I never heard of it before but it was wonderful when I saw it tonight on TCM. I missed the first 20 minutes but got into it right away. Dietrich was beautiful and Donat was heroic and Clements stole his scenes. He deserved a better film career than he had. I haven't looked up the cinematographer yet but it was also first rate, lighting Dietrich was important here and it was well done, as well as lighting on the trains at night. Want to see it again.
shareI was impressed by some of the harrowing scenes of Commies on the move, as in, when the Countess arose from bed, slowly discovered that her servant staff had all vanished, and then she went out to find her front yard full of approaching Commies. Just imagine a similar scene playing out all over Czarist Russia as the "Revolution" took effect. I got the feeling that the "Revolution" was more about personal vendettas and score-settling than any implementation of a wise and sustainable ideology. In a way the movie sort of foreshadows the eventual failure of the Communist state in Russia some 80 years later.
"The sword is the soul. Study the soul to know the sword. Evil mind makes an evil sword." Toranosuke Shimada, “The Sword of Doom“
Fully agree, laxlon and Eric-1226 re all points you mention. Also loved the scene when they're on the train under the guise of being siblings and their "chaperone" catches them touching hands/Donat kissing Deiterich's hand. The finale was excellent as well.
I thought this was one of her best roles...understated and a nice change from the femme fatale she usually plays. Robert Donat is the quintessential romantic hero.
I, too, love this movie; especially the way the Countess and Peter's lives are shown prior to their first meeting. In many ways they live parallel yet opposite lives. They even cross paths at one point on a train; coming in very close contact but never laying eyes on each other.
It's as if by fate they were destined to be together so nothing could keep them apart. Not war, not a revolution, not ideological differences, not illness or injury, not rivalry, not hardship, not human intervention; nothing could get in their way or interfere with their love.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]