Tempest (1928 film)


Tempest is a 1928 feature silent film directed by Sam Taylor. V. I. Nemirovich-Dantchenko wrote the screenplay and William Cameron Menzies won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction for his work in the film in 1929, the first year of the awards ceremony. John Barrymore and Camilla Horn star in the film, with Louis Wolheim co-starring.
Preserved by two US archives George Eastman House and UCLA Film and TV.

Synopsis

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

Cast

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.