Historical evocation of Ludwig, king of Bavaria, from his crowning in 1864 until his death in 1886, as a romantic hero. Fan of Richard Wagner, betrayed by him, in love with his cousin Elisabeth of Austria, abandoned by her, tormented by his homosexuality, he will little by little slip towards madness. [This so-called "TV version" is the reconstructions of Visconti's original 238 minute cut.]

• Helmut Berger
• Romy Schneider
• Trevor Howard
• Helmut Griem
• Silvana Mangano
• Umberto Orsini
• John Moulder-Brown
• Gert Fröbe