Review of Knight Without Armour (1937) by Bill M — 26 Jan 2009

"Knight Without Armour" is a superb blend of many fine talents. The film marks the first score by Miklos Rosza which is as rousingly excellent as any he composed for later, better known films ("Spellbound" or "Ben-Hur," for example).

Director Jacques Feyder was better known for his work in French silent films, and producer Alexander Korda (who later oversaw the 1939 landmark film "The Four Feathers" as well as the classic "Thief of Bagdad" in 1940).

Robert Donat stars as an Englishman posing as a Russian during the Revolution. After his return from exile in Siberia for several years, the story really begins where he falls in with a countess (Marlene Dietrich, uncharacteristically sweet and vulnerable, yet quite glamourous and feminine) as they are caught between rival Red and White factions whilst trying to flee the country.

Hay Petrie has a memorable bit as a railway conductor who is not what he appears to be. John Clements is particularly fine as a sincere, sensitive young man who becomes an unlikely ally to Donat and Dietrich, lovers on the run.

Some of the opening sequences are a bit choppy, but once the 'meat' of the story begins it is moody, suspenseful, romantic, and genuinely moving. A forgotten gem.