A former Imperial Russian general and cousin of the Czar ends up in Hollywood as an extra in a movie directed by a former revolutionary.
Acting
Jannings' physical collapse—Oscar-winning grotesquerie.
Direction
Von Sternberg's shadows eating the Russian palace whole.
Production
Train wreck staged with reckless 1928 ambition.
Director
Josef von Sternberg
Emil Jannings
Gen. Dolgorucki / Grand Duke Sergius Alexander
Evelyn Brent
Natalie Dabrova
William Powell
Lev Andreyev
Michael Visaroff
Serge (the valet)
Fritz Feld
A revolutionist
Harry Cording
Revolutionist (uncredited)
Shep Houghton
Russian Youth (uncredited)
Guy Oliver
Wardrobe Attendant (uncredited)
Harry Semels
A Soldier (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Emil Jannings won the first Best Actor Oscar for this and 'The Way of All Flesh,' then returned to Nazi Germany—Hollywood's ultimate cautionary tale.
Von Sternberg, son of Jewish immigrants, directing a film about Russian aristocratic collapse while studios employed White Russian émigrés as extras—layers of exploitation dressed as authenticity.
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