This German film was originally released as Frauen um den Sonnenking, but was retitled to capitalize on the success of the British Private Life of Henry VIII. In keeping with the current German party line in the mid-1930s, French King Louis XIV (Michael Bohnen) is depicted in the most villainous terms possible. According to this film, the misbegotten monarch was responsible for all the woes in 20th-century Europe. Louis is at his most despotic when dealing with the Germans, who are characterized as the next best thing to saints. Thank heaven that his bride Liselotte (Renato Mueller), Princess of Palatinate, realizes what a louse she's married to. Loyal to the edicts of propaganda minister Goebbels, The Private Life of Louis XIV is thinly disguised Nazi propaganda -- and there were far less-subtle films to come. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi