Editing Nicholas and Alexandra

{{Short description|1971 biographical film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Nicholas and Alexandra
| image          = Nicholas and alexandra.jpg
| alt            =
| caption        = Original theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Franklin J. Schaffner]]
| producer       = [[Sam Spiegel]]
| screenplay     = [[James Goldman]]
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[Nicholas and Alexandra (book)|Nicholas and Alexandra]]''<br>1967 book|[[Robert K. Massie]]}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Michael Jayston]]
* [[Janet Suzman]]
* [[Laurence Olivier]]
* [[Tom Baker]]
* [[Harry Andrews]]
* [[Irene Worth]]
* [[Jack Hawkins]]}}
| music          = [[Richard Rodney Bennett]]
| cinematography = [[Freddie Young]]
| editing        = Ernest Walter
| studio         = [[Horizon Pictures]]
| distributor    = [[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]]-[[Warner Bros.|Warner Distributors]]<ref name="bbfc" />
| released       = 29 November 1971 (Royal Command Performance)<br>{{Film date|1971|12|13|df=y}}
| runtime        = 188 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 188:33--><ref name="bbfc">{{cite web | url=http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/nicholas-and-alexandra-1970-1 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007172850/http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/nicholas-and-alexandra-1970-1 | url-status=dead | archive-date=7 October 2016 | title=''NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA'' (A) | work=[[British Board of Film Classification]] | date=19 October 1971 | access-date=22 February 2016}}</ref>
| country        = United Kingdom
| language       = English<br>French<br>German<br>Russian
| budget         = ~$9 million<ref name="tcm">[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/343/nicholas-and-alexandra#notes Nicholas and Alexandra, Notes.] ''[[Turner Classic Movies|TCM]]''. Retrieved May 20, 2018.</ref>
| gross          = $7 million <small>(rentals)</small><ref>"All-time Film Rental Champs", ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', 7 January 1976, pg 44.</ref>
}}
'''''Nicholas and Alexandra''''' is a 1971 British [[epic film|epic]] [[historical drama]] film directed by [[Franklin J. Schaffner]], from a screenplay by [[James Goldman]] and [[Edward Bond]] based on [[Robert K. Massie]]'s 1967 [[Nicholas and Alexandra (book)|book of the same name]]. It tells the story of the last ruling Russian monarch, Tsar [[Nicholas II of Russia]] ([[Michael Jayston]]), and his wife, Tsarina [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)|Alexandra]] ([[Janet Suzman]]), from 1904 until their deaths in 1918. The [[ensemble cast]] includes [[Tom Baker]] as [[Grigori Rasputin]], [[Laurence Olivier]] as [[Sergei Witte]], [[Brian Cox (actor)|Brian Cox]] as [[Leon Trotsky]], [[Ian Holm]] as [[Vasily Yakovlev]], [[Vivian Pickles]] as [[Nadezhda Krupskaya]], and [[Irene Worth]] as [[Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)|The Queen Mother Marie Fedorovna]].

The film was theatrically released on 13 December 1971 by [[Columbia Pictures]] to mixed reviews and commercial failure, grossing $7 million on a $9 million budget. Regardless, the film received six nominations at the [[44th Academy Awards]], including for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] and [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] (Suzman), and won two: [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]] and [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]].<ref name="NY Times">{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/35163/Nicholas-and-Alexandra/awards |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305125141/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/35163/Nicholas-and-Alexandra/awards |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-03-05 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2009 |title=NY Times: Nicholas and Alexandra |access-date=2008-12-28}}</ref>

==Plot==
Tsarina [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)|Alexandra Feodorovna]], wife of Tsar [[Nicholas II of Russia]], gives birth to their fifth child and first son, [[Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia|Alexei]]. Despite pleas from [[Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929)|Grand Duke Nicholas]] and [[Sergei Witte|Count Sergei Witte]], Nicholas refuses to end the [[Russo-Japanese War]] or accept demands for a [[constitutional monarchy]], believing that doing either will make him look weak and put the Romanov dynasty at risk. As the war continues, growing public unrest sees a procession of workers march to the [[Winter Palace]], hoping to present Nicholas with a petition calling for political representation. [[Bloody Sunday (1905)|Soldiers open fire on the approaching crowd, killing hundreds]]. The resulting [[Russian Revolution of 1905|revolution]] forces Nicholas to create the [[Duma]].

At a gala, Alexandra meets [[Grigori Rasputin]], a self-proclaimed holy man, who she later turns to for spiritual guidance after court physicians diagnose Alexei with [[haemophilia]]. As the years pass the close relationship between the royal family and Rasputin, combined with Rasputin's behaviour, leads to public mockery of the royal family. Nicholas eventually dismisses Rasputin from the court despite Alexandra's pleas otherwise.

The [[Romanov Tercentenary]] celebrations occur and a lavish tour across [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russia]] ensues, but resentment amongst the impoverished remains. Amongst the national festivities and celebrations Russian prime minister [[Pyotr Stolypin|Stolypin]] is assassinated. Nicholas responds by executing the assassins, permitting the police to terrorize the peasants, and closes the Duma.

Following a fall at the [[Spała]] Hunting Lodge, Alexei suffers a bleeding attack so severe that it is presumed he will die. Alexandra writes to Rasputin who responds with prayer and instruction for Alexei to be left alone by the doctors. His recovery is attributed to Rasputin's intervention and as a result he is allowed to return to the imperial household.

After the [[Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand|assassination of Franz Ferdinand]], Nicholas orders a mobilization of the [[Imperial Russian Army]] on the European border aimed at Austria-Hungary during the [[July Crisis]]. [[German Empire|Germany]] responds by declaring war, against the assumptions of Nicholas given his familial connection to the Kaiser. Later, with the war going badly for Russia on the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]], Alexandra persuades Nicholas to take personal command of the troops; he leaves for the front, relieving the weary but experienced Grand Duke Nicholas.

Alexandra is left nominally in charge upon Nicholas' absence but a series of poor decisions leaves her seen to be a German agent under the influence of Rasputin, resulting in growing unpopularity amongst the population at large as conditions worse. Nicholas receives a visit from the Dowager Empress, but her requests for him to return to St. Petersburg and remove Rasputin go unheeded. Rasputin's later assassination does little to stop Alexandra's misrule, culminating in revolt by workers and soldiers in St. Petersburg. Nicholas finally attempts to return to [[Tsarskoye Selo]] but is instead [[February Revolution|forced to abdicate]] on his train.

The family, along with a small entourage, are exiled by [[Alexander Kerensky]] and the provisional government to [[Siberia]] after none of Russia's allies agree to grant the former royals sanctuary, fearing that the lingering resentment at their autocratic rule would unleash similar domestic revolts. The provisional government doesn't last however following the [[October Revolution|seizing of power by the Bolsheviks]] and the country's descent into [[Russian Civil War|civil war]]. Fearing that the encroaching pro-monarchist "[[White movement|Whites]]" will attempt to restore the Romanovs, the Bolsheviks in Moscow attempt to have the royal family brought back for trial.

En route back to the capital, the royals and their escort are intercepted by representatives of the local revolutionary government, who seize the royals and bring them to [[Yekaterinburg]]. Under harsh conditions, they are guarded by [[Yakov Yurovsky]], who later receives orders to have the family killed. In the middle of the night the family are awoken by his men and, under the pretense they need to be transferred again, are brought to the cellar [[Murder of the Romanov family|where they are executed]].

==Cast==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
;The Imperial Family
* [[Michael Jayston]] as [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas]]
* [[Janet Suzman]] as [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)|Alexandra]]
* [[Roderic Noble]] as [[Aleksey Nicolaievich Romanov|Alexis]]
* [[Ania Marson]] as [[Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia (1895–1918)|Olga]]
* [[Lynne Frederick]] as [[Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia|Tatiana]]
* [[Candace Glendenning]] as [[Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (1899–1918)|Marie]]
* [[Fiona Fullerton]] as [[Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia|Anastasia]]
* [[Harry Andrews]] as [[Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929)|Grand Duke Nicholas (Nikolasha)]]
* [[Irene Worth]] as [[Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)|The Queen Mother Marie Fedorovna]]
;The Imperial Household
* [[Tom Baker]] as [[Grigori Rasputin|Rasputin]]
* [[Jack Hawkins]] as [[Vladimir Frederiks|Count Fredericks]] (voice dubbed by [[Robert Rietti]], as Hawkins had lost his voice to throat cancer)<ref>{{cite AV media|date=1994|title=Film…|type=television programme|people=Norman, Barry (presenter)}}</ref>
* [[Timothy West]] as [[Eugene Botkin|Dr. Botkin]]
* Katharine Schofield as [[Alexandra Tegleva|Tegleva]]
* [[Jean-Claude Drouot]] as [[Pierre Gilliard|Gilliard]]
* [[John Hallam]] as [[Klimenty Grigorievich Nagorny|Nagorny]]
* [[Guy Rolfe]] as [[Sergei Fyodorov (surgeon)|Dr. Fedorov]]
* [[John Wood (English actor)|John Wood]] as [[Eugene Kobylinsky|Colonel Kobylinsky]]
{{col-3}}
;The Statesmen
* [[Laurence Olivier]] as [[Sergei Witte|Count Witte]]
* [[Eric Porter]] as [[Pyotr Stolypin|Stolypin]]
* [[Michael Redgrave]] as [[Sergey Sazonov|Sazonov]]
* [[Maurice Denham]] as [[Vladimir Kokovtsov|Kokovtsov]]
* [[Ralph Truman]] as [[Mikhail Rodzianko|Rodzianko]]
* [[Gordon Gostelow]] as [[Alexander Guchkov|Guchkov]]
* [[John McEnery]] as [[Alexander Kerensky|Kerensky]]
;The Revolutionaries
* [[Michael Bryant (actor)|Michael Bryant]] as [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]]
* [[Vivian Pickles]] as [[Nadezhda Krupskaya|Mme. Krupskaya]]
* [[Brian Cox (actor)|Brian Cox]] as [[Leon Trotsky|Trotsky]]
* [[James Hazeldine]] as [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]
* [[Stephen Greif]] as [[Julius Martov|Martov]]
* [[Steven Berkoff]] as [[Pankratov]]
* [[Ian Holm]] as [[Vasily Yakovlev|Yakovlev]]
* [[Alan Webb (actor)|Alan Webb]] as [[Yakov Yurovsky|Yurovsky]]
* [[Leon Lissek]] as Avadeyev
* David Giles as [[Filipp Goloshchyokin|Goloshchyokin]]
{{col-3}}
;Other characters
* [[Roy Dotrice]] as [[Mikhail Alekseyev|General Alexeiev]]
* [[Martin Potter (actor)|Martin Potter]] as [[Felix Yusupov|Prince Yusupov]]
* [[Richard Warwick]] as [[Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia|Grand Duke Dmitry]]
* [[Vernon Dobtcheff]] as Dr. de Lazovert
* [[Alexander Knox]] as [[Elihu Root|The American Ambassador]]
* Ralph Neville as [[George Buchanan (diplomat)|The British Ambassador]]
* [[George Rigaud]] as [[Maurice Paléologue|The French Ambassador]]
* [[Curt Jürgens]] as The German Consul
* [[Julian Glover]] as [[Georgy Gapon|Gapon]]
* [[John Shrapnel]] as Petya
* [[Diana Quick]] as Sonya
* [[John Forbes-Robertson (actor)|John Forbes-Robertson]] as Colonel Voikov
* Alan Dalton as Flautist
* David Baxter as Young Bolshevik
* Peggy Sugg as Young Opera Singer
{{col-end}}

==Production==
=== Development ===
Producer Spiegel tackled ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' when he was shut out from working with director [[David Lean]] on ''[[Doctor Zhivago (film)|Doctor Zhivago]]'', which was also set against the backdrop of revolutionary Russia. Spiegel had alienated Lean when the two worked together on the film ''[[Lawrence of Arabia (film)|Lawrence of Arabia]]'', pressing the perfectionist director in order to get the movie finished on time.

Spiegel initially tried to make ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' without buying the rights to the book by [[Robert K. Massie]], claiming that the historical account was in public domain but, eventually, Spiegel purchased the rights for $150,000.<ref>Fraser-Cavassoni, p 289</ref> He hired writer James Goldman to adapt Massie's book as a screenplay. Goldman had written the popular play and film ''[[The Lion in Winter]]''.

The first director was [[George Stevens]] who left the project. Anthony Harvey became involved in December 1968 but he left by February 1969. [[Ken Russell]], [[Lindsay Anderson]], and [[John Boorman]] were all approached but turned it down. Joseph L. Mankiewicz was briefly part of the project then Charles Jarrott joined in November 1969.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nicholas and Alexandria|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54099-NICHOLAS-AND-ALEXANDRA?cxt=filmography|access-date=2022-02-21|website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref> After seeing [[Patton (film)|''Patton'']], Goldman recommended [[Franklin J. Schaffner]] who signed in July 1970.

Spiegel turned to former collaborators [[John Box]] for production design, and cinematographer [[Freddie Young]] (''Lawrence of Arabia'') to give the production the epic touch he felt it needed. [[Principal photography]] took place in [[Spain]] and [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]].

Spiegel had to work with stricter budget constraints from [[Columbia Studios]] than before. He had wanted [[Peter O'Toole]] as Rasputin and [[Vanessa Redgrave]] as Alexandra but was constrained. Notable actors such as [[Laurence Olivier]], [[Irene Worth]], [[Michael Redgrave]] and [[Jack Hawkins]] appeared in the film, but actor [[Rex Harrison]] turned down a supporting role as too small. Spiegel offered the role of the Empress to Grace Kelly who turned it down.<ref>{{cite book|page=289|url=https://archive.org/details/graceofmonacoint00engl/page/289/mode/1up?q=%22nicholas+and+alexandra%22+%22sam+spiegel%22+schaffner|title= Grace of Monaco : an interpretive biography|last=Englund|first= Steven|year=1984 |publisher= Doubleday | isbn=978-0-385-18812-8 }}</ref>

[[Tom Baker]], a member of the [[Royal National Theatre]], was recommended for the role of Rasputin by Laurence Olivier, then the director of the company.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a545281/tom-baker-turns-80-doctor-who-legends-best-screen-moments.html#~peB4CmbFNfyfTo | title= Tom Baker turns 80: Doctor Who legend's best screen moments | publisher=Digital Spy | first=Morgan | last=Jeffery | date=20 January 2014 | access-date=4 June 2015}}</ref>

===Filming===
Filming began in Spain in November 1970 and took twenty weeks.

==Reception==
===Critical===
Despite the detailed production design, photography, and strong performances from the cast, ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' failed to find the large audience it needed to be a financial success.<ref>Kirgo, Julie "Nicholas and Alexandra" booklet, ''Twilight Time'', 2013</ref> However, it was chosen by the American [[National Board of Review]] as one of the Top 10 Films of 1971.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oscarsijmen.freehostia.com/NBR70.htm|title = National Board of Review}}</ref>

The [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reported that 67% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 6.20/10. On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 57 out of 100 based on 10 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".<ref>{{Citation |title=Nicholas and Alexandra |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/nicholas-and-alexandra |access-date=2022-10-08}}</ref>

''Variety'' called it "a film of exquisite taste."<ref>{{cite book|title=Variety Film Reviews 1971-74|page=166|date=1983|url=https://archive.org/details/varietysfilmrevi0013unse/page/n166/mode/1up?q=%22nicholas+and+alexandra%22+%22sam+spiegel%22+schaffner}}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun Times]]'' gave it two-and-a-half stars out of four, writing "If the movie isn't exactly stirring, however, it is undeniably interesting, especially after the intermission."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/nicholas-and-alexandra-1972 |title=Nicholas and Alexandra |website=Rogerebert.com|first=Roger|last=Ebert|date=4 February 1972|access-date=1 January 2022}}</ref>

''[[Halliwell's Film and Video Guide]]'' described ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' as an "inflated epic of occasional interest, mainly for its sets" and "generally heavy going", awarding it one star from a possible four.<ref>{{cite book|author=Leslie Halliwell|editor=John Walker|title=Halliwell's Film and Video Guide|year=1997|page=550|publisher=Collins|isbn=978-0002559324}}</ref> In 2013, Alex von Tunzelmann wrote for ''[[The Guardian]]'', "''Nicholas and Alexandra'' boasts terrific performances and gorgeous production design, but it's bloated and unwieldy. There is more history here than the film-makers know what to do with."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/jun/14/nicholas-and-alexandra-reel-history |title=Nicholas and Alexandra: mashing up history can't make this pair lovable |website=[[The Guardian]] |first=Alex|last=von Tunzelmann|date=14 June 2013|access-date=19 October 2019}}</ref> For ''[[Radio Times]]'', Tom Hutchinson awarded the film three stars out of five, describing it as a "sumptuous, if overlong, epic" which "shows the stretchmarks of too much padding" and "overwhelms us with its detail, though Tom Baker is a lot of fun as the leering mystic Rasputin".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/film/kj7zy/nicholas-and-alexandra/ |title=Nicholas and Alexandra |website=[[Radio Times]] |first=Tom|last=Hutchinson|access-date=19 October 2019}}</ref> [[Stanley Kauffmann]] of ''[[The New Republic]]'' described the film as 'flabby'.<ref>{{cite book |title=Living Images Film Comment and Criticism|last1=Kauffmann|first1=Stanley |publisher=Harper & Row Publishers |year=1974 |page=245}}</ref>

===Historical accuracy===
There is at least one anachronism; Peter Stolypin had been assassinated in 1911, two years before the Romanov dynasty tercentenary in which he is portrayed as being alive before being assassinated.<ref>Quotes from General Alexander Spiridovitch, "Murder of Prime Minister Stolypin in Kiev 1911" (1929) [http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/stolypin-murder-1911-kiev.html translated by Rob Moshein]</ref>

===Box office===
By the end of the 1970s the film had lost Columbia $3 million.<ref>Fraser-Cavassoni, p 302</ref>

===Awards and nominations===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="6"| [[44th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]
| [[Sam Spiegel]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="6"| <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1972 |title=The 44th Academy Awards (1972) Nominees and Winners |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=December 6, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111072026/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1972 |archive-date=November 11, 2014}}</ref>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| [[Janet Suzman]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]]
| Art Direction: [[John Box]], [[Ernest Archer (art director)|Ernest Archer]], [[Jack Maxsted]], and [[Gil Parrondo]]; <br> Set Decoration: [[Vernon Dixon]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| [[Freddie Young]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]]
| [[Yvonne Blake]] and [[Antonio Castillo (costume designer)|Antonio Castillo]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Score|Best Original Dramatic Score]]
| [[Richard Rodney Bennett]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="3"| [[25th British Academy Film Awards|British Academy Film Awards]]
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]]
| John Box
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="3"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1972/film |title=BAFTA Awards: Film in 1972 |publisher=[[British Academy Film Awards]] |access-date=June 3, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]]
| Yvonne Blake and Antonio Castillo
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles|Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles]]
| Janet Suzman
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="3"| [[29th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture]]
| rowspan="2"| [[Tom Baker]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="3"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/nicholas-and-alexandra/ |title=Nicholas and Alexandra |publisher=[[Golden Globe Awards]] |access-date=February 3, 2023}}</ref>
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor|New Star of the Year – Actor]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress|New Star of the Year – Actress]]
| Janet Suzman
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[15th Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy Awards]]
| [[Grammy Award for Best Sound Track Album or Recording of Original Cast From a Motion Picture or Television|Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special]]
| Richard Rodney Bennett
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/15th-annual-grammy-awards |title=15th Annual GRAMMY Awards |publisher=[[Grammy Awards]] |access-date=February 3, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Board of Review Awards 1971|National Board of Review Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
| {{draw|6th Place}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1971/ |title=1971 Award Winners |publisher=[[National Board of Review]] |access-date=November 17, 2024}}</ref>
|}

==Home media==
''Nicholas and Alexandra'' received a home video release on [[VHS]] in 1987 by [[RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video]] and reissued in the 1990s by [[Columbia Tristar Home Video]].

Its DVD release was on 27 July 1999 from [[Sony Pictures Home Entertainment]]. The DVD featured a vintage 14-minute featurette on the production of the film and six more minutes of scenes and dialogue not found on previous VHS tapes.

The film received a Blu-ray release in February 2013 from Twilight Time. The Blu-ray featured three featurettes on the production of the film covering the makeup, costume designs and actresses playing the Tsar's daughters in the film. It also contained the original theatrical trailer as well as an isolated music score. The latter was presented in stereo even though the sound on the Blu-ray was presented in mono. The Blu-ray release was limited to only 3,000 copies. This film is also available for sale or rent as a video online download through both [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] and [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s [[iTunes]] Store, with Amazon's online file containing the six more minutes of scenes and dialogue that Apple's iTunes file doesn't.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenarchives.com/display_results.cfm?category=546|title = Screen Archives Entertainment}}</ref>

==Soundtrack==
This soundtrack was written by [[Richard Rodney Bennett]].

{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|
# Overture – 2:19
# Nicholas and Alexandra – 1:26
# The Royal Children – 1:23
# The Palace – 1:00
# Sunshine Days – 3:21
# Alexandra – 1:18
# The Romanov Tercentenary – 0:52
# Lenin in Exile – 1:21
# The Princessess – 2:20
# The Breakthrough – 2:35
# The Declaration of War – 2:55
# Entr'acte – 2:40
# The Journey to the Front – 1:02
# Military March – 2:40
# Rasputin's Death – 1:28
# The People Revolt – 1:19
# Alexandra Alone – 1:11
# Farewells – 2:30
# Dancing in the Snow – 1:11
# Departure from Tobolsk – 1:30
# Elegy – 1:38
# Epilogue – 1:50
}}

==Notes==
*{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/samspiegel00fras/page/302/mode/1up?q=%22nicholas+and+alexandra%22+|title= Sam Spiegel|last=Fraser-Cavassoni|first=Natasha|year=2003 |publisher= Simon & Schuster |isbn= 978-0-684-83619-5}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0067483|Nicholas and Alexandra}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=343}}
* {{AFI film|54099}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|1014986-nicholas_and_alexandra|Nicholas and Alexandra}}

{{Franklin Schaffner}}
{{Grigori Rasputin in popular culture}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas And Alexandra}}
[[Category:1971 films]]
[[Category:1970s biographical drama films]]
[[Category:1970s historical drama films]]
[[Category:British biographical drama films]]
[[Category:British epic films]]
[[Category:British historical drama films]]
[[Category:Biographical films about Russian royalty]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Nicholas II of Russia]]
[[Category:Depictions of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia on film]]
[[Category:Films about Grigori Rasputin]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Vladimir Lenin]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Joseph Stalin]]
[[Category:Films about capital punishment]]
[[Category:Films directed by Franklin J. Schaffner]]
[[Category:Films produced by Sam Spiegel]]
[[Category:Films scored by Richard Rodney Bennett]]
[[Category:Films set in Poland]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1900s]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1910s]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Leon Trotsky]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award]]
[[Category:Russian Revolution films]]
[[Category:Films about Soviet repression]]
[[Category:British World War I films]]
[[Category:Horizon Pictures films]]
[[Category:Columbia Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films shot in Spain]]
[[Category:Films based on works by American writers]]
[[Category:Films based on non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by James Goldman]]
[[Category:1971 drama films]]
[[Category:Films shot in Yugoslavia]]
[[Category:Films set in 1904]]
[[Category:Films set in 1905]]
[[Category:Films set in 1913]]
[[Category:Films set in 1914]]
[[Category:Films set in 1916]]
[[Category:Films set in 1917]]
[[Category:Films set in 1918]]
[[Category:Films set in 20th-century Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Films set in Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:Films set in Siberia]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1970s British films]]
[[Category:English-language historical drama films]]
[[Category:English-language biographical drama films]]