After being betrayed by her playboy lover, a heartbroken mute young woman joins a ballet company; during a performance of “The Dying Swan,” she enraptures a painter obsessed with portraying death genuinely.
Mazepa, the Ukrainian governor is in love with his goddaughter Maria. He quickly wins her heart. But her old father treats the wooer harshly… Maria runs away. The furious father won’t submit. This intrigue makes the most of the ingredients of historical drama. Maria is confronted to the...
Based on Pushkin's short story: When his friends play faro, Germann always enjoys watching, but he never gambles himself. One day, as he is watching their game, he learns that an elderly countess staying nearby is said to possess a secret for winning a fortune at the game. Germann is determined to...
In order to allow another servant to go home to be with her children, Nastya agrees to serve in her place, as a maid in the household in which Nastya's grandfather is a porter. Soon afterwards, the woman who owns the house goes on a trip, leaving her son Pavel at home. Pavel is engaged to Ellen,...
Marianna advertises for work as a reader and is employed by the reclusive millionaire Dymov. Appreciative of her sensitive, artistic nature, and of her youthful innocence and purity, Dymov is protective of Marianna and shields her from the attentions of his philandering playboy son. Marianna...
First film ever that was shot by two cameras. Set in 1854-1855, in Sevastopol and Yalta during the Crimean War. Admirals Kornilov (Mozzhukhin) and Nakhimov (Gromov) organize the defense during the siege of Sevastopol. Both admirals are killed during the battle, and the city of Sevastopol is taken...
"Rusalka" or "Mermaid" based on Pushkin, an opera by Dargomizhsky, and other sources: A prince and a miller's daughter have been involved in a romance together, but now the prince tells her that he must break it off. After the prince leaves, the distraught young woman attempts to drown herself....
Documentary film about early years of Russian cinema: its first directors, cameramen, producers and actors. Includes rare fragments of pre-revolutionary feature films, newsreels and Starewicz's animation.
A man is increasingly unnerved by a mysterious portrait. Based on a story by Nikolai Gogol, the film is thought to have run about 45 minutes long, but only an 8 minute fragment is known to have survived.