Mayerling (1968 film)

Mayerling is a 1968 romantic tragedy film starring Omar Sharif, Catherine Deneuve, James Mason, Ava Gardner, Genevive Page, James Robertson Justice and Andra Parisy. It was written and directed by Terence Young. The film was made by Les Films Corona and Winchester and distributed by MGM.

In the 1880s, Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria Sharif clashes with his father, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria Mason and his mother Empress Elisabeth Gardner, over implementing progressive policies for their country. Rudolf soon feels he is a man born at the wrong time in a country that does not realize the need for social reform. The Prince of Wales Robertson Justice, later to become Britains King Edward VII, provides comic relief.Rudolf finds refuge from a loveless marriage with Princess Stphanie Parisy by taking a mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera Deneuve. Their untimely demise at Mayerling, the imperial familys hunting lodge, is cloaked in mystery, but the films ending suggests the two lovers made a suicide pact when they decided they could not live in a world without love or prospects for peace. ........

Source: Wikipedia