Based on the 1914 play of the same name by Michael Morton, this is a rather entertaining film about corruption and discrimination in Tsarist Russia. Taking place from 1913 to 1914, it goes a little over the top in essentially depicting Mother Russia under the Romanovs as the root of all evil, though it was hardly an egalitarian haven of democracy either. The script by Morton, Guy Bolton and Jules Furthman is not always stellar but it was better than I expected when I heard the film's concept and saw a few less than positive reviews. However, it is very well directed by Raoul Walsh, who had a very long and prolific Hollywood career.
The film stars Elissa Landi as a young Jewish woman named Marya Kalish. Her performance is quite good but she is a bit too hysterical at times, which gets a little trying. It comes dangerously close to camp from time to time. Sadly, Landi died in 1948 at the young age of 43. Marya is in many ways the archetypal victim. Like all other Jews, she is restricted to the Pale of Settlement after martial law is declared in Russia. In a serious case of bad timing, she learns later that day that her father, a prisoner of the Okhrana in St. Petersburg, is extremely ill. The anti-Semitic authorities have no sympathy for her plight and refuse to issue her with a passport. Marya soon discovers that she can obtain a yellow ticket that can allow her to travel anywhere in Russia for 50 rubles if she claims to be a prostitute. Although Marya has no interest in practicing prostitution and does not do so, she nevertheless obtains the yellow ticket as she is desperate to see her father. However, when she arrives at the prison, she discovers that her father has been killed by the Okhrana.
Things gets worse when she is sentenced to a 15 day prison sentence after she does not check in with the police, as holders of yellow tickets must do every two weeks. Worse still, after her release from prison, she is almost raped by a creepy orderly played by Boris Karloff, who would soon make his name as Frankenstein's Monster. She is seemingly saved by a young captain named Count Nikolai but he tries to rape her too. He is stopped by his uncle and commanding officer Baron Andrey but he does not do so out of the goodness of his heart either. The film is pre-Code which is why the issue of prostitution formed such a major part of the storyline, though the word itself is never used. The same is true of its several incidents of attempted rape. Its status as a pre-Code film means that there is a brief shot of a naked woman, something which would never have been allowed if the film had been in, say, 1935.
In only his fourth film appearance, the 24-year-old Laurence Olivier was already a great actor. He gives the best performance in the film as Julian Rolfe, an English journalist who is on an extended assignment in Russia. As the authorities have only shown him what they want him to see, his articles do not paint an accurate picture of the country. Julian meets Marya on a train and, after they chat for a few minutes, she agrees to provide him with the sort of information that he cannot get anywhere else. In a surprising move, the film jumps forward several months and we find that Julian and Marya have fallen in love and he wants to marry her. I think that I experienced film whiplash from that very sudden development. It would have probably been better to have one or two other scenes between them before they went from perfect strangers to sweethearts, even if it was obvious that that was where they were going.
The film also stars Lionel Barrymore as the lecherous, amoral, corrupt Baron Andrey. The writing for the character is not a masterclass in subtlety as he openly declares that Russia needs a Herod to slaughter the innocent. Sadly, he would get his wish. This is after he has already ripped up requests to stay executions without even looking at them. After he discovers that it is Marya who is providing Rolfe with the information, he lures her to his house and attempts to rape her but she kills him before he can do so. In a serious case of good timing, Julian and Marya are able to escape to Britain in the confusion following the declaration of the First World War. Barrymore's performance does not contain much in the way of subtlety either as he chews on the scenery rather thoroughly. I much preferred his comparatively restrained performance as Mr. Potter in "It's a Wonderful Life", the only other film in which I have seen him. Coincidentally or not, his younger brother John Barrymore played Rolfe in the original Broadway production in 1914. Outside of the "Before he was famous" moment with Karloff, none of the other actors stood out one way or the other.
Overall, this is quite a good film but it would have a great deal better with stronger writing and toned down performances from Landi and Barrymore. If, of a morning, you wake up and say to yourself, "I really want to watch a film about Tsarist Russia starring Laurence Olivier," I would recommend the excellent 1971 film "Nicholas and Alexandra" over this one. More seriously, it is sad in retrospect that things would get far worse for both Jews and Russia in reality than anything depicted in the film.
The film stars Elissa Landi as a young Jewish woman named Marya Kalish. Her performance is quite good but she is a bit too hysterical at times, which gets a little trying. It comes dangerously close to camp from time to time. Sadly, Landi died in 1948 at the young age of 43. Marya is in many ways the archetypal victim. Like all other Jews, she is restricted to the Pale of Settlement after martial law is declared in Russia. In a serious case of bad timing, she learns later that day that her father, a prisoner of the Okhrana in St. Petersburg, is extremely ill. The anti-Semitic authorities have no sympathy for her plight and refuse to issue her with a passport. Marya soon discovers that she can obtain a yellow ticket that can allow her to travel anywhere in Russia for 50 rubles if she claims to be a prostitute. Although Marya has no interest in practicing prostitution and does not do so, she nevertheless obtains the yellow ticket as she is desperate to see her father. However, when she arrives at the prison, she discovers that her father has been killed by the Okhrana.
Things gets worse when she is sentenced to a 15 day prison sentence after she does not check in with the police, as holders of yellow tickets must do every two weeks. Worse still, after her release from prison, she is almost raped by a creepy orderly played by Boris Karloff, who would soon make his name as Frankenstein's Monster. She is seemingly saved by a young captain named Count Nikolai but he tries to rape her too. He is stopped by his uncle and commanding officer Baron Andrey but he does not do so out of the goodness of his heart either. The film is pre-Code which is why the issue of prostitution formed such a major part of the storyline, though the word itself is never used. The same is true of its several incidents of attempted rape. Its status as a pre-Code film means that there is a brief shot of a naked woman, something which would never have been allowed if the film had been in, say, 1935.
In only his fourth film appearance, the 24-year-old Laurence Olivier was already a great actor. He gives the best performance in the film as Julian Rolfe, an English journalist who is on an extended assignment in Russia. As the authorities have only shown him what they want him to see, his articles do not paint an accurate picture of the country. Julian meets Marya on a train and, after they chat for a few minutes, she agrees to provide him with the sort of information that he cannot get anywhere else. In a surprising move, the film jumps forward several months and we find that Julian and Marya have fallen in love and he wants to marry her. I think that I experienced film whiplash from that very sudden development. It would have probably been better to have one or two other scenes between them before they went from perfect strangers to sweethearts, even if it was obvious that that was where they were going.
The film also stars Lionel Barrymore as the lecherous, amoral, corrupt Baron Andrey. The writing for the character is not a masterclass in subtlety as he openly declares that Russia needs a Herod to slaughter the innocent. Sadly, he would get his wish. This is after he has already ripped up requests to stay executions without even looking at them. After he discovers that it is Marya who is providing Rolfe with the information, he lures her to his house and attempts to rape her but she kills him before he can do so. In a serious case of good timing, Julian and Marya are able to escape to Britain in the confusion following the declaration of the First World War. Barrymore's performance does not contain much in the way of subtlety either as he chews on the scenery rather thoroughly. I much preferred his comparatively restrained performance as Mr. Potter in "It's a Wonderful Life", the only other film in which I have seen him. Coincidentally or not, his younger brother John Barrymore played Rolfe in the original Broadway production in 1914. Outside of the "Before he was famous" moment with Karloff, none of the other actors stood out one way or the other.
Overall, this is quite a good film but it would have a great deal better with stronger writing and toned down performances from Landi and Barrymore. If, of a morning, you wake up and say to yourself, "I really want to watch a film about Tsarist Russia starring Laurence Olivier," I would recommend the excellent 1971 film "Nicholas and Alexandra" over this one. More seriously, it is sad in retrospect that things would get far worse for both Jews and Russia in reality than anything depicted in the film.
