Knight Without Armour (styled as Knight Without Armor in some releases) is a 1937 British historical drama film directed by Jacques Feyder, produced by Alexander Korda, and starring Marlene Dietrich and Robert Donat. It is also the title of a 1933 thriller novel by English author James Hilton (published in the United States as Without Armour), upon which the film is based.
Novel (1933)
The novel Knight Without Armour was written by James Hilton and first published in 1933. It is a thriller set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution. The story follows A. J. Fothergill, an Englishman who is recruited as a British secret agent in Russia. He rescues Alexandra Adraxine, the daughter of a Tsarist minister, from Bolshevik revolutionaries. The novel was published in the United States under the title Without Armour.
Film (1937)
The film adaptation was produced by Alexander Korda's London Film Productions at Denham Studios. The screenplay was written by Lajos Bíró and Frances Marion, with additional dialogue by Arthur Wimperis, based on Hilton's novel. The music score was composed by Miklós Rózsa (his first for a motion picture), incorporating additional music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Plot
Englishman A. J. Fothergill (Robert Donat) is recruited by British intelligence to spy in Russia, where he infiltrates a revolutionary group under the alias "Peter Ouranoff." After an assassination attempt on General Vladinoff goes wrong, Fothergill is sent to Siberia. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, he is freed and assigned to escort the general's daughter, Alexandra Adraxine (Marlene Dietrich), to Petrograd for trial. Instead, he helps her escape, and the two fall in love as they flee through war-torn Russia.
Cast
- Marlene Dietrich as Alexandra Adraxine (née Vladinoff)
- Robert Donat as A. J. Fothergill / "Peter Ouranoff"
- Irene Vanbrugh as Duchess
- Herbert Lomas as General Gregor Vladinoff
- Austin Trevor as Colonel Adraxine
- Basil Gill as Axelstein
- John Clements as Poushkoff
- Miles Malleson as Drunken Red Commissar
Production
The film's sets were designed by the renowned Franco-Russian art director Lazare Meerson. During production, Robert Donat suffered a severe bout of his chronic asthma, and Alexander Korda considered replacing him, but Marlene Dietrich persuaded Korda to wait for his recovery. Two LNER Class J15 locomotives were acquired and cosmetically modified to appear Russian for the film's train sequences.
Reception
The film received generally positive reviews. The New York Times critic Frank Nugent praised it as "colorful, romantic, melodramatic, and a first rate entertainment." Critic Graham Greene described it as "melodrama of the most engaging kind" and "a first-class thriller." Variety was less favourable, noting that the effort to remain neutral on the Russian Revolution overshadowed the love story. Despite a budget of $350,000, the film did not turn a profit, and Korda was unable to pay Dietrich her full promised salary of $250,000 plus 10% of gross profits.
