The Night of the Tartar - Recap

Night at a railroad switching yard in San Francisco, and several men gather at the base of the watchtowers. One of them climbs up and kills the guard and then the others come up and reroute the tracks.

Aboard the approaching Wanderer, Jim and Artie open their sealed orders from President Grant. When they arrive in San Francisco, a paroled convict named Feodor Rimsky will be delivered to them. They’ll then escort the prisoner aboard a ship bound for Vladivostok in Siberia, and turn him over in return for the American vice-consul, Millard Boyer, who is being held by Count Nicolai Sazanov.



One of the men in the tower aims a rifle at Jim but his superior, Captain Kuprin, stops him. The agents wait for a half hour and the detectives finally arrive with Rimsky. They insist that the agents sign for Rimsky over Rimsky’s protestations and quickly leave.

Kuprin peers through the rifle sight until he sees what he needs and then gives the rifle back to the sniper. As the agents assure Rimsky that he won’t be shot by a firing squad, the sniper fires through the window and misses. Rimsky crawls out the door while Kuprin tells his men to get Rimsky. The prisoner runs through the streets and Jim and Artie figure he knows where he’s going. They finally catch up to Rimsky who says that there is something secret he has to do first. Rimsky promises to meet him at the boat but the agents refuse. Kuprin’s men arrive and the agents take them on while Rimsky ducks into a Russian-American import office. Cornered, he crawls out a window and hides on the ledge. As Jim searches the hallway, the ladder that Rimsky is holding onto breaks and he falls to the street.

The next day, Jim reports to his superior, Colonel Crockett. Crockett doesn’t know who the men were and explains that Rimsky ran an extortion ring on immigrants, threatening to kill their relatives still in Russia. Artie arrives and reports that Rimsky died on the operating table. Jim asks for permission to go for Siberia, but Crockett warns that Sazanov’s man will be there. Artie offers to stand in for Rimsky and Jim figures that they can make the trade at night before Sazanov sees his “cousin” and realizes that he’s a fraud.



Artie duplicates Rimsky’s nose and claims that they shaved his beard off in surgery. Kuprin arrives to pick him up and they go to the Russian Grotto. The Russian agent wants them to take a Russian boat immediate but Jim refuses and says they can take the American ship in a week’s time. Kuprin reluctantly agrees and calls over a bartender to serve vodka. Jim spills his and settles for the caviar. As he gets up to leave with Artie, both agents feel woozy and Kuprin’s men in the bar easily subdue them.



A drugged Jim has vague memories of being locked in the cabin of a ship. When he regains consciousness, Jim finds himself in a barber receiving a trim for the month of beard he grew while traveling by boat to Siberia. Kuprin is there and admits that he had to make sure that Rimsky was delivered to Sazanov. He then escorts Jim out to a carriage and finds Artie waiting inside. As the carriage leaves, the agents confirm that they’re surrounded by Cossacks. Using a hidden vial of thermite, Jim and Artie cut through the bottom of the carriage and drop out.

At his compound, an unarmed Sazanov fights an armed thief, Chekov, but easily avoids his desperate thrusts until the man is tired out. Sazanov’s sister, Anastasia, arrives to inform her superior that Rimsky is back. Chekov begs for mercy but Sazanov says that he gave him the chance to kill him and now it’s his turn. When Chekov tries to run, Sazanov throws a knife into his back, killing him. He and his sister go to greet Rimsky as his carriage arrives in the compound. In an upstairs cell, Boyer watches as Sazanov discovers that his prisoners are gone and orders his men to search the countryside and find them.



Jim and Artie sneak into the compound’s stable and dispose of a Cossack guard. Inside, Sazanov is practicing indoor target shooting when Jim comes in through the window and introduces himself as the U.S. Special Emissary for the President. He tells Sazanov that the exchange will continue as planned and they’ll make the exchange the next night. Sazanov takes Jim captive instead, figuring his Cossacks will find the hidden Rimsky. The guards lock him in the same cell with Boyer, who wonders who will rescue him.

Sazanov berates his Cossacks because they haven’t found Rimsky. Meanwhile, Boyer explains to Jim that Sazanov was a famous playboy and darling of the court until his gambling debts reached 1 million rubles. The Csar sent Sazanov to Siberia as a Governor General where he made his fortune. The count then sent Rimsky to San Francisco to extort immigrants. When Rimsky was arrested, Sazanov arrested Boyer on a trumped-up charge so he could make exchange the vice-consul for his cousin. Kuprin arrives to take Jim out to the courtyard and fasten him to a stake. Sazanov then watches as his Cossacks ride at Jim one at a time, cutting down the stake one cut at a time. The count invites him to reveal where he’s hidden Rimsky, and Jim reiterates his offer to make the exchange. When it’s clear he won’t break, Sazanov orders his men to finish Jim off.



Before the Cossacks can kill Jim, Artie rides up, still disguised as Rimsky. Sazanov accepts him as his cousin, and Anastasia runs out. She kisses her “husband” and realizes something is wrong. Sazanov then slaps Artie and demands to know where his $5 million in embezzled funds is. Thinking quickly, Artie say that Jim has all of his possession. Jim says that he was shanghaied and Kuprin took everything he had. Inside, Sazanov has Jim tied up and explains that he sent Rimsky to San Francisco to raise enough money so he could return to the court. Jim suggests that Rimsky is trying to pull a fast one and that Sazanov should bring him down, but the count refuse to interrupt him in the middle of a reunion with his wife.

In their bedchamber, Anastasia tells Artie that she can’t untie him until he tells them where they can find the money. She realizes that he’s an imposter and demands the money. She screams for Sazanov who soon realizes she’s not screaming from passion. He runs upstairs and Anastasia explains that Artie is an imposter.



Artie and Jim are taken to Boyer’s cell and tell him what happened. Jim figures that the money is hidden in the import company office. Boyer figures that Sazanov will release them since he has nothing to gain from them and goes to tell the count. The agents let him try, figuring they can break out, rescue Boyer, and make a break for any border.

In Sazanov’s study, Boyer boasts that his plan worked and that the agents told him where the money was, and now they can collect it.

Artie sets off a small explosive charge to blast the door open. They go to Sazanov’s study door and hear Boyer explaining that he’ll go to San Francisco and recover the money. Kuprin and his men spot the agents and capture them, and then inform Sazanov that they have prisoners. The count figures that they know everything and tells Boyer that he has no choice but to remain in Russia. Boyer refuses to accept that and says that it’s time for two executions so that the agents can’t reveal his involvement.

Kuprin ties up the agents and Sazanov wishes them good luck in dying well. As they go, Boyer prepares to leave but the count says that he has no intention of sharing $5 million with anyone. Sazanov throws a knife, killing Boyer, and walks away.

As Kuprin prepares to shoot Jim, the agent suggests that he play a game of Russian Roulette. As Anastasia looks on, Kuprin explains how the game is played. He fires at Jim, at Artie, and at Jim again. Each shot clicks on an empty cylinder. When Artie’s next turn comes up, he asks for the chance to die with Anastasia’s kiss on his lips. Anastasia comes over, unaware that Jim is using a hidden knife to cut himself loose. She slaps Artie but Jim frees himself, knocks Kuprin out, takes his gun, and orders Anastasia to cut Artie free. Once they’re both loose, the agents take Anastasia prisoner and ride out with her.



As the agents ride down the Siberian road, they come across a prospector camped out on the side. When Artie tries to talk to him in Russian, the prospector says that he has no idea what he’s saying. When they wonder why he’s in Siberia, the prospector says that they’re halfway between the Russian river settlement and San Francisco. They turn to Anastasia, who was in on the scheme all along. Sazanov went to all the trouble of setting up the fake compound to find out where the $5 million was. Jim tells Artie to take Anastasia to the courthouse in San Francisco while he goes after the money. When Anastasia suggests that Jim take her and that she’s too much woman for him, he stops her from drawing a gun and sends her along with Artie.

Jim goes to the Russian Grotto and finds Sazanov seated at a table. The count admits that Kuprin isn’t the executioner that he thought and asks what Jim plans to charge him with. The agent reminds him that he’s committed blackmail and extortion. Sazanov’s thugs attack Jim and he makes short work of them. When Sazanov tries to throw a knife at Jim, Jim throws his first. The count staggers over to the bar, starts to pour himself a drink, and then collapses, dead.



Later at the Wanderer, Jim and Artie explain to their dates how Sazanov convinced them that they went on a month-long sea voyage. When the women prove skeptical, the agents offer to demonstrate and set up a spinning mirrored ball. Their dates fall into a trance as Jim plays music to convince them they’re attending a social gala.

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