Scarlet Dawn (1932) - film review

1917.  Prince Nikiti Krasnoff is an officer in the Imperial Russian army.  Shortly after returning to his native country after fighting against the Germans in WWI, Prince Nikiti finds himself caught up in the Bolshevik uprising.  To save his life, the prince disguises himself as a poor Russian labourer.  His loyal household servant Tanyusha conceals his identity and the two escape across the Turkish border.  In Constantinople, they marry and find menial work; it is a hard life but they are content.   Then, one day, Nikiti’s former mistress Vera Zimina puts in an unexpected appearance.  She persuades the prince to leave Tanyusha and start a new life with her in Paris.  Missing the life he once knew, Nikita has no hesitation in joining Vera, but he has second thoughts when he discovers he that must sell a fake necklace to buy his passage out of Turkey...

Scarlet Dawn is one of the first films that William Dieterle made after leaving Germany and beginning his successful career in Hollywood.   Despite the obvious budgetary constraints (Warner Brothers weren’t exactly famous for throwing money around), the film impresses with its imaginative chiaroscuro cinematography and set design, which provide an authentic recreation of the period and location.   This is one of the few American films set at the time of the Russian revolution which doesn’t get mired in historical detail or degenerate into tacky generic melodrama once the setting has been established.

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is appropriately cast as the handsome romantic lead, exposing his chest in a few scenes to the delight of his many female admirers (something his illustrious father would never have got away with).  Although Nancy Carroll plays the most sympathetic character, and does so with some poignancy, it is the stunning Lilyan Tashman who makes the biggest impression as the voluptuous Russian femme fatale, exuding vile decadence and calculating sensuality in every shot.   Not up to Dieterle’s usual standards of excellence, but an engaging and well-crafted film all the same.

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