With rumors swirling that one or more of the Romanovs might have escaped, numerous individuals came forward claiming to be one of the Grand Duchesses or Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. The most notable of these was Anna Anderson, who rose to fame in the 1920s with her outlandish claims that she was Anastasia. The movie was most certainly based on Anderson's story, as the opening shots show a woman about to commit suicide from a bridge, as Anna Anderson did. While Anderson vehemently stated she was the heir to the Romanov family, many around her had doubts. Nevertheless, her story was immensely popular with the public.