What movie caused a legal ruling that then caused many Hollywood films to carry the standard statement: "Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental"?

gtho4

"Rasputin and the Empress" (1932) In the summer of 1934, the English Court of Appeal sat in judgment of a motion picture about the downfall of the czarist regime in Russia. The film, "Rasputin and the Empress", was produced by Metro­Goldwyn­Mayer and directed by a Polish imigre; it starred Lionel, Ethel, end John Barrymore. Princess Irina Alexandrovna Youssoupoff had sued Metro­GoldwynMayer for libel, claiming that she was clearly recognizable in the film as Princess Natasha, whose intended, Prince Chegodiefl, murders "the mad monk" in a palace on the Moika River. It was not the murder charge that was at issue: Irina's husband, Prince Youssoupoff, had already published a book saying that he had indeed had Rasputin assassinated at his family property on the Moika, and good riddance; rather, it was the film's suggestion that Princess Natasha had been seduced by Rasputin. The jury saw the film twice, heard testimony, and agreed that Princess Irina had been defamed; the Court of Appeal upheld the verdict and assigned MGM heavy damages... Since 1934, any number of films have used some version of this disclaimer: "The events and characters depicted in this pho. toplay are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental." http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/HistoryWired/Davis/DavisAuthenticity.html Dec 10 09, 10:22 PM

star_gazer

Correct! Excellent research! Dec 10 09, 11:26 PM