Russian boat (1775);she was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul fortress where she died of tuberculosis in December.
It was the second time this fictionalized (and I mean fictionalized) footnote of history had been filmed, first version by Raymond Bernard at the beginning of the talkies.
Fedor Ozep was a former Russian pioneer and he made a handful of movies in France , the best of which being his adaptation of the short story "la dame de pique" .
When you see his "Tarakonava " , you will realize it mixes historical facts (see above) with soap opera .
Suzy Prim has the upper hand , at once as an actress as well as all that concerns her character :she's an authoritarian adamant empress and she has her way with men. Orlov (bland Wilm) and Tarakanova (charming but indifferent Annie Vernay)play in the Fersen/Marie -Antoinette mold,and their naivete knows no bounds.
Forget history and you have a pleasant melodrama ,with very good scenes of the Carnival of Venice ,the masks being a good trick borrowed from the comedia della arte; there are enough sudden new developments to keep you glued to your chair till the (thoroughly implausible) denouement.
