A Royal Scandal

Catherine (Tallulah Bankhead) discards her latest lover, Variatinsky (Don Douglas), the commander of the palace guard. General Ronsky (Sig Ruman) schemes to have his oafish nephew Boris (Grady Sutton) be his replacement, so he and his cabal can stage an uprising and dethrone the Czarina. Catherine's chancellor, Nicolai Ilyitch (Charles Coburn), is determined to see to it that nothing disturbs his delicate negotiations for a treaty with France, so he tells his underling Malakoff (Vladimir Sokoloff) he does not want anybody new to see her majesty. However, a determined young officer, Alexei Chernoff (William Eythe), insists on an audience with her for the sake of Russia.