Julia Ormond was a great actress, also with Sean Connery in The First Knight. As Catherine the Great, she made her role of a lifetime. Also against Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall, where Sir Anthony Hopkins made a good acting contribution too.
Actually Catherine and Gregory Orlov were lovers for like 7 years or more most of which was after she was crowned. They broke up when she met Potemkin who was the real love of her life who she may have even secretly married. By that time though Gregory already had other lovers on the side and saw the writing on the wall and so they parted as friends.
Napoleon famously did the "shoot your monarch if you wish" move when he returned from Elba. I never knew Catherine did this tactic as well! Crazy to see the same result happened! Both nations' armies sided with them over their commanders.
Based on everything I've been hearing about her, this woman is EASILY Russia's greatest ruler of all time. And can you imagine the level of morale boost that is achieved when you see your Tzarina wearing the uniform of a general/commander (of course, she apparently assembled her uniform from various pieces given to her by her soldiers, but you get the idea.)?
Catherine was quite a woman, but Peter's blunders could have put a much less able woman on the throne. Catherine played the hand she was dealt, and she played it brilliantly. I haven't seen this movie in full, but no movie I have ever seen about Catherine has ever fully shown how significant Paul's paternity was to the situation between Peter and Catherine. Paul was clearly not Peter's son, but Peter was forced to accept him as such and as his official heir. During his short reign as emperor, Peter actually interviewed Paul's biological father to see if he would admit the truth, but he had enough common sense to refrain from doing so. Meanwhile, Peter was trying to get his mistress pregnant. No woman ever claimed to have a child of Peter, and Catherine knew for sure that Peter was sterile from having caught smallpox as a teenager. But if the mistress turned up pregnant, and if Peter believe the child to be his, Peter could have easily forced Catherine into a nunnery or into prison, and he could have imprisoned Paul and removed him from the line of succession. Peter clowned at Elizabeth's funeral. Peter also hero-worshiped Frederick the Great. Even worse, Peter stopped the war against Prussia when Russia was at the point of victory after so many years of hard fighting. In short, Peter antagonized the church, military, and the nation in general, while Catherine did everything she could to increase her popularity. Catherine could not be sure of the road ahead with Peter, but she knew he was looking to get rid of her and Paul. Catherine wasn't close to Paul, but she was his mother and therefore concerned about his welfare. Catherine's choices were to either await her fate from Peter, or to secure the throne for herself and eventually Paul. Push came to shove in the summer of 1762, and the rest is history. The movie emphasized an interesting angle about Frederick and his reaction to Catherine's elevation to the throne. I actually do not think Frederick would have been inclined to send troops in on Peter's behalf, but Catherine could not risk a civil war. Catherine never gave the order, but Peter had to die in order for Catherine to maintain herself on the throne.
@@Tes7000 Peter III truly was an unbelievable and pathetic loser. Regardless of what one may think of Catherine's actions being moral or not, he did absolutely nothing to make himself seem like a leader or defender of the country. Frederick the Great's reaction to this was disbelief. He said that Peter had been sent out of the throne room and out of power like a child being sent to bed. When an enemy of your country is shaking his head at your patheticness, you know you're a farce.
@@thunderbird1921 So true. Peter had always claimed to hate it in Russia, and shortly after he assumed the throne, the nation reciprocated. And how perfectly poetic that a man who was obsessed with all things military lost his nerve when it was time to fight.
In Northern Europe people by DNA that to 100% originate from these lands and are NOT southerners HAVE black hair. We are NOT Spanish or Portuguese. Greenland is pretty big.. black haired population. But where are all such that used to live in all of Scandinavia AND the British Isles alike!?!?!? Killed off?
She was a great leader beautifull smart and strong What is in thé past cant be ré written but it is in Our Power to write thé future🎉
Julia Ormond was a great actress, also with Sean Connery in The First Knight. As Catherine the Great, she made her role of a lifetime. Also against Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall, where Sir Anthony Hopkins made a good acting contribution too.
Vanessa Redgrave was brilliant in "Young Catherine", as Empress Elizabeth, Czarina of all the Russias (Daughter of Peter the Great).
Great one. Watched it late 90s. In Sweden.
The original Catherine was from Preussia, Northern Germany. And they lived all over Sweden too.
Actually Catherine and Gregory Orlov were lovers for like 7 years or more most of which was after she was crowned. They broke up when she met Potemkin who was the real love of her life who she may have even secretly married. By that time though Gregory already had other lovers on the side and saw the writing on the wall and so they parted as friends.
Napoleon famously did the "shoot your monarch if you wish" move when he returned from Elba. I never knew Catherine did this tactic as well! Crazy to see the same result happened! Both nations' armies sided with them over their commanders.
That was just one lover. She got along much better with Grigory Potemkin.
Henry Ford who started the Ford Company (manufacturers of cars), was of my background.
The Great brought me here.
Does anyone know the march used at 12:55? I have been searching for it since the movie came out..
Based on everything I've been hearing about her, this woman is EASILY Russia's greatest ruler of all time. And can you imagine the level of morale boost that is achieved when you see your Tzarina wearing the uniform of a general/commander (of course, she apparently assembled her uniform from various pieces given to her by her soldiers, but you get the idea.)?
I named my daughter Catherine. Shes was born in 97. Now that I'm older, I think , maybe I should have named her Sophie
Catherine was quite a woman, but Peter's blunders could have put a much less able woman on the throne. Catherine played the hand she was dealt, and she played it brilliantly.
I haven't seen this movie in full, but no movie I have ever seen about Catherine has ever fully shown how significant Paul's paternity was to the situation between Peter and Catherine. Paul was clearly not Peter's son, but Peter was forced to accept him as such and as his official heir. During his short reign as emperor, Peter actually interviewed Paul's biological father to see if he would admit the truth, but he had enough common sense to refrain from doing so. Meanwhile, Peter was trying to get his mistress pregnant. No woman ever claimed to have a child of Peter, and Catherine knew for sure that Peter was sterile from having caught smallpox as a teenager. But if the mistress turned up pregnant, and if Peter believe the child to be his, Peter could have easily forced Catherine into a nunnery or into prison, and he could have imprisoned Paul and removed him from the line of succession.
Peter clowned at Elizabeth's funeral. Peter also hero-worshiped Frederick the Great. Even worse, Peter stopped the war against Prussia when Russia was at the point of victory after so many years of hard fighting. In short, Peter antagonized the church, military, and the nation in general, while Catherine did everything she could to increase her popularity.
Catherine could not be sure of the road ahead with Peter, but she knew he was looking to get rid of her and Paul. Catherine wasn't close to Paul, but she was his mother and therefore concerned about his welfare.
Catherine's choices were to either await her fate from Peter, or to secure the throne for herself and eventually Paul. Push came to shove in the summer of 1762, and the rest is history.
The movie emphasized an interesting angle about Frederick and his reaction to Catherine's elevation to the throne. I actually do not think Frederick would have been inclined to send troops in on Peter's behalf, but Catherine could not risk a civil war. Catherine never gave the order, but Peter had to die in order for Catherine to maintain herself on the throne.
@@Tes7000 Peter III truly was an unbelievable and pathetic loser. Regardless of what one may think of Catherine's actions being moral or not, he did absolutely nothing to make himself seem like a leader or defender of the country. Frederick the Great's reaction to this was disbelief. He said that Peter had been sent out of the throne room and out of power like a child being sent to bed. When an enemy of your country is shaking his head at your patheticness, you know you're a farce.
@@thunderbird1921 So true. Peter had always claimed to hate it in Russia, and shortly after he assumed the throne, the nation reciprocated.
And how perfectly poetic that a man who was obsessed with all things military lost his nerve when it was time to fight.
Second greatest, Peter the Great holds the number 1 spot
Mosin Nagant rifles?
NEW YORK WAS WHERE MOST OF OUR GENETIC BACKGROUND LIVED AROUND THE MILLENIUM. WHAT HAPPENED IN 2001? WE ARE STILL TARGETED.
Great film!
9:35 - WTF mosin nagant rifle???? Yo ...
Why was Orlov not there at the coronation ?
They were no married.
because he was in trouble for killing catherine's husband the emperor
Does this mean that they split apart? Didn't Orlov return after a while? @@therockcasserole3563
Freedom of speech.
See all Swedes were not, and are not, blond. As we have German blood.
In Northern Europe people by DNA that to 100% originate from these lands and are NOT southerners HAVE black hair. We are NOT Spanish or Portuguese. Greenland is pretty big.. black haired population. But where are all such that used to live in all of Scandinavia AND the British Isles alike!?!?!? Killed off?
They must have driven a dump truck full of money onto Franco Nero's lawn to convince him to star in this thing...