Knight Without Armor (1937)
Director: Jacques Feyder
Starring: Marlene Dietrich, Robert Donat, Irene Vanbrugh
Synopsis:
A British spy infiltrating the Russian Communists falls for a countess he is ordered to deliver to Petrograd.
Impressions:
This slog through revolutionary Russia is decent but nothing outstanding. TCM was having a bit of a marathon of Robert Donat films. He's okay, but I don't know if he avails himself better in other roles. This certainly wasn't one of Marlene Dietrich's better performances. There is a decent depiction of the miserable oppression that went on before and during the Revolution. Perhaps one of the best illustrations was Whites rounding up Reds and machine-gunning them one day, only to have the Reds rounding up Whites and machine-gunning them the next. You don't really root for either side, but there are decent people mixed in everywhere and lucking out with who you run across is a big part of the difference between living and dying.
Final word: An okay movie that you can take or leave with little consequence.
Rating:
50/50