It Came From Hollywood sends along this pressbook for The Night They Killed Rasputin. Here’s what they had to say.
Distributed by Brigadier Films, this drama picture features John Drew Barrymore as the character Prince Felix Yousoupof, an homage to this father, John Barrymore’s, portrayal of the character Prince Paul Chegodieffin in the 1932 film Rasputin and the Empress. That 1932 Rasputin offering also featured John Drew Barrymore’s Aunt & Uncle, Lionel and Ethel, respectively. Drew Barrymore, daughter of John Drew Barrymore, has yet to make a Rasputin picture. If you’re keeping count, I’ve mentioned the name Barrymore five times and the name Rasputin three times, just in case this turns into an internet-drinking game! Brigadier Films distributed only four films in its existence between 1960-1962. The other three were The Tell-Tale Heart (1960), Kamikaze (1961), and The Smashing of the Reich (1961). Kamikaze & Reich saw some success as a double-bill in 1961, and both showed up in TV packages that were played almost non-stop between 1962 and the mid-1970s.
John Barrymore Jr. (he changed his name to John Drew Barrymore) had a lot of weight on his shoulders coming from such an illustrious family of actors. He did fairly well in American movies and television, and also in Italian movies, but a troubled life with addiction problems, and four marriages, eventually made acting parts dry up and he turned away from public life. “Barrymore eventually withdrew from acting, with his final two appearances being a 1974 episode of Kung Fu and an uncredited role in the 1976 film Baby Blue Marine” (Wikipedia).