Forbidden Paradise

Historical period melodrama.

Catherine the Great falls in love with an army officer who is plotting against her.

During the 18th century, German noblewoman Sophia Frederica, who would later become Catherine the Great, travels to Moscow to marry the dimwitted Grand Duke Peter, the heir to the Russian throne. Their arranged marriage proves to be loveless, and Catherine takes many lovers, including the handsome Count Alexei, and bears a son. When the unstable Peter eventually ascends to the throne, Catherine plots to oust him from power.

When British Capt. Charles Edstaston arrives at the court of Catherine the Great in St. Petersburg, Russia, he is stunned by the palace's disorderly condition. The severely intoxicated Prince Potemkin concludes that the handsome Edstaston would be a suitable lover for Catherine, and he coerces the bewildered visitor into her bedchamber. Edstaston manages to escape, but he is repeatedly recaptured and delivered to the mischievous Catherine.

Trapped in a loveless arranged marriage to the immature future Czar, a young German Princess proves a skillful political infighter and rises to become Catherine the Great.

The era of palace coups in Russia ended with the coronation of a prominent historical figure: Catherine the Great. She could have settled for the role of Emperor’s wife, but her persistence and determination eventually proved that her rightful place was on the throne. She was still a child when she learned that she was to marry Peter III and produce an heir. Catherine, however, wanted to rule Russia herself. She saw the potential of the Russian Empire, and she wanted to implement the ideas of the Enlightenment. Will Russia experience a renaissance of culture and sciences under Catherine? Will her ideas eventually play to her detriment?

The woman who will become Catherine the Great marries into the Russian royal family when she weds Grand Duke Peter, the nephew of Empress Elizabeth. Although the couple has moments of contentment, Peter's cruel and erratic behavior causes a rift between him and Catherine. Mere months after Peter succeeds his aunt as the ruler of Russia, a revolt is brewing, and Catherine is poised to ascend to the throne as the country's new empress.

A documentary about the history of Ukrainian Cossacks in the Kuban.

Yekaterinburg, Russia, July 17th, 1917. Czar Nicholas II Romanov and his entire family are brutally murdered by the Bolsheviks. This tragic event puts an end to the long dynasty that had ruled the country with an iron hand since the coronation of Michael I Romanov in 1613.

Giacomo Casanova returns to Venice, to help his brother, falsely accused of robbery.

A foreign woman marries a rich man.

In an attorneys office, Andy explains why he thought his sweetheart married his best friend.