The earth has turned 36,500 days since New Years 1917, and the end of the empire meant a new Russia, one that would impact world history. As a new regime rises with a different style of leadership at the helm, the world held its breath, but certain governments were not about to stand idly by. That's where the British coming in, sending secret agent Leslie Howard over to check everything out, hoping for the best as World War I airs its ugly head, but not taking any chances. This involved the possible release of German soldiers, something that England and much of the rest of the world could not resist.
Handsomely put together by Warner Brothers at their most lavish, it was under the direction of Michael Curtiz, one of the most versatile of all Hollywood directors. Howard represents the English embassy after many British flee, and when he begins a romantic liaison with Russian revolutionary Kay Francis, his ideals are brought into question as more havoc breaks out. On her part, Francis (who is first seen shooting at a Cossack) has strong ideals herself, and when asked to betray the man she lives, is torn apart.
Lavish but politically convoluted, thus is problematic because one should know more about the Russian revolution if one expects to understand everything. A lot of footage appears to have been edited out and while the film tries to flow without cohesion, there's enough history brought up to tie together a few loose ends.
The cast is fine, with Howard a hot leading man at the time with at least two other classics released at the time. He delivers a powerful performance equivalent to the same year's "The Scarlet Pimpernel". Francis is cast in quite a different role, not a majorly romantic part, and certainly far from her dozen of other films concerning mother love. Her wardrobe is a far cry from her many clothes horse parts, and she does fine alternating between sympathetic and deceitful.
Others who stand out include a young Cesar Romero and Irving Pichel, although some of the accents are questionable. In Francis's case, it's nonexistent. As a huge fan of hers, I've seen many of her films three, four times, some more. But for some reason, prior to this viewing, I was unable to make it through the whole film. I can see now why: it has a rather oddly paced structure where you have to really listen to every word and take in every frame to really comfortably follow it.
Handsomely put together by Warner Brothers at their most lavish, it was under the direction of Michael Curtiz, one of the most versatile of all Hollywood directors. Howard represents the English embassy after many British flee, and when he begins a romantic liaison with Russian revolutionary Kay Francis, his ideals are brought into question as more havoc breaks out. On her part, Francis (who is first seen shooting at a Cossack) has strong ideals herself, and when asked to betray the man she lives, is torn apart.
Lavish but politically convoluted, thus is problematic because one should know more about the Russian revolution if one expects to understand everything. A lot of footage appears to have been edited out and while the film tries to flow without cohesion, there's enough history brought up to tie together a few loose ends.
The cast is fine, with Howard a hot leading man at the time with at least two other classics released at the time. He delivers a powerful performance equivalent to the same year's "The Scarlet Pimpernel". Francis is cast in quite a different role, not a majorly romantic part, and certainly far from her dozen of other films concerning mother love. Her wardrobe is a far cry from her many clothes horse parts, and she does fine alternating between sympathetic and deceitful.
Others who stand out include a young Cesar Romero and Irving Pichel, although some of the accents are questionable. In Francis's case, it's nonexistent. As a huge fan of hers, I've seen many of her films three, four times, some more. But for some reason, prior to this viewing, I was unable to make it through the whole film. I can see now why: it has a rather oddly paced structure where you have to really listen to every word and take in every frame to really comfortably follow it.