Tempest (1928)

A peasant (John Barrymore) advances himself through the ranks of the Army until he becomes an officer but he is still disdained by the aristocratic officers who got their ranks through privilege. He falls in love with a noblewoman (Camilla Horn, Murnau's FAUST) who is torn between her attraction to him and her contempt for his peasantry. Directed by Sam Taylor. Optimistically described as an "epic" romance, there's very little epic about this silent film set in the final days of Czarist Russia. More intimate than epic, it's still an enjoyable piece of romantic hokum and Barrymore is marvelous here. Strong and subtle without the hamminess that often taints his performances in sound films. With Boris De Fast as an aristocrat hating revolutionary and Louis Wolheim (ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT) as Barrymore's best pal. I disliked the anemic piano score accompanying it.