The Cossacks

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.

Cossack culture is being rebuilt as we speak.

I don't understand these words by a prior reviewer here:

"(The plot) will no doubt ruffle the feathers of a few feminists, as the Cossack men and women are amazingly primitive!! The women stay home and work like dogs while the men do what any macho man would do (...).

Why does it seem that women who think women are humans (aka 'feminists,' apparently) should have feathers, and that those would 'ruffle' because another woman likes to stay home and work like a dog to make a nice place for herself and her kids to live? Seems very feminist to me.

Furthermore, Cossack chivalry is a way of life for Cossack societies. They invented the idea of asking a young lady for her hand, which young ladies found more pleasant than being stolen by some primitive tribe. So, Even to say the notion that women can love to have a home, and some babies, and a man who can ride a horse and brings money and food...and roses...to say that is primitive is an indication that the reviewer's values are quite different from those I hold :)

Anyway, glad this flick has some more fans!

The Cossacks are warriors and farmers living under the Tsars of Muscovy and fighting fiercely against the Turks. Lukashka (John Gilbert) is the peace-loving only son of a fearsome chief and has no interest in fighting. He pursues village beauty Maryana. Everybody calls him a woman-man. He is a big disappointment to his father. After getting ridiculed by the villagers and a fight with his father, he turns into a heroic warrior. While the men are away to war, Prince Olenin Stieshneff visits the village and sets his sight on Maryana.

I find this a little funny. I find this world fascinating. It is unlike the modern world. I don't like many of the choices by these characters, but I do understand them. The torture scene gets to be a bit too much. All in all, it's a good action adventure with thrills and romancing.

It is hard for the viewer to find any sympathy for the main characters in the first half of the picture as the enemy hasn't been clearly defined. If the terrorist ISIS style tactics of the "Turks" had been clearly shown at the start of the film then the cast of "Cossacks" would have had the sympathy of the audience from the start.

Once the audience knows what kind of brutal savages the Cossacks are dealing with the film becomes much better. In the first half of the film Nils Asther appears to be the more attractive choice for Renée Adorée as he is more handsome, cultured and civilized in comparison to John Gilbert (especially as Gilbert treats her poorly, at one point even striking her). Once Nils Asther is out of the way, however, and the barbaric actions of the Turks is made known to the audience, it is easy to empathize with the characters.

The film would have been much better if the horrific barbaric nature of the Turks had been clear from the start. Otherwise it appears that the Cossacks and Turks are just bands of crazy violent people who attack each-other for no good reason.

Needless to say the modern score is terrible and anachronistic. I watched the film on mute and play a period Synchronized Musical Score (from the 1929 film "The Single Standard") and it fit nicely with the mood of the film.

After the phenomenal success of The Big Parade and maybe to get John Gilbert away from Greta Garbo where they were becoming a serious item off as well as on screen, Louis B. Mayer brought the stars Gilbert and Renee Adoree back to the screen for an epic costume drama set in old mother Russia, The Cossacks.

Gilbert plays a young Cossack son of the village Hetman Ernest Torrance who just can't get into the Cossack spirit. He rides well enough, but only well enough to show off to one particular village girl Adoree. She likes him well enough inside, but makes a big show of saying she wants a he man type Cossack who slays non-Christians with abandon. Gilbert would rather make love than fight, a sensible idea, but you don't get the women that way.

But he has competition soon enough when a prince from Moscow played by Nils Asther and that man's looks, riches, and charm is enough to turn any girl's head. Gilbert and Asther are soon rivals for Adoree.

Then there are those Turks looming on the horizon. All these elements come together in a spectacular climax.

The Cossacks is an exciting film and a bit frightening at times. I have to marvel at some of the riding that Gilbert's character was doing. I'm wondering whether it was Yakima Canutt doubling for Gilbert in those scenes.

Not as good as The Big Parade, but solid entertainment still today and a great introduction to John Gilbert.