This page contains various reviews of the movie "Young Catherine", in which Mark Frankel played the role of Gregory Orlov. Below you will find the reviews as they were written... (hopefully) ..... as with any review, some are positive and some are negative.... a few don't even mention Mark at all..... (shame on them....). Either way, we hope that in providing this information, you might find that your interest is peaked and you will seek out the movie and decide for yourself. If you have already seen it, perhaps you'll be interested to see which reviewers, if any, agree with your assessment.....

THE BALTIMORE SUN
Saturday, February 16, 1991

Copyright 1991 @The Baltimore Sun Company

FEATURES

'Young Catherine' full of pomp, pageantry and on-location filming.
 Steve McKerrow

Required reading for today's column, a mini-history lesson:

The Russian empress who has come to be known as Catherine the Great assumed the throne in 1762 and became the most intellectual, progressive ruler of that vast, uneasy collection of tribal territories since Peter
the Great two generations earlier.

Thus, it may be helpful to know, the historical setting of "Young Catherine," an opulent new miniseries premiering this weekend on basic cable's TNT service, parallels America's pre-revolutionary period.

Among other things, that means we see more wigs and sequined clothes than on a Dolly Parton special - and these are on the guys!  Some noted performers, including Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Plummer and
Maximillian Schell, get to do some hearty scene chewing, too.

This four-hour exercise in pomp, pageantry and intrigue (at 8 p.m. Sunday and Monday on TNT) takes no great pains to place things in scholarly context.  But that is the only thing about which "Young Catherine" is reserved - oh, along with a relative modesty in dealing with Catherine's other whispered repute, a particularly hearty sexual
appetite.

As costume dramas go, this one is pretty good.  If not quite up to those great PBS classics, "Henry VIII" and "Elizabeth R."

Unlike those, this generous production from Ted Turner benefits enormously from the Soviet Union's recent glastnost embrace of on-location film production.

The real star of "Young Catherine" (and also "The Russia House" recently at the movies) is the royal czar's residence, The Winter Palace at Leningrad, nee St. Petersburg.

From loving close-ups of ceiling frescos to nighttine views of the palace alight, there is no doubt this is the genuine extravagant article.  (Other shooting sites included the Peter-and-Paul Fortress and the Smolny district, whose pastel blue cathedral is a Leningrad landmark).

The story of Catherine's rise is genuinely remarkable, too, and English actress Julia Ormond as the title character brings it off pretty well.

At the age of 16, Princess Sophia of a small Prussian district is summoned to be the bride of Grand Duke Peter, a childish and soon-to-be-mad heir to the throne.  Empress Elizabeth (Redgrave), daughter of Peter the Great, wants a male heir as soon as possible, knowing Peter "the witless" is incapable of carrying on her work to unify the Russias.

On the road, however, the princess and her mother (Marthe Keller) are enlisted by Germany's Frederick the Great (Schell) to be his eyes and ears in Russia.  The princess also has a smoldering-eyes encounter with
a young military escort, Count Orlov, and no lover of historical romances could fail to see a future meeting is in store.

In St. Petersburg, the betrothed finds Duke Peter disinterested in her - he says he hates the cold and the dark and would rather be designing soldiers' uniforms.  Yet she is also the  target of palace plotter Count Vorontsov (Franco Nero), who  sees her as an impediment to his ambitions.

When her mother's  spying for the German monarch is discovered, the future empress finds platonic companionship with the English ambassador (Plummer).  He also offers instruction in the arts of palace politics
and is the first to suggest a solution to one of her problems might be to "to get a lover," thus facilitating the return of Count Orlov.

Obviously, here are all the elements of a succession of plots and sub-plots, and it would be unfair to reveal too much here.  Fans of this genre of film will recognize the outlines readily, and others should know that royal feasts, weddings, births, deaths, military battles, love scenes (very subdued by cable standards) and even an early medical treatment of impotence are among the developments.

Redgrave, the movie's biggest name (who ironically also stars Sunday night in ABC's "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" with sister Lynn), is at times saddled with some hokey dialogue.  "An empress with no enemies
is no empress," she intones at one point.

But her grasping hunger for a suitable heir, and eventual recognition that the young foreigner imported to be a mere baby bearer may have qualities worth supporting, are conveyed with believability.
 

Copyright The Windsor Star

ENTERTAINMENT

Romantic Russia: Intriguing, humorous miniseries on Catherine the Great worthy of PG rating
Bob Remington

The long course of Russian history has been a bloody and turbulent affair.  According to Young Catherine, kinky, too.

I don't want to tell you exactly why, because that would spoil all the fun.  Suffice it to say that in Part II of this four-hour miniseries, the Grand Duke Peter has a "spanking" good time with his new wife, who dons some imaginative attire in order to get the sexually disinterested Peter to pay attention to her.

There's also a scene in which Peter, who is deathly afraid of the sight of blood, is tricked by members of his imperial Guard into getting dead drunk so that the royal physician can perform a simple operation to
correct a sexual dysfunction.

After the procedure, the doctor comes up with an explanation for the soldiers to tell the Duke.  It has something to do with a contest involving the comparative sizes of soldiers' "weapons" and, as the doctor advises the troops:  "I suggest that you tell the Grand Duke he cut his on a piece of glass.  And then I suggest that you tell him that he won."

The sexual humor should be a giveaway that lurking behind the scenes in this miniseries are the Brits, who love this sort of thing, American network censors would have a fit over such sexual innuendo, but not the Brits and us sexually sophisticated Canucks, who combined to produce Young Catherine and sold it in February to American cable network TNT.   The miniseries comes to CTV Sunday and Monday, airing on Kitchener's Channel 12 (cable 13) at 9 p.m.

For those concerned that Young Catherine is all sniggering sex jokes, fear not.  Filmed in Leningrad, it is a lavishly mounted tale of romance, history and political intrigue, spiced with humor as a bonus.  The net result is that Young Catherine is several rungs up the quality ladder from the usual romantic miniseries of its kind.

Young Catherine is the story of the rise to power of Catherine the Great, who came to the Russian imperial court in the mid-1700s as a 16-year-old Prussian girl in a marriage contract.  She arrived as "goods on approval" for the Grand Duke Peter, nephew of the formidable Empress Elizabeth.  Unfortunately for Catherine, the Grand Duke turned out to be a grand dip, with childlike mannerisms and an unnatural obsession for the military, with toy soldiers making due until he got his own regiment of real soldiers to play with.  Despite her husband's irrational,
imbecile qualities, Catherine prevailed through political opposition and personal turmoil to become empress and lead Russia belatedly out of the Dark Ages.

"It truly is one of the great dramatic stories in all of history," says veteran producer Michael Anderson.  "Here was this young girl from an unknown principality who was brought to Russia to see if she would be suitable as a bride for the future emperor, and through amazing determination and tenacity ends up being the Ruler of all the Russias, which was one of the great title s of its day.  What she went through and accomplished is utterly amazing."  Adds Canadian actor Christopher Plummer, who appears as the British ambassador to Russia and confidant of Catherine's:  It was almost as if Catherine knew her life was going to be made into  a  miniseries.  She did everything right to sell her character."

Including an affair, which is always good for ratings.

Plummer plays Sir Charles Hanbury, who befriends the politically naive Catherine and counsels her on matters of state, Vanessa Redgrave is impressive as Empress Elizabeth, the haughty, imperious ruler who brought Catherine to court in an arranged marriage with her nephew and future emperor, the Grand Duke Peter (Reece Dinsdale).

Appearing in the title role of Catherine is Julia Ormond, a relative newcomer best known as the daughter of a Conservative minister in last season's acclaimed British miniseries about the international drug trade,  Traffik.

Produced in part by Pat Kerns'Primedia Productions of Toronto, Young Catherine is a lavishly mounted spectacle shot in the opulent confines of the Summer Palace of Russian rulers in Leningrad.  Everything about
the look of Young Catherine is top drawer, from the costuming right down to the regal, show-quality horses used in the production.

Yet too much budget, perhaps, went into look.  The producers scrimped on battle scenes, which are perfunctory at best.  If I recall correctly, one canon gets fired - a token measure considering that during the course of the events portrayed, Russia goes to war with Prussia in a conflict that eventually topples Peter and puts Catherine on the throne.

The miniseries opens with Catherine, still a teenage girl named Sophie Anhalt Zerbst, being summoned from her small principality in Prussia as a prospective bride for the heir to the Russian throne.  Faithful to historical detail, the miniseries reflects how King Frederick of Prussia (Maximillian Schell) desperately wants the marriage to proceed in order to cement an alliance with Russia on his eastern border.

Arriving in Russia, Catherine overcomes opposition from those at court who favor a Polish prospect, yet she manages to win the approval of the domineering Empress Elizabeth by embracing the Russian Orthodox Church.  Success does not come without a price.  Elizabeth changes the new bride's name from Sophie to Catherine and banishes her mother from Russia for spying.

Peter, meanwhile, leaves Catherine a virgin for two years and wants nothing to do with the woman he calls a "breeding sow."  On the advice of others at court, Catherine has an affair with Count Orlov (Mark Frankel) in order to provide Elizabeth with a necessary future successor.  Peter eventually becomes stricken with smallpox, and by the time he assumes the throne with Catherine at his side, is on the verge of insanity.

Dinsdale is fine as the Grand Duke Peter, playing the mentally diminished, would-be ruler with a flourish reminiscent of Tom Hulce's interpretation of Mozart in Amadeus.

A nice blend of pure entertainment, pageantry and pop history.  Young Catherine is, all in all, an entertaining four hours of TV.

VARIETY
February 11, 1991

Reviews

YOUNG CATHERINE  Parts I & II
TNT, Sun.-Mon. Feb. 17-18, 5p.m.

 Mother Russia gets her share of agony and bombast in TNT's slushy "Young Catherine," scripted by Chris Bryant with all the kick of watered down vodka. With most of the talent in front of the camera, the $8 million, four-hour rundown on the historical story of Catherine the Great bogs down just minutes into the affair.

 Elongated telefilm picks up Catherine in1744 when, still only a Prussian princess, she's shipped off to Russia to marry looney Grand Duke Peter (Reece Dinsdale), the nephew of Empress Elizabeth.

Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave), an extravagant, commanding woman running Russia on a tight leash, has determined that young Catherine will produce an heir. She also gives the young backwater princess a couple of emotional shakeups by demanding that she change her name from Sophie to Catherine, and join the Orthodox church.

 As an extra jolt, Elizabeth boots the young woman's mother (Marthe Keller) from Russia - accusing her of spying for Frederick the Great (Maximillian Schell, who growls through his role).

 Catherine, arrived in St. Petersburg with the blessing of Frederick, wins over the British ambassador (Christopher Plummer), hears advice from a court priest (an unconvincing John Shrapnel), confides in a lady-in-waiting (Laurie Holden) and enchants an ardent soldier, Count Orlov (Mark Frankel).

 Duke Peter, who smashes toy soldiers and shrieks a great deal, does marry Catherine. But he can't consummate the marriage because of a physical problem, explained only too graphically in Part II. Catherine, under pressure to produce an heir, falls back on the lovestricken Orlov until the Duke's repaired.

Extending through the breakup of the royal marriage after Elizabeth's death, the telefilm winds down with young Catherine's ornate coronation as Catherine the Great.

 Michael Anderson's static direction doesn't help producer-writer Bryant's florid meller with its uninspired dialog and mechanical dubbing.

 Julia Ormond limns Catherine as a pretty, demure young thing whose smile eventually hardens. This Catherine not only has the royal court to contend with, she has a soggy script working against her.

 Redgrave's Elizabeth moves unperturbed through the proceedings, rising to the occasion with a couple of flareups, as in dressing down Catherine's mom and dragging a distraught Catherine across the floor. Plummer's refined; Frankel is strong.

 Franco Nero looks menacing as one of Catherine's foes, and Dinsdale as Peter suggests Roddy MacDowell gone berserk.

 Ernest Day's camerawork, lovely when he works with shadowy compositions, turns flat when it has to deal with the awesome production design cooked up by Natalia Vasilieva or the architectural wonders of leningrad (the film was shot on location).

 Larissa Konnikova's impressive costumes are breathtakingly extravagant, and Ron Wisman's immaculate editing is a plus. -- TONE

THE CALGARY HERALD
Friday, March 22, 1991

Copyright The Calgary Herald

ENTERTAINMENT

Russian epic makes great mini-series
Bob Blakey

Young Catherine, 9 p. m. April 21 and 22 on CTV

Young Catherine is one of those epic tales of romance, political intrigue, sweeping grandeur and rich history that would have made a great new movie.

As it is, this co-production between Canadian, British and Soviet companies is still an exceptionally good mini-series, thankS in part to a veteran big-screen director and the undeniable realism and charm of location filming.

The Catherine of the title is Catherine the Great of Russia, a historical figure with more than enough dramatic appeal to justify some 3 hours of film (four, with commercials).

Director Michael Anderson (Around the World in 80 Days, Logan's Run) and his cast and crew shot the film in 52 days entirely in and around Leningrad, using restored palaces and cathedrals.

The main attraction, however, is the new star whose career should be assured with this role:  Julia Ormond.  She has the looks to portray an empress with many suitors, and the acting ability to transform herself on screen from timind princess to one of the most powerful monarchs in the 18-century world.

Ormand's experience has been mostly confined to the British stage, except for her portrayal of the cabinet minister's drug-taking daughter in the acclaimed mini-series Traffik.

Anderson says it was a conscious decision to cast a relative unknown in the part of Catherine, rather than choose from the customary "A and B list" of mini-series prospects.

The story begins in 1744 with the heroine, known  then as Princess Sophie in a Prussian principality, being  selected as an arranged  bride for Grand   Duke Peter   (Reece Dinsdale), heir to the Russian throne.<p>
Sophie travels to St. Petersburg (Leningrad's pre-Revolutionary name) to begin her new life.

For the reigning Russian monarch, Empress Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave), who is childless, the match is an effort to firm up a line of succession, especially if her nephew, the Grand Duke, fathers a boy with Sophie (who is renamed Catherine by her mother-in-law).

The palace turns out to be a minefield of intrigue and treason, and Sophie's survival at first depends on advice from her new friend, the British ambassador Sir Charles Hanbury (Christopher Plummer), and later on her quickly acquired political cunning.

The story ends with her coronation as empress.

Plummer says he found his role appealing for several reasons, including the script itself.  "It's a storybook part of history," he says.  "It lends itself to the theatrical".

He sees the ambassador as "a bit of an old gossip" whose humorous style adds levity to an otherwise serious tale.

For its scale and ambition, Young Catherine was done on a rather slim budget - $8 million.

It shows at times.  Because the Soviet authorities wouldn't permit shooting inside the cathedrals, a set had to be made.  It's superb - but it's only one wall, and all the clever camera angles a good director can muster don't change that fact.

Also, crowd scenes are carefully filmed to hide the lack of costumed extras.  Cecil B. DeMille (and Anderson with $40 million) would have used a cast of thousands.

Even so, Young Catherine is one of the best productions of the season, and a tribute to a Canadian film industry that's coming of age.