Ivan Markov is a lowly officer dreaming of glory during the final days of Imperial Russia. He is overjoyed when his friendship with an aristocratic general leads to a promotion. His new position is quickly compromised when he begins a relationship with Tamara, the general's daughter. When the affair is exposed, Ivan is stripped of his rank and placed in solitary confinement. During his imprisonment, the Russian Revolution begins. Freed by the rebels, Ivan discovers that Tamara is due to be executed along with the rest of the elite. The former peasant must now decide whether the noble cause of his countrymen is more important than the life of the woman he loves.

Tempest was the next-to-last silent feature for "The Great Profile", John Barrymore. Disappointed with his prior film, The Beloved Rogue (1927), he decided to tone down his customary histrionics for his portrayal of Ivan Markov. Except for a sequence in which Markov goes mad in solitary confinement, Barrymore succeeds at giving an understated performance. Louis Wolheim had been an instructor at Cornell University until Barrymore and his brother, Lionel, encouraged him to act. His rough looks were caused by a facial injury during a Cornell football game, and hid a warm, intelligent persona that made him many friends in Hollywood. Two years after Tempest he would essay his greatest role, Katczinsky in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). The lovely Camilla Horn had recently emigrated from Germany, where she had played Gretchen in F.W. Murnau's masterpiece Faust (1928). Director Sam Taylor is mostly known for his comedic work with Harold Lloyd, including Safety Last! (1923) and The Freshman (1925). The sumptuous sets by William Cameron Menzies won Best Art Direction at the first Academy Awards in 1928.