A peace-loving Cossack chooses to prove himself in battle when his village and childhood sweetheart label him a coward.A peace-loving Cossack chooses to prove himself in battle when his village and childhood sweetheart label him a coward.A peace-loving Cossack chooses to prove himself in battle when his village and childhood sweetheart label him a coward.
Josephine Borio
- Stepka
- (uncredited)
Sidney Bracey
- Koozma
- (uncredited)
Lou Costello
- Extra
- (uncredited)
Helena Dime
- Minor Role
- (uncredited)
George Goforth
- Tavern Keeper
- (uncredited)
Joseph Marievsky
- Turkish Spy
- (uncredited)
Neil Neely
- Secondary Role
- (uncredited)
Russ Powell
- Cossack
- (uncredited)
Yorke Sherwood
- Uncle Eroshka
- (uncredited)
- Directors
- George W. Hill
- Clarence Brown(uncredited)
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaComposer Robert Israel was commissioned by Turner Classic Movies to compose a new orchestra music score for their new High-Def broadcast edition, which aired on their network on June 1, 2014.
- GoofsIt's inconceivable that the Sultan would mistake Lukashka's letter as coming from the Tsar, and break the peace struck between them by having his men attack the Prince's carriage.
- Quotes
Subtitle: These were the Cossacks of Holy Russia!... a people simple as children... cruel as children... fabulous lovers of laughter and food... fabulous laughers at death!
- Alternate versionsTurner Classic Movies broadcast this film in a new High-Def edition on June 1, 2014 with new orchestra score by Robert Israel.
- ConnectionsVersion of Kazakebi (1928)
Featured review
John Gilbert & Renee Adoree, together yet again.
They made a lot of movies together, and this one is no "Big Parade", but it's worth seeing. The scenery is gorgeous, the wardrobes are great, the humour is as fresh today as it was when they all put on those big fur hats and saddled up.
It's the story of one Cossack leader's son who will not go to war. Lukashka, (Gilbert)loves simply to live - he finds delight in the small things that surround him. He is taunted by his father,and humiliated by the other young men in the village, who (naturally) view war as a rite of passage, and simply the Thing That A Man Does, or he is no man. His childhood sweetheart, Mariana (Adoree)loves him, but being a simple girl, would like it better if he were like the rest.
Taunted beyond bearing, Lukashka wins his scar when men from the neighboring town steal horses under cover of night. Thereafter, the men laud him, the woman make over him, and Mariana, who had her chance, is ignored, but so pointedly that we know he still loves her madly. There is an amusing scene where she runs after him on horseback, echoing the fabulous troop truck scene in "Parade" when she falls in the dust, clutching his shoe.
In the course of the misunderstanding, she is betrothed to an aristocrat; Lukashka comes to find her, but it is too late: she has given her word. A beautiful love scene, making titles unnecessary, ensues, but nothing can change. It is too late. She has given her word, though we can see her heart is breaking.
Terrible things happen before they can be together again. The torture scene is brutal, too realistic for me when I saw it. It seemed his hands WERE burning! It is the vogue to be facile now about silent film, to see the stories as hackneyed because now, after 70 years, we think we have invented sophistication. Pay attention to this story. There is a subtlety that many stories made today miss completely.
This is a good story - it's entertainment, and that was always the point. It's also a chance to see John Gilbert play opposite his most sympathetic leading lady, Renee Adoree, a lovely, wide-hipped girl with magic, at least when she played against him.
It's the story of one Cossack leader's son who will not go to war. Lukashka, (Gilbert)loves simply to live - he finds delight in the small things that surround him. He is taunted by his father,and humiliated by the other young men in the village, who (naturally) view war as a rite of passage, and simply the Thing That A Man Does, or he is no man. His childhood sweetheart, Mariana (Adoree)loves him, but being a simple girl, would like it better if he were like the rest.
Taunted beyond bearing, Lukashka wins his scar when men from the neighboring town steal horses under cover of night. Thereafter, the men laud him, the woman make over him, and Mariana, who had her chance, is ignored, but so pointedly that we know he still loves her madly. There is an amusing scene where she runs after him on horseback, echoing the fabulous troop truck scene in "Parade" when she falls in the dust, clutching his shoe.
In the course of the misunderstanding, she is betrothed to an aristocrat; Lukashka comes to find her, but it is too late: she has given her word. A beautiful love scene, making titles unnecessary, ensues, but nothing can change. It is too late. She has given her word, though we can see her heart is breaking.
Terrible things happen before they can be together again. The torture scene is brutal, too realistic for me when I saw it. It seemed his hands WERE burning! It is the vogue to be facile now about silent film, to see the stories as hackneyed because now, after 70 years, we think we have invented sophistication. Pay attention to this story. There is a subtlety that many stories made today miss completely.
This is a good story - it's entertainment, and that was always the point. It's also a chance to see John Gilbert play opposite his most sympathetic leading lady, Renee Adoree, a lovely, wide-hipped girl with magic, at least when she played against him.
helpful•212
- AnnieP
- Feb 4, 1999
Details
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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