A surprisingly ambitious production by Albatros Films, the company set up in Paris by Alexandre Kamenka to utilize artists and technicians forced out of Russia by the 1917 revolution. Foremost among these was Ivan Mosjoukine, who provided the plot idea for the film and stars with his then-wife Nathalie Lissenko.
Mosjoukine plays Prince Roundhito-Sing, part of the guard in the palace of the Grand Khan, ruler of a nation identified in some synopses as Tibet (although 'Khan' suggests Asia, 'Mogols' implies India, and the titles refer to the Prince simply as 'Hindou.')
When a usurper seizes the throne and imprisons Zemgali, the princess he loves, the Prince flees to France. On the boat, he meets actress Anna and her director, who decide, despite his naiveté about the west, that he has the makings of an actor.
In Paris, he's cast opposite Anna, on whom he develops a crush, much resented by her villainous banker lover Morel. When Morel sees the Prince wearing a ring he gave to Anna, Morel traps him into signing a large check on a non-existent account.
Learning that Anna doesn't love him, the Prince drinks himself into a stupor at a nightclub. At dawn, he hails a taxi and orders the driver "Drive anywhere. It doesn't matter - just fast!" The cab careers through the outskirts of Paris, delivering him to a hotel where a masquerade ball is in progress.
Meanwhile, four of the Prince's countrymen arrive.They reveal that the Prince is the true heir to the throne, now vacant since the fall of the usurper. A lavish enthronement ceremony concludes the film, at which Anna symbolically places the Prince's hand into that of Zemgali.
Jean Epstein makes accomplished use of the tiny Albatros studios in the suburb of Montreuil-sous-Bois. By placing action in the background and shooting across rooms full of furniture or, in the closing scenes, a foreground crowd, he creates the illusion of space. Some exteriors employ an early version of deep focus photography. The sequence of the cab rushing through the early morning streets is reminiscent of Russian post-revolution documentary, suggesting Epstein was familiar with such directors as Dziga-Vertov. He's at his best in the set pieces, in particular the frenetic nightclub scene. The three-piece balalaika and guitar band is obviously meant to suggest one of Paris's Russian cabarets but the sign behind them, "Jokey Club", implies they are in Montparnasse's disreputable Jockey Club. (Alice Prin, aka Kiki of Montparnasse, makes a brief appearance as a dancer.) In the course of the evening, the Prince downs the contents of a bottle, orders a dozen more, picks a fight with two other guests, has visions of Anna – all while the crowd dances wildly around him in a space barely larger than a domestic living room Unfortunately Epstein's efforts are frustrated by the stars. Lissenko has only one expression, a stolid glower. Mosjoukine, by contrast, verges on the manic. Given a wad of money by Morel, he capers out the gate of Anna's house, scattering notes in his wake. Some of what remains is spent at a florist to fill her house with flowers. When she thanks him, he scampers around the room, disappears out a door at the rear, and is seen running back and forth on a loggia in the deep background. Even in repose, he seldom looks more than ridiculous. All the same, the film is an interesting survival, meticulously restored by the Cinematheque Francaise, with a new piano and organ score, and the original tinting.
Mosjoukine plays Prince Roundhito-Sing, part of the guard in the palace of the Grand Khan, ruler of a nation identified in some synopses as Tibet (although 'Khan' suggests Asia, 'Mogols' implies India, and the titles refer to the Prince simply as 'Hindou.')
When a usurper seizes the throne and imprisons Zemgali, the princess he loves, the Prince flees to France. On the boat, he meets actress Anna and her director, who decide, despite his naiveté about the west, that he has the makings of an actor.
In Paris, he's cast opposite Anna, on whom he develops a crush, much resented by her villainous banker lover Morel. When Morel sees the Prince wearing a ring he gave to Anna, Morel traps him into signing a large check on a non-existent account.
Learning that Anna doesn't love him, the Prince drinks himself into a stupor at a nightclub. At dawn, he hails a taxi and orders the driver "Drive anywhere. It doesn't matter - just fast!" The cab careers through the outskirts of Paris, delivering him to a hotel where a masquerade ball is in progress.
Meanwhile, four of the Prince's countrymen arrive.They reveal that the Prince is the true heir to the throne, now vacant since the fall of the usurper. A lavish enthronement ceremony concludes the film, at which Anna symbolically places the Prince's hand into that of Zemgali.
Jean Epstein makes accomplished use of the tiny Albatros studios in the suburb of Montreuil-sous-Bois. By placing action in the background and shooting across rooms full of furniture or, in the closing scenes, a foreground crowd, he creates the illusion of space. Some exteriors employ an early version of deep focus photography. The sequence of the cab rushing through the early morning streets is reminiscent of Russian post-revolution documentary, suggesting Epstein was familiar with such directors as Dziga-Vertov. He's at his best in the set pieces, in particular the frenetic nightclub scene. The three-piece balalaika and guitar band is obviously meant to suggest one of Paris's Russian cabarets but the sign behind them, "Jokey Club", implies they are in Montparnasse's disreputable Jockey Club. (Alice Prin, aka Kiki of Montparnasse, makes a brief appearance as a dancer.) In the course of the evening, the Prince downs the contents of a bottle, orders a dozen more, picks a fight with two other guests, has visions of Anna – all while the crowd dances wildly around him in a space barely larger than a domestic living room Unfortunately Epstein's efforts are frustrated by the stars. Lissenko has only one expression, a stolid glower. Mosjoukine, by contrast, verges on the manic. Given a wad of money by Morel, he capers out the gate of Anna's house, scattering notes in his wake. Some of what remains is spent at a florist to fill her house with flowers. When she thanks him, he scampers around the room, disappears out a door at the rear, and is seen running back and forth on a loggia in the deep background. Even in repose, he seldom looks more than ridiculous. All the same, the film is an interesting survival, meticulously restored by the Cinematheque Francaise, with a new piano and organ score, and the original tinting.