KING'S RHAPSODY

Based on a play by Ivor Novello, which in turn derives from the ""tradition of Mayerling"", this dramatizes and sentimentalizes a royal romance, reflects the steadfast innocence of Christiane, the dark glamor of Nicki, King of Murania, whom she is to marry at eighteen. As the marriage is arranged- and accomplished, Christiane is defeated in her attempt to win Nicki's love, contends with Marta Karillos, his commoner mistress- as well as his stubborn, reckless ways, and their first year sees only misunderstanding and misinterpretation. But when they finally acknowledge their love for each other, they face the opposition of his mother and a political old guard. Nicki is forced to abdicate, while Christiane stays on as regent for their son and his years of exile away from her end in a willing death... The glamor of untouchables, of royal obligations and human sacrifices, is played up in the style of the period and gives this a certain vulnerable appeal for the present.