Cossacos!

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.

In 19th century Russia, attractive John Gilbert (as Lukashka) is teased and called a "woman man" because he does not live the warrior lifestyle of other Cossacks. Even pretty maiden Renee Adoree (as Maryana) doesn't like Mr. Gilbert, who girlishly picks flowers and chews sunflower seeds. To make matters worse, Gilbert's father is macho chieftain Ernest Torrence (as Ivan). Everyone thinks he's a coward, but Gilbert (or, rather, his stuntman) is nevertheless a daredevil horseback rider. Eventually, as you probably suspect, Gilbert becomes a fierce warrior. "The smell of blood," he discovers, "is not so bad." Ms. Adoree takes notice. As a rival for her interests, princely and amorous Nils Asther (as Olenin) adds almost too much handsomeness to the cast...

This production reportedly went through continuous revisions as the studio, director and star were dissatisfied. The story never really impresses, but MGM spent a lot of money on "The Cossacks" and the film is beautiful and well-preserved. Great production values don't always make a mediocre story better, but they do here. Practically every scene can be enjoyed for one reason or another; everything and everyone looks absolutely fantastic. Art/set direction by Cedric Gibbons and Alexander Toluboff is outstanding. David Cox' costumes look great. Majestically photographed by Percy Hilburn, the film qualifies as an epic, with the MGM production team doing their "silent era" best to make it thrilling...

Oddly, this film's original soundtrack appears to be missing. When it aired June 1, 2014 on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), host Ben Mankiewicz stated the film had an original "orchestral" soundtrack, but showed "The Cossacks" with a new score by Robert Israel. Presumably, the standard "synchronized sound effects" score was made for the original release. A 1928 production of this quality would be unlikely to have no sound effects soundtrack. At times, sound is lost while film is preserved. It would have been nice to have the original soundtrack restored, if possible. TCM did not reveal whether or not Mr. Israel's score followed the orchestral score likely conducted live in New York by William Axt. In any case, Israel's score is fine and so is the film.

******* The Cossacks (6/23/28) George W. Hill, Clarence Brown ~ John Gilbert, Renee Adoree, Ernest Torrence, Nils Asther

Based (very loosely) on Leo Tolstoy's short novel "The Cossacks" (1863), this film is essentially about a love triangle between a local Circassian man (John Gilbert), a woman with a certain flair about her (Renée Adorée), and a visiting Moscow nobleman tasked by the Tsar with finding a Cossack bride (Nils Asther). Gilbert is the son of the Ataman (Ernest Torrence), the Cossack chieftain, but is lackadaisical and prefers riding his horse to going off and killing Turks, like a 'real man'. Adorée looks down on him as a result, that is, until Gilbert 'sees the light' after a violent confrontation with his father, in which they both whip each other. He then goes off and kills 10 Turks, but while doing that, Adorée has fallen under Asther's spell.

This is probably the best I've ever seen Gilbert, who was at the peak of his powers in 1928. He's dashing, energetic, and carries a devil-may-care attitude throughout the film. (Side note, it's tragic and hard to believe he would die just seven years later at just 36.) Asther is quite suave as well, so there are two handsome leading men here, and they both turn in strong performances. Torrence is also great, and gives us a lot of emotion with his eyes. Unfortunately, Adorée is pretty average. She certainly doesn't look the part, and is in pretty vanilla in a lot of her scenes, though she does play 'hurt' pretty well as the film goes on.

What really makes the film good, though, is how much attention to detail went into the production. It's a Hollywood film for sure, with action and fighting and drama and all of that, but it also has an air of authenticity about it. MGM built the Cossack village from a model, and brought in a large number of actual Cossack extras. The wardrobes, hairstyles, horsemanship, and crowd scenes are all fantastic. In one, Gilbert dances and flirts with a young (unfortunately uncredited) Gypsy girl to get Adorée's goat. It's a natural, spontaneous, and sexy. The chase sequences are exciting, as are the scenes in the Turkish village when Gilbert and Torrence are taken there. If you're less than thrilled early on, stick with this one; I was a little surprised I ended up liking it as much as I did.

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!

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.