Viewed at the Archive Francaise in the Bois D'Arcy outside of Paris several years ago.
One of the greatest stars in French cinema during the preceding 12 years, and the initial choice of Abel Gance for Napoleon, Ivan Mosjoukine faced a new and difficult challenge in Sergeant X. In this film Mosjoukine, a Russian who had never mastered the French language, would be required to speak on screen for the first time.
The same situation had already occurred with a number of well regarded European actors in Hollywood films eg Emil Jannings, Conrad Veidt & Lars Hanson. In each of these cases the actors in question returned to their native countries and continued their careers either permanently (or in the case of Veidt) until their English had improved enough to permit their return. However this was not an option that was open to Mosjoukine - an Russian expatriate who left shortly after the revolution and then spurned later invites to return.
Sergent X was therefore an attempt to accommodate the non French speaking Mosjoukine in a French speaking (and presumably German speaking in that version) role. Cleverly the film makers have Mosjoukine play newly arrived immigrant Jean Renault, whose words of French come from a phrase book he carries. Mosjoukine could then learn and speak his few lines phonetically. This was a method that worked well for such famous stars as Bela Lugosi (an actor bearing a strong facial resemblance to Mosjoukine).
The film begins with Jean, having been separated from his wife, Olga, who was with child when he last saw her, arriving at her Paris apartment, having traced her after years searching. He hesitantly asks the maid when her mistress will return and is asked to wait. However as he waits he sees the photograph of a man in uniform - Chardin - and discovers from a note left on her dresser that Olga has remarried.
Renault flees the apartment before Olga returns. With a broken heart, he does what all forlorn lovers do and joins the Foreign legion to forget. He is assigned to a remote outpost in Africa and there becomes Private X, an anonymous legionnaire who manages to lose himself in the discipline and camaraderie there. (During these scenes his French gradually improves.)
One day a new captain arrives at the outpost. Jean recognises the Captain as Chardin. With Chardin is his wife Olga and their young son, who Jean realises is his own.
Much soul searching results for Jean. Should he announce his identity to Olga and his son, or should he take a potentially suicidal mission to save the fort from marauding Arabs.
Not perhaps the most original plot line but it serves well for Mosjoukine's talkie debut. Given the long hesitation before filming took place Sergent X suffers from little of the early talkie static qualities that impeded the efforts of others. Indeed Sergent X is a polished and well shot vehicle, with an atmospheric desert setting, an exhilarating burst of rapid fire editing early in the proceedings and some good action photography in the climactic scenes. There are plenty of seductive camera moves to keep the film full of motion and on a technical level the film is fully on a par with Hollywood films of this time (late '31).
The story allows Mosjoukine plenty of opportunities for the sort of expressive visual acting he did so well in his silents. And where he does have to speak the film makers employ a number of techniques to aid him. In the bigger action scenes his dialogue consists of no more than a few words here and there (perfectly believable given his character's lack of English) In the final scenes where his French has improved to the point where he can converse the sequence is broken up into a series of staccato close ups - justified by the dramatic nature of the sequence.
Some sequences are poignant and perhaps a little cruel, for example the scene where Jean tries to speak to his son, but the little boy can't understand him. (Ironically as someone who has a poor command of French and had to watch this film in an unsubtitled print I found Mosjoukine's sharp and clearly pronounced speech easier to follow than most of the native French actors)
Mosjoukine gives a fine performance, his eyes glowing with a soulful pain we've never seen before and unlike some silent actors his voice sounds as we would expect. With a credible and well designed part we don't sense any real problems. However with the main character in a state of existential gloom for over half of the film there's little of the variety of moods Mosjoukine normally displays - in fact he seems like a stereotypically morose Russian. (My wife asked whether Mosjoukine was always like this)
At a certain point I also began to wonder if Mosjoukine's character would ever pull out of his torpor. Fortunately he did and the film ends on a more upbeat note with the newly promoted Sergent X marching his men off to the next fort.
Overall a good vehicle for the star - though a little less suffering might have helped it as a film. Apparently this was reasonably successful at the box office. Mosjoukine had survived the transition. However since his character couldn't learn French in every film the real problem had still to be tackled.
One of the greatest stars in French cinema during the preceding 12 years, and the initial choice of Abel Gance for Napoleon, Ivan Mosjoukine faced a new and difficult challenge in Sergeant X. In this film Mosjoukine, a Russian who had never mastered the French language, would be required to speak on screen for the first time.
The same situation had already occurred with a number of well regarded European actors in Hollywood films eg Emil Jannings, Conrad Veidt & Lars Hanson. In each of these cases the actors in question returned to their native countries and continued their careers either permanently (or in the case of Veidt) until their English had improved enough to permit their return. However this was not an option that was open to Mosjoukine - an Russian expatriate who left shortly after the revolution and then spurned later invites to return.
Sergent X was therefore an attempt to accommodate the non French speaking Mosjoukine in a French speaking (and presumably German speaking in that version) role. Cleverly the film makers have Mosjoukine play newly arrived immigrant Jean Renault, whose words of French come from a phrase book he carries. Mosjoukine could then learn and speak his few lines phonetically. This was a method that worked well for such famous stars as Bela Lugosi (an actor bearing a strong facial resemblance to Mosjoukine).
The film begins with Jean, having been separated from his wife, Olga, who was with child when he last saw her, arriving at her Paris apartment, having traced her after years searching. He hesitantly asks the maid when her mistress will return and is asked to wait. However as he waits he sees the photograph of a man in uniform - Chardin - and discovers from a note left on her dresser that Olga has remarried.
Renault flees the apartment before Olga returns. With a broken heart, he does what all forlorn lovers do and joins the Foreign legion to forget. He is assigned to a remote outpost in Africa and there becomes Private X, an anonymous legionnaire who manages to lose himself in the discipline and camaraderie there. (During these scenes his French gradually improves.)
One day a new captain arrives at the outpost. Jean recognises the Captain as Chardin. With Chardin is his wife Olga and their young son, who Jean realises is his own.
Much soul searching results for Jean. Should he announce his identity to Olga and his son, or should he take a potentially suicidal mission to save the fort from marauding Arabs.
Not perhaps the most original plot line but it serves well for Mosjoukine's talkie debut. Given the long hesitation before filming took place Sergent X suffers from little of the early talkie static qualities that impeded the efforts of others. Indeed Sergent X is a polished and well shot vehicle, with an atmospheric desert setting, an exhilarating burst of rapid fire editing early in the proceedings and some good action photography in the climactic scenes. There are plenty of seductive camera moves to keep the film full of motion and on a technical level the film is fully on a par with Hollywood films of this time (late '31).
The story allows Mosjoukine plenty of opportunities for the sort of expressive visual acting he did so well in his silents. And where he does have to speak the film makers employ a number of techniques to aid him. In the bigger action scenes his dialogue consists of no more than a few words here and there (perfectly believable given his character's lack of English) In the final scenes where his French has improved to the point where he can converse the sequence is broken up into a series of staccato close ups - justified by the dramatic nature of the sequence.
Some sequences are poignant and perhaps a little cruel, for example the scene where Jean tries to speak to his son, but the little boy can't understand him. (Ironically as someone who has a poor command of French and had to watch this film in an unsubtitled print I found Mosjoukine's sharp and clearly pronounced speech easier to follow than most of the native French actors)
Mosjoukine gives a fine performance, his eyes glowing with a soulful pain we've never seen before and unlike some silent actors his voice sounds as we would expect. With a credible and well designed part we don't sense any real problems. However with the main character in a state of existential gloom for over half of the film there's little of the variety of moods Mosjoukine normally displays - in fact he seems like a stereotypically morose Russian. (My wife asked whether Mosjoukine was always like this)
At a certain point I also began to wonder if Mosjoukine's character would ever pull out of his torpor. Fortunately he did and the film ends on a more upbeat note with the newly promoted Sergent X marching his men off to the next fort.
Overall a good vehicle for the star - though a little less suffering might have helped it as a film. Apparently this was reasonably successful at the box office. Mosjoukine had survived the transition. However since his character couldn't learn French in every film the real problem had still to be tackled.
