by Allan Fish
(USA 1928 88m) not on DVD
Long live Russia!
p Adolph Zukor, Jesse L.Lasky d Josef Von Sternberg w Josef Von Sternberg, Herman J.Mankiewicz, John F.Goodrich, Lajos Biro ph Bert Glennon ed William Shea m Gaylord Carter (video reissue) art Hans Dreier
Emil Jannings (Grand Duke Sergius Alexander/General Dolgorucki), William Powell (Leo Andreiev), Evelyn Brent (Natascha Dobrova), Jack Raymond (assistant director), Nicholas Soussanin (adjutant), Fritz Feld (revolutionary), Michael Visaroff (Serge),
A year after the release of avant garde classic The Life and Death of a Hollywood Extra, Josef Von Sternberg directed another film for whom the title would not have been inappropriate. The final command of the title could be interpreted one of two ways, and could even equate to a euphemism. Did it refer to the words of his last command, or rather to the last position of command he held? I tend to veer towards the latter, and that’s what is so typically Von Sternbergian about the whole enterprise. The great Josef was cinema’s great master of artifice, as showcased in his exquisite series of films with Marlene Dietrich, but people forget that The Blue Angel was a turning point, the changeover of the guard, with its two stars pivotal to Von Sternberg’s career.
Command details the fortunes of a Russian general, also a cousin of Tsar Nicholas II, who is left in command on the eastern front despite awful conditions, supplies and lack of men. Finally he disobeys imperial orders and takes a stand (“I would take any risk to prevent a needless sacrifice” he declares to seductress Brent), but fate takes the matter out of his hands when the Revolution sees the overthrow of the Tsar and his country’s withdrawal from the First World War. All of a sudden, his general’s train quarters are overrun by revolutionaries and he barely escapes being hung, before being degraded over and over by the men he once commanded. He is helped to safety by the sacrifice of a woman (Brent) who had previously hated him and, dazed and confused, he crosses the Atlantic, where “the backwash of a tortured nation had carried still another extra to Hollywood.”
Von Sternberg was always fond of irony and there are enough ironic touches to suit anyone, with its final scene equal parts ironic and surreal. It both looks forward to and mirrors the finale of Sunset Boulevard; though there the insane heroine believes real life is her long lost film set, whereas in Von Sternberg’s film he thinks his film set is reality. Pure Von Sternberg not just in that, but in a study of artifice, as the finale shows a real blurring not just of realities, but of characters. “You can always spot the villain, he’s the fellow with the moustache”, said Liam Neeson in Kinsey, and from his very first appearance, William Powell’s egotistical theatrical director looks like a villain but, by the end, even he can see the irony and is moved by his former enemy’s tragedy. They share a sense of the futility, all summed up in the sequence where Jannings and Powell both recognise the correct positioning of the medal on the general’s costume, much to the chagrin of the assistant director. Without further ado, we applaud the cast, with Brent, Powell and, particularly, Jannings, magnificent. Just think of Jannings’ incredible performance within a performance in the final scene, his vision of his beloved and hundreds of revolutionaries killed as their train falls into an icy river abyss, or his tragic appearance as he is abused near his train by the revolutionaries, like Christ on the Via Dolorosa.
What is perhaps most memorable, though, remains the incredible ambition of the project. Just remember that it was made at the same time as Eisenstein’s October showed the revolution from a different standpoint, and also contains crowd sequences and maelstroms to dwarf Lean’s bloated Doctor Zhivago. Much of the credit must go to Glennon for his superb photography (he went on to shoot The Scarlet Empress) and Dreier for his amazing sets (and Gaylord Carter’s organ score on the video version is probably his best work, too), all of whom contributed memorably to this requiem to Imperial Russia which remains, to quote Tony Rayns, “the first of his (Von Sternberg’s) glitteringly stylised rhapsodies of commitment and betrayal, expertly poised between satire and absurd melodrama.”
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I had the great fortune of seeing this film at the New York Film Festival two years ago, where it screened at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theatre. It’s an important work by an essential director, and it contains a brvura lad performance, but there is some tedium, the result of dated aspects and some static segments. I think it’as on balance a very good film, but it didn’t make my own Top 25, though I’ll never forget that screening with superlative live musical accompaniment.
I like this movue very much. The three central performances, the ironic plot and Von Sternbergs amazing visuals keep this one fresh in my mind. But, like Sam above, I have to say that there are moments where the film drags along and looks severly dated. That quibble aside, I would still rank this film within the top 25 of era and Janning’s performance as one of the superlative turns. As for Von Sternberg; this (to me) was just an icicle in the tip of the ice-berg. His visual style will grow more stylistic, expressive and creative as he moves forward. In my personal opinion, this directors greatest VISUAL achievement is THE SCARLETT EMPRESS, a film so visually sumptuous as to be likened to a great dessert.
BTW… I had the great pleasure and surprise, last night, of being put on the phone, by Sam, with the elusive but charming MR. ALLAN FISH. Although our conversation was brief, I got from the few minutes of speaking with him the impression of a deeply thoughtful and intelligent man. Quiet, meticulous, straight-foward and, yes, caring, it was wonderful to finally match a voice to the photos I’ve seen and the writing I obsessively read on a daily basis. From what I could summize, this is NOT the ogre some of us, including myself, have thought he might actually be. I feel, slightly, as I would have liked to have spoken to him a wee bit longer (the phone was cutting out from the long ditance patch in), gipped as I’m sure there was far more of his brain that I would have liked to pick over the phone. In any case, it was a thrill and an honor to finally speak to the man whose writing and critical thoughts I deeply admire. I have to thank Sam for that, it was the high-lite of my day.
OF COURSE… Allan will probably dismiss my last statement as the ravings of a lunatic. I stand by my assessments above. Nice to finally speak with you ALLAN!!!!!!
No problem, Dennis. Any time. Drop us an email any time, too, at rollo.tomassi@btinternet.com
ALLAN-I’ll do that! Thanks.
I’ve always wanted to see this movie, ever since I was a little kid and it was featured prominently, with an intriguing plot summary and a description of Janning, in my Academy Award book. I will definitely catch it in the next few weeks.