Tovarich (film)

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This article is about the 1937 film. For other uses, see Tovarishch.

Tovarich
Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer in Tovarich
Directed by	Anatole Litvak
Produced by	Anatole Litvak
Written by	Casey Robinson Jacques Deval (play) Robert E. Sherwood
Starring	Claudette Colbert Charles Boyer Basil Rathbone Anita Louise
Music by	Max Steiner
Cinematography	Charles Lang
Editing by	Henri Rust
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	25 December 1937
Running time	98 min
Country	United States
Language	English
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IMDb profile

Tovarich (the Russian word for comrade) is a 1937 Warner Bros. comedy film based on the 1935 play by Robert E. Sherwood. It was produced and directed by Anatole Litvak with Robert Lord as associate producer and Hal B. Wallis and Jack L. Warner as executive producers. The screenplay was by Casey Robinson from the French play by Jacques Deval adapted into English by Robert E. Sherwood. The music score was by Max Steiner and the cinematography by Charles Lang.

The film stars Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer with Basil Rathbone, Anita Louise, Melville Cooper, Isabel Jeans, Morris Carnovsky and Curt Bois in his American debut role.

1 Plot
2 Main cast and characters
- 2.1 Other cast members
3 Notes
4 External links

[edit] Plot

Russian Prince Mikail Alexandrovitch Ouratieff (Charles Boyer) and his wife, Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna (Claudette Colbert) flee from the Russian Revolution to Paris with the Czar's fortune, which he has entrusted to them for safekeeping. They keep the money in a bank, faithfully refusing to spend any of it for themselves. Then, destitute, they are forced to take jobs under false identities as butler and maid in the household of wealthy Charles Dupont (Melville Cooper), his wife Fermonde (Isabel Jeans), and their children, Helene (Anita Louise) and Georges (Maurice Murphy). After a shaky start, the servants gradually endear themselves to their employers. However, their secret is finally exposed when one of the guests at a dinner party, Soviet Commissar Gorotchenko (Basil Rathbone), recognises them.

[edit] Main cast and characters


	Claudette Colbert as Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna Romanov
	Charles Boyer as Prince Mikail Alexandrovitch Ouratieff
	Basil Rathbone as Commissar Dimitri Gorotchenko
	Anita Louise as Helene Dupont
	Melville Cooper and Isabel Jeans as Charles and Hermonde Dupont

[edit] Other cast members

Morris Carnovsky	as Chauffourier Dubieff
Victor Kilian	as Gendarme
Maurice Murphy	as Georges Dupont
Gregory Gaye	as Count Frederic Brekenski
Montagu Love	as M. Courtois
Renie Riano	as Madame Courtois
Fritz Feld	as Martelleau

[edit] Notes

This is the first Warner Bros. film to begin with the famous Warners fanfare, which was composed by Max Steiner.
The original play by Jacques Deval opened in Paris on 13 October 1933. Robert E. Sherwood's English adaptation opened in London on 24 April 1935, (Melville Cooper reprised his stage role for the movie) and on Broadway on Oct 15, 1936, starring Marta Abba.
The play was made into a Broadway musical Tovarich (1963) (Book by David Shaw, music by Lee Pockriss and lyrics by (Anne Croswell) starring Vivien Leigh and Jean-Pierre Aumont. It ran for 264 performances and won Leigh the Tony Award for Best Actress.