''Tempest'' is a 1928

feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing characteristic of a software item ...

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

directed by Sam Taylor. V. I. Nemirovich-Dantchenko wrote the screenplay and

William Cameron Menzies William Cameron Menzies (July 29, 1896 – March 5, 1957) was an American film production designer (a job title he invented) and art director as well as a film director and producer during a career spanning five decades. He began his career ...

won an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Art Direction for his work in the film in 1929, the first year of the awards ceremony.

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

and

Camilla Horn Camilla Martha Horn (25 April 1903 – 14 August 1996) was a German dancer and a film star of the silent and sound era. She starred in several Hollywood films of the late 1920s and in a few British and Italian productions. Biography The daught ...

star in the film, with

Louis Wolheim Louis Robert Wolheim (March 28, 1880 – February 18, 1931) was an American actor, of both stage and screen, whose rough physical appearance relegated him to roles mostly of thugs or villains in the movies, but whose talent allowed him to fl ...

co-starring. Preserved by two US archives George Eastman House and UCLA Film and TV.

Plot

The film is set during final days of Czarist Russia and revolves around a peasant who rises through the ranks of the Russian army ending up a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

. His life is made increasingly difficult by the aristocrats and officers around him who are resentful of his progress. He then finds himself rejected by a princess he falls in love with and, having been caught in her room, is put in prison. There he is stripped of his rank, but soon after the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

starts, and as a result of the Red Terror, the tables are turned.

Cast

as Sgt. Ivan Markov *

as Princess Tamara *

as Sgt. Bulba * Boris de Fast as Peddler / Commissar *

George Fawcett George Fawcett (August 25, 1860 – June 6, 1939) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. Biography Born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1860, Fawcett graduated from the University of Virginia. His initial inclination was to ...

as General * Ullrich Haupt as Captain *

Michael Visaroff Michael Simeon Visaroff (December 18, 1889 – February 27, 1951) was a Russian American film character actor. Biography Visaroff was born Mikhail Semenonovich Vizarov ( Russian: Михаил Семёнович Визаров) in Moscow, ...

as Guard

Accolades

The film won the first Academy Award for Production Design along with 1927's ''The Dove'' as both were designed by William Cameron Menzies. The award was originally called Best Interior Decoration.

References

External links

*
''Tempest'' at SilentEra''Tempest''
at Virtual History 1928 films 1928 drama films Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award American black-and-white films Silent American drama films 1920s English-language films American silent feature films Films directed by Lewis Milestone Films directed by Sam Taylor Films produced by Joseph M. Schenck Russian Revolution films Films directed by Victor Tourjansky 1920s American films {{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub