The Ruthless Court

In The Ruthless Court, historical figure and subject of endless fascination Grigori Rasputin plays a pivotal role, getting in the way of John Richmond’s (really the ‘dead’ Prince Albert Victor) attempts to win back the heart of Alexandra, the last Tsarina of Russia. However, TRC is not the only place where you’ll find a fictionalization of the Russian ‘mad monk’—although our Rasputin is obviously the maddest, most entertaining and most cunning!

Take for instance, the above video, of 70s disco group Boney M’s 1978 hit ‘Rasputin’. About the self-same man, the song’s lyrics celebrate some of the same qualities of—and rumours about—the rowdy, self-proclaimed mystic as The Ruthless Court does. You just can’t forget such lines as Ra Ra Rasputin/Lover of the Russian queen and Ra Ra Rasputin/Russia’s Greatest Love Machine. Ain’t that the truth–the latter line that is. As for the first line, stories of Rasputin actually being the Tsarina’s lover were vicious fabrications spread around by the originally German royal’s enemies during Russia’s participation in WWI. Of course that doesn’t stop The Ruthless Court from playing with the idea and incorporating it into the thrilling and dramatic plot!

And although Boney M’s song modifies the murder of Rasputin, it lacks the imaginative chutzpah of The Ruthless Court. Has to be read to be believed and enjoyed!….

Oh, those Russians!