Three outstanding performances here - Emil Jannings, Evelyn Brent, and William Powell are all brilliant - and the direction from Josef von Sternberg is superb. Jannings plays a Russian General trying to quash the Revolution, and Brent and Powell are revolutionaries in the guise of actors. That part of the story is told in an extended flashback, because a decade later Jannings and Powell have improbably found themselves in Hollywood. Crowd scenes in both periods are very well done, as extras mash against each other in the present, and the combat gets bloody in the past - but it's the story of the revolution that shines.
Evelyn Brent is simply transcendent, and the way that von Sternberg captures her is as good as almost anything he ever did with Marlene Dietrich. It's too bad her character weakens somewhat in a crucial moment, but it gave an extra layer of bittersweetness to the story. The fact that both Brent and Powell's characters' both ultimately see the honorable aspect of a man who loved his country is touching, and while the outer story is a little weaker, the ending is quite good.
Von Sternberg's use of lighting and close-ups, how he draws the emotion out of his cast and the big scenes, gives this old film a feeling of vibrancy and life, unlike many others from the era. Oh and lastly, the intertitles from Herman J. Mankiewicz were some of the best I've seen, a couple examples of which were:
"And so, with the flames of war crackling along a two-thousand mile front, troops bitterly needed to defend Russia played parade for the Czar."
And: "After a week - after thousands of men had spilled their blood to defend a few inches of earth - there came a lull between storms."
Overall, great film, and one to seek out.
Evelyn Brent is simply transcendent, and the way that von Sternberg captures her is as good as almost anything he ever did with Marlene Dietrich. It's too bad her character weakens somewhat in a crucial moment, but it gave an extra layer of bittersweetness to the story. The fact that both Brent and Powell's characters' both ultimately see the honorable aspect of a man who loved his country is touching, and while the outer story is a little weaker, the ending is quite good.
Von Sternberg's use of lighting and close-ups, how he draws the emotion out of his cast and the big scenes, gives this old film a feeling of vibrancy and life, unlike many others from the era. Oh and lastly, the intertitles from Herman J. Mankiewicz were some of the best I've seen, a couple examples of which were:
"And so, with the flames of war crackling along a two-thousand mile front, troops bitterly needed to defend Russia played parade for the Czar."
And: "After a week - after thousands of men had spilled their blood to defend a few inches of earth - there came a lull between storms."
Overall, great film, and one to seek out.