While researching Resurrection on the East Coast, producer-director Edwin Carewe conferred with representatives of the Soviet government and with Count Ilya Tolstoy, son of novelist Leo Tolstoy, according to the 28 Jul 1926 and 5 Aug 1926 issues of FD and the 24 Aug 1926 Motion Picture News. Count Tolstoy was engaged to collaborate on the production as a co-writer, adapting the screen story from Leo Tolstoy’s 1899 novel Resurrection.
       The 25 Sep 1926 Moving Picture World noted that filming would be done at the Clune Studios, recently changed to Tec-Art Studios, in the 5300 block of Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, CA. The 24 Sep 1926 FD announced that Carewe and Tolstoy had finished the adaptation, and production had begun.
       According to the 18 Dec 1926 Moving Picture World, the “Siberian episodes” of Resurrection would be filmed in Truckee, CA, “about 400 miles north of Hollywood,” and the production would be working there during the Christmas holidays. The 3 Dec 1926 The Film Mercury reported that the snow there was from six inches to three feet deep. The 23 Jan 1927 FD noted that filming was completed.
       Carewe gave a role in the film to his daughter, Rita Carewe, the 17 Dec 1926 The Film Mercury noted, but she is not listed in credits. Carewe also offered the “Queen of Roumania” a one-day role as a Russian czarina, according to the Jan 1927 Picture-Play, but she apparently turned him down. The 30 Oct 1926 Moving Picture World reported that Major General Michael N. Pleschkoff, a former czarist officer, was signed to “assist in filming military episodes.”
       The Feb 1927 Picture-Play reported that Carewe paid Cecil B. De Mille’s company $50,000 to rent Rod La Rocque for Resurrection. The fee covered a contracted period of time, and if the production ran over, Carewe would have to pay more.
       The film opened 15 May 1927 on Broadway in New York City at the Mark Strand Theatre, surrounded by a stage presentation of Russian dancers and musicians. The Jun 1927 The Educational Screen deemed Resurrection an “exceedingly worthwhile production of Tolstoy’s story, handled with restraint.” It called the film “notable” for “intelligent adults,” but “Unwholesome” for “Youth (15 to 20 yrs),” and “Certainly not” recommended for anyone thirteen or under. The 10 Apr 1927 FD review found the picture “exceedingly worthwhile. It is heavy fare but interesting all the way. Production values are splendid.”
       Edwin Carere also directed a 1931 Universal Pictures production of Resurrection, starring John Boles and Lupe Vélez. For information on the 1931 film and other adaptations of the Leo Tolstoy novel, please consult that entry.
       Resurrection was voted one of the “Top Best Features” of 1927 by the 1929 Film Daily Year Book, as reported in the 7 Feb 1930 FD.