Young Catherine

Young Catherine

VHS cover, featuring Vanessa Redgrave and Julia Ormond
Directed by Michael Anderson
Written by Chris Bryant
Starring Vanessa Redgrave
Julia Ormond
Cinematography Ernest Day
Release dates
  • February 17, 1991 (1991-02-17) (U.S.)
Running time
150 minutes;
180 minutes (TNT)
Country United States
Language English

Young Catherine is a 1991 American TV miniseries based on the early life of Catherine II of Russia. It stars Julia Ormond as Catherine and Vanessa Redgrave as Empress Elizabeth.

The miniseries is known as Intrigues impériales in France and Die Junge Katharina in Germany.

Plot summary

The year is 1744, and the beautiful young Catherine (Julia Ormond) is torn from her homeland to marry Peter (Reece Dinsdale), the heir to the Russian throne. However his aunt, Elizabeth, Empress of Russia (Vanessa Redgrave), rules the empire with an iron hand, and Peter proves neither fit for the throne nor the marriage bed. Treated as an outsider and at great risk from enemies who influence her husband, Catherine takes a lover and bears his child. Now, with help of her friend Sir Charles Williams (Christopher Plummer), she must take the throne by force if she, her young son Paul, and the Russian Empire are to survive.

Cast

Award and nominations

Primetime Emmy Awards

Gemini Award

Versions

Both a 150-minute version and a 180-minute Turner Network Television version were released on VHS on May 29, 1991, and both are currently out of print. A 187-minute Russian language version was at one time available on DVD. The film became available on DVD from the Warner Bros Archive Collection on November 19, 2013.[1]

References

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