The Cossacks, 1928, based on Leo Tolstoy's novel.
Renee Adoree as Maryana (centre) Nils Asther as Prince Olenin Stieshneff (right).
click photo to make it bigger
September, 1928
The first half of this picture goes to really unnecessary extremes to prove that the hero is a sissy. That fact having been established, it requires only the twinkling of an eye to convert him into the boldest and bloodiest of Cossacks. From then on, things go from bad to worse. Turks are slain indiscriminately. John Gilbert and Ernest Torrence are tortured right before your eyes. And worst of all, a Turkish sabre is run straight through the beautiful diaphragm of Nils Asther, who is the hero of the piece so far as I am concerned, as no other man can hold my gaze when he is in the vicinity. This is all about the love affair of a Cossack maiden who prefers John Gilbert to Nils Asther. Renee Adoree is this lovely but misguided girl.
HI! I HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR A SITE DEDICATED TO NILS ASTHER FOR A LONG TIME..AND NOW HERE IT IS! THANK YOU SO MUCH! IT'S VERY INTERESTING! CONGRATULATIONS. I AM AN ITALIAN FAN OF SILENT FILMS AND I'VE GOT ALL GARBO'S FILMS, SO I KNEW ASTHER AND I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT HE WAS CHARMING AND TALENTED. THANKS FOR YOU SITE. SAMUELE CAVALLARO
ReplyDeleteThanks Samueule for your comment.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to know that other people than just myself are getting something out of this blog.
The more I read, the more I realise that Nils Asther was quite an unusual character, although I'm not sure that he would have been comfortable to live with. More enjoyable from a distance, perhaps. But he does ooze charisma from those black and white photographs.
There's a lot more Nils Asther photos and articles still to come on this site. Apologies for the unfinished pages that are up.
Here is a page on Asther and Garbo:
http://nilsasther.blogspot.com/p/films-1929-garbo.html