Plot Synopsis:
In a departure from his onscreen persona of Latin lover, silent-era sex symbol Rudolph Valentino delivered one of the most nuanced and powerful performances of his career in this epic romance set in 18th-century Russia, directed by Clarence Brown (Flesh and the Devil, Anna Karenina). Valentino stars as Vladimir Dubrovsky, a lieutenant in the Imperial Guard who becomes a fugitive after he rejects the amorous attentions of the Czarina Catherine II (Louise Dresser).