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Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

In Tsarist Russia, the incoming Communists cause understandable problems for glamorous, aristocratic Marlene Dietrich (as Alexandra Vladinoff) and handsome British journalist-turned-spy Robert Donat (as Ainsley J. Fothergill). Neither have backgrounds that are especially well-liked by the working class. When the Russian Revolution gains steam, Ms. Dietrich and Mr. Donat struggle to escape what looks like the installation of a firing squad on every block.Like Greta Garbo observed in the hilarious "Ninotchka" (1939), "There are going to be fewer, but better Russians." Dietrich and Donat are a very attractive couple, but their relationship with the camera is obviously more important than their characters' growing love. Both are clearly posed and unfocused throughout. A truly memorable characterization is given by John Clements (as Poushkoff), a suspicious but star-struck commissar you should look out for later in the running time. Director Jacques Feyder and photographer Harry Stradling make it a beautiful-looking film.****** Knight Without Armour (6/1/37) Jacques Feyder ~ Marlene Dietrich, Robert Donat, John Clements, David Tree

Just check the schedule for TCM. Next showing is 6pm Nov 16th 2010. As the above review says - it's "a great lovers-on-the-run film with a world-falling-apart backdrop" - as well as a wonderful period piece, and extravagant costume film! It is a very complicated film reminiscent of Dr Zhivago! And even tho little known, it was just a pleasant surprise to see the future star of The Four Feathers join the ensemble halfway thro...TCM is wonderful because they restore old films, and this one is presented scratch free with no sound defects...

Coffee? Well that's probably what you will need to keep yourself awake for this old melodrama. Actually, I'm quite a fan of melodrama, especially old film melodramas. However, this picture has the histrionic theatrics, but not the drama.I suppose this film is trying to say something like; even against a background of revolution and savage mass hysteria (there are some masterful scenes of crowd spectacle in this movie) that love and compassion can still manage to bloom and thrive. Well, maybe it has more to say than this, or perhaps less. The problem is, the film is so slowly paced, you just don't care.Possible Spoilers!The plot, like the characters, is fairly incidental. The film is set up rather slowly, Russian Countess Alexandra (Dietrich) and A. J. Fotheringill (Robert Donat) keep passing each other unnoticed, at the races, on a train, on a train again.....etc... The viewer isn't surprised to discover then are destined to meet again. There is also a subplot about Fotheringill becoming a secret agent for England, to help spy on Russia. But a little like Donat's character, the plot point isn't really relevant. Fast forward a little and Fotheringill is exiled in Siberia (the viewer is sure to relate) and the spoiled Countess Alexandria is about to get up close and personal with the people of the Russian revolution. The scene where a frightened but ultimately defiant Dietrich faces a murderous mob of revolutionaries is perhaps the most effective. But it's also an example why the picture doesn't really work. Dietrich express though her character more masculinity than Donat ever manages to project on the screen. Dietrich is supposed to be scared out of her mind, but in this guise she is fairly unconvincing and if any emotion is represented here it's one of boredom.Fotheringill (Donat) at this point rescues Dietrich from execution and smitten with her charms assists her escape. Well you would think the action has began and the film might finally be interesting? Afraid not, no it's at this point the characters start quoting poetry at each other. "Mind your step, don't tread on that corpse, have you heard Browings latest Sonnet?" It's all downhill from this point, gaudy gowns, Dietrich in a bath tub, Dietrich swimming in a forest lake, Dietrich and Donat in funny hats. What the film really needed was some editorial discipline. Cut 20 or so unnecessary minutes and you might have had a more enjoyable film. Or not, there is little character development and growth, but it is worth seeing for Dietrich in her prime.

In "Knight Without Armour" (***) Robert Donat plays a British journalist in 1914 revolutionary Russia who is persuaded by his government to go undercover as a "red." The catch is that if he's caught the British home office will disavow any knowledge of him. He is caught and spends two years in Siberia before the death of Czar Nicholas and the fall of the Russian nobility free him. He then becomes the right hand man for an influential revolutionary commissar. Needless to say, his heart isn't really in it and when he gets an opportunity to escort a rich and pampered Russian countess back to headquarters in Petrograd for questioning he decides to help them both escape from the country. They are then tossed about like footballs from one side to the other. The plot is really rather ingenious, although you get the impression that the filmaker's hearts are more on the side of the corrupt "white" establishment if for no other reason that it never misses an occasion for glamorous star close-ups of Marlene D. in extravagantly opulent costumes. Even a young red official is so smitten with her he sacrifices himself in order to save her and Donat from one nasty predicament. I suppose the film wanted to avoid appearing to be too pro-communist, but in the process it comes down a little too much on the side of "noblesse oblige." The film ends a bit abruptly with Donat and Dietrich seemingly a long way from being out of the woods yet, but all-in-all it's beautifully produced and holds the interest pretty much all the way through. Good scene: Dietrich awakening one morning alone in her palace to discover that her entire household of servants has fled. If you can find a good print of this unusual oldie, it's worth seeing.