Le batelier de la Volga

When I first heard of the Volga Boatman, I couldn't believe it. Cecil B. DeMille, super-patriot and rabid anti-communist made a film in which the hero was a BOLSHEVIK? And said Bolshevik played by none other than William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd? Needless to say, I had to see it.

I like DeMille's silent films considerably better than his sound ones and The Volga Boatman is certainly a lovely film to look at. William Boyd and Elinor Fair look splendid, the historically inaccurate but lushly gorgeous gown by Adrian are breath-taking. Communists commune, White Russians waltz the night away and the Volga looks very Volga-ish in spite of being in California.

The movie begins with a disclaimer stating that the film takes no sides. For the most part, this is true. Both sides are shown to have their heroes and villains. The problem is, the behavior and motivations of the characters make the movie seem like a French Revolution film that got the wrong costumes delivered by mistake. The mob scenes in particular made me feel like I was watching a reel of Orphans of the Storm! Oh well, this is DeMille.

DeMille hired Russians as consultants and actors but discarded any advice that they offered on authenticity. The fact that boatman had not been used on the Volga in 50 years did not dissuade him. The fact that some modern viewers would see this movie as an authentic portrayal of Russian life is disturbing, to say the least. (My source, by the way, is "Behind the Mask of Innocence" by Kevin Brownlow) The plot involves Feodor (Boyd), the titular boatman. Elinor Fair is Vera, a princess engaged to marry Prince Dimitri (Victor Varconi). Vera and Feodor meet by the riverbank and there is definite chemistry, much to Dimitri's annoyance. When the Revolution comes, Feodor rises in the ranks of the Red Army and soon finds himself in the uncomfortable position of having to execute Vera personally. What will he do? Well, the movie is available on DVD so it's easy to find out.

The sincerity and charm that Boyd would display so memorably as Hopalong Cassidy serve him well in this part. DeMille asks a lot of his leading men, to make the sometimes very silly scripts believable must have been a job and a half. Being a DeMille leading man also required a certain amount of upper body strength. Please note the whiplash inducing spin that Boyd gives Fair before their first kiss. That's a DeMille specialty. The same technique was later used by Yul Brynner in The Ten Commandments.

By the way, movie buffs should look for Eugene Palette (Friar Tuck in The Adventures of Robin Hood) in an uncredited role. He is part of the Red Army firing squad.

The Volga Boatman is a historical curio and pure brain candy. It is a fun movie to watch and it's certainly worth seeing Boyd without his cowboy hat, he and Fair give rather good performances and Varconi does a good job as the morally weak Dimitri. But as for the history... Well, best put that out of your mind and enjoy the ride.

DeMille's tendency to overstate is unbridled, making this a little overdrawn even for a silent epic. Every scene is an epic unto itself and staged as such. It unfolds coherently with DeMille's relentlessly chronological epic momentum, but it drags in many places for lack of editing. Boyd is definitely charismatic in the role that launched his career as a silent matinee idol. His blue eyes rivet the camera even in black-and-white. The pure idealism that he brought to bear in over 50 subsequent stints as Hopalong Cassidy radiates from his Wagnerian portrayal of this bolshevik boatman who cannot betray what he knows in his heart--the universal cowboy hero of every Saturday morning in any get-up. The electricity is there between Boyd and his soon-to-be bride in real life, Elinor Fair, as the princess-in-love-with-the-noble-peasant. Julia Faye adds needed sensuous energy with her tawdry portrayal of the Tartar peasant girl (who also lusts after Boyd, of course). All the elements of human emotion against an epic backdrop are here, and DeMille develops them all as thoroughly as the themes in any of Bach's "Two and Three-Part Inventions". Great piano score from the original cue notes, too, b/t/w.

William Boyd (as Feodor) is a Volga river boatman "whose broad breast and ringing voice never tired because he dreamed a dream of freedom." Elinor Fair (as Princess Vera) is "in that delightful feminine state of intending to say 'yes' but acting 'no'" to Victor Varconi (as Prince Dimitri Orloff), "an Officer of the Czar's Guard" who is "just a man waiting for a woman's 'yes' or 'no'." Ms. Fair and Mr. Varconi become engaged, but the Princess falls in love with the un-Princely Mr. Boyd. Their entanglements are played out against the Russian Revolution.

Nice looking film by Cecil B. DeMille, J. Peverell Marley, and others. The performances begin well; especially future "Hopalong Cassidy" star Boyd - in his scene meeting Fair and Varconi, Boyd intensely shows anger, lust, and disgust. Unfortunately, the film peaks there. If you make it through the running time, you should watch for the scene when Boyd gives Fair five minutes say her prayers, before he means to kill her - she rips her dress a little to mark her upper chest with an "X" for his targeting convenience! There are some additional titillating strip scenes (which don't titillate, by the way).

"The Volga Boatman" is as slow moving and predictable as its protagonist. Theodore Kosloff, Julia Faye, and Robert Edeson try to liven things up among the Red Russians. White Russian Varconi makes a wise decision at the end. Off-screen, Boyd and Fair would marry; surprisingly, there is noting very extraordinary about their on-screen romance - they look better with Faye and Varconi...

***** The Volga Boatman (1926) Cecil B. DeMille ~ William Boyd, Elinor Fair, Victor Varconi

Even in his early days, DeMille was a technological wizard who applied the credo "more is better" to his movies. In his silent epic, The Volga Boatman, he certainly employed all the cinematic devices available to him to paint a picture of the Bolshevik revolution, not so much on a sweeping political scale, as on a personal level, that of a peasant and a princess.

The imagery in this movie is DeMille at his most visually expressive: the Volga boatmen, the human mules of Russia, in their rags contrasting with the richly dressed aristocrats, particularly Princess Vera whose gowns were designed by Adrian; the clock in the background inexorably ticking away the minutes of Vera's life as she plays the brave aristocrat, defying Feodor, the steely-eyed boatman/Bolshevik leader, not to love her; and the grand ballroom scene where the cream of Russian society dances while Mother Russia convulses in political upheaval.

Imagery conveys meaning in silent movies more so than the dialog, however, the dialog in The Volga Boatman is studded with acerbic lines emphasizing the disparity between classes and adding to the overall atmosphere of cultural inequality. Unfortunately, we only read one of the best lines of dialog ever written. Despite the fact that Bill Boyd's (Feodor's) rich baritone voice was a generous mixture of northern Oklahoma and north Hollywood accents, I enjoy imagining what he could have done with the line: "We've waited 500 years for freedom, you can wait five minutes to die."

As a devoted fan of the movies, particularly movies having some historical content, The Volga Boatman remains a highly appealing and "watchable" film for me because it focuses on timeless human relationships and not the stale political tracts which can be supplanted. In addition, DeMille's technical craftsmanship is most ably demonstrated in the beautiful composition of each scene. Mr. DeMille went on to direct Technicolor extravaganza's but this hand-tinted, silent classic is one that stands out as an example of DeMille at his cinematic best.

Boatmen pulling boat--why not donkey?

There are two very interesting things about "The Volga Boatman". First, it stars William Boyde...about a decade before he catapulted him fron stardom to mega-stardom as the cowboy hero, Hopalong Cassidy. Second, the film is very sympathetic to the poor Russian people and the Bolsheviks...which is odd considering that the director, Cecil B. DeMille, was a rabid anti-communist. I am sure he regretted making such a movie in later years...and according to IMDB this is why he never made a sound version of this story.

The story is set just before the Russian Revolution of 1917. Some rich jerks have a confrontation with one of the boatman working along the river...making an unnecessary enemy in the process. Some time later, this boatman (William Boyd) is a Boshevik leader and he has an opportunity for revenge. What happens? Well, some romance! What else? See the film.

Like all of DeMille's silents, this one is lovely to look at. DeMille was great at making good looking movies. He was not, however, all that adept at relationships and people in his films...and here this is pretty much the case once again. For its time, it's a pretty good movie. When seen today, it's a bit slow and the characters in need of greater dimension and depth.