Rasputin and the Empress (1933)

Rasputin, a conman with the talent of persuasion, infiltrates the royal court of Russia as a spiritual guru. When he is able to "cure" the hemophiliac prince, he is allowed almost free rein and gets dangerously close to a coup.

There's a lot of heavy-handedness here, but it is compulsively watchable. The fact that the history is so recent makes it feel rather surreal.

C+