When Richie went to Paris to star as Louis XVI

in a new film about the French Revolution, he

had every reason to expect adulation and con-

trol of the final picture. He had, after all, been

a Hollywood star for decades. He was known

throughout the world for his romantic leading

roles, played with charm and elegance and the

best English high-style. Even in his fifties he was

the actor women swooned over, the man with

the come-hither smile, "The King."

And besides, his co-stars were Kate, his wife,

who would play Louis s mistress, and their close

friend, Annie Logan, cast as Marie Antoinette.

There was no doubt whom they would look to

for authority, was there?

And then Sigler arrives: Doug Sigler, the direc-

tor, a savage young new-wave filmmaker who

believes in total realism in his movies and total

command on his sets. The company holds its

breath waiting for the explosion that is sure to

come--and they are not disappointed. But even

they cannot predict the ferocity of the war that is

about to erupt.

And meanwhile the film rolls on, inexorable,

gathering speed and momentum. The story of

the revolution becomes daily more obsessive for

the actors, and we, too, are drawn into its

power. So real does the King and his entourage

become that almost before we know it, we are