Best Pictures #21: 1928-29 (2nd) Academy Awards Outstanding Picture Nominee, The Patriot (1928)

by A.J.

Best Pictures #21: 1928-29 (2nd) Academy Awards Outstanding Picture Nominee

The Patriot (1928)

Ernst Lubitsch’s 1928 film, The Patriot, was the only silent nominee for Best Picture at the 2^nd Academy Awards and it was the last silent Best Picture nominee until The Artist in 2011. The Patriot also has the most unfortunate distinction of being the only Best Picture nominee that is a lost film: no full length print of the film exists. So, it is technically impossible to watch every Best Picture nominee, though this point can be argued since The Patriot is not an official nominee as no nominations were publicly announced for this year. The films and people listed as nominees for the 2^nd Academy Awards were determined later from in-house records by Academy researchers. I have read in numerous sources that the vast majority of silent films are lost to history. The Library of Congress estimates that 75% of all silent films are lost. This is a very dismal statistic for movie lovers.

I certainly cannot review a film I haven’t seen, so instead I will share some of the information I was able to find on The Patriot. Set in 18^th century Russia, the film is about the mad Czar Paul and the plot kill him and save the nation. Czar Paul is played by the first Best Actor Oscar winner, Emil Jannings. The planned assassination is led by the Czar’s closest and most trusted friend, Count Pahlen, played by Lewis Stone, who attempts to enlist the Czar Paul’s mistress, Countess Ostermann, played by Florence Vidor, in the plot. Count Pahlen is naturally conflicted because he wants be a good and loyal friend but knows that the Czar must be removed from power.

The most valuable resource for information on The Patriot I could find is the glowing review from the New York Times, written by Mordaunt Hall, published on August 18^th, 1928. Hall lauds the film with praise like: “This motion picture is indeed a credit to the screen… There is, as a matter of fact, hardly a flaw to be found in the whole picture… It is a gripping piece of work with subtle touches….” The only minor criticisms all concern the film’s synchronized soundtrack. Hall writes that the synchronized music score is too loud for certain scenes. A scene in which Paul cries out for Count Pahlen, with synchronized dialogue (appartently the only scene of synch speech in the film), would have been more effective in silence, and the sound of the Czar’s laughter “might better have been left to the imagination.”  Hall has heaps of praise for Jannings' performance as the mad Czar: “Jannings gives the addle-brained despot all the moods one could hope for, and in the last moments of fear Mr. Jannings brings to the screen something that is unrivaled.” The rest of the cast also receives high praise, especially Stone who is “capital” as Pahlen and also credits Lubitsch for his “skillful guidance” with Stone’s performance. Stone was under consideration for the Best Actor award that year, as was Lubitsch for Best Director.

Some segments of The Patriot have survived the degradation of time. Certain crowd scenes were reused for the 1934 film The Scarlet Empress and one reel of the film is preserved at the Portuguese Film Archive. A few clips and the complete trailer are preserved by the UCLA Film Archive. In the trailer, which is available to watch online, Emil Jannings looks like he does a good job performing Czar Paul’s mad, manic fits and his cowardly paranoia. The ornate sets and costumes look impressive and give the impression that The Patriot was an epic period piece; The Patriot’s art direction also received an unofficial nomination. There is a melancholic irony in watching an advertisement for a film that you can never see, especially since, from the trailer, The Patriot looks like it might be a good movie. There is no way to know for sure or make your own judgement. I can only wonder how The Patriot would hold up today. Good or bad, a part of film history is forever lost, which is an incredible shame because every film, good or bad, deserves to be able to be seen.

Nominee: Paramount Famous Lasky

Producer: Ernst Lubitsch

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Screenplay: Hans Kraly, from the play by Ashely Dukes, and the play “Der Patriot” by Alfred Neumann, Paul Iby, and Dmitri Merezhkovsky

Cast: Emil Jannings, Florence Vidor, Lewis Stone

Release Date: August 17^th, 1928

Total Nominations: 5, including Outstanding Picture

Win: Writing-Hanns Kraly

Other Nominations: Actor-Lewis Stone, Director-Ernst Lubitsch, Art Direction-Hans Dreier