The many screen faces of Catherine the Great

by Cláudio Alves

Hulu's The Great is just the latest in a long string of portrayals of Catherine II of Russia, most commonly known as Catherine the Great. Since the time of the silents she's been a recurring topic for filmmakers, whether they're portraying her as the sex-crazed tyrant some propaganda painted her as, or trying to celebrate the legend and legacy of her time as empress. The Great makes her the spunky heroine of a black comedy, but she's also been a romantic lead and a romance's foil, an innocent pawn, and a Machiavellian master.

Looking back at the documentation we have about the real Catherine, one thing's for certain – she was incommensurably more interesting than any single movie character can ever hope to be. That's not going to stop us from exploring her various screen portrayals…

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Showbiz History: Lost in Translation, Eyes of the Mummy, and Clive Owen

10 random things that happened on this day, October 3rd, in showbiz history

1918 CENTENNIAL ALERT: Ernst Lubitsch's The Eyes of the Mummy, starring Pola Negri and future Oscar winner Emil Jannings, premieres in Germany. It will take four years to make it to the US. You can watch this early horror film in its entirety on YouTube. It's not very good but Lubitsch would go on to a brilliant career directing screwball comedies. Negri plays a girl rescued from captivity in an ancient Egyptian temple but her nightmare is only just beginning!

1929 Actress Jeanne Eagels, the star of The Letter that year, dies of a drug overdose at 39, after which she becomes the first (and still only) actress ever Oscar-nominated posthumously...

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