Mother

Mother 1926

7.10

A Soviet woman is caught between her husband and son, who find themselves on opposing sides of the Russian Revolution.

1926

Chess Fever

Chess Fever 1925

6.30

A young Soviet woman struggles to cope in a society obsessed with chess.

1925

The End of St. Petersburg

The End of St. Petersburg 1927

6.70

Shortly before the outbreak of WWI, a peasant from rural Russia arrives in St. Petersburg to find work.

1927

The Girl with the Hat Box

The Girl with the Hat Box 1927

6.20

A Moscow hat shop girl chances upon a penniless young man who has arrived from the countryside for university and takes pity on him.

1927

The Cigarette Girl of Mosselprom

The Cigarette Girl of Mosselprom 1924

5.20

As she works in her tedious office job, Maria Ivanovna dreams about being married, and she has particular hopes that her co-worker Nikodim Mityushin will take an interest in her. Nikodim, though, is in love with Zina, who sells cigarettes on the sidewalk, and he frequently buys cigarettes from her even though he does not smoke. One day, a film crew uses Zina as an extra in an outdoor scene, and the cameraman, Latugin, falls in love with her. Latugin soon arranges an acting job for Zina. To complicate matters further, Zina has yet another admirer in Oliver MacBride, an American businessman who is visiting Moscow.

1924

The Yellow Ticket

The Yellow Ticket 1928

5.20

Jacob, a farmer, returns from the war to his wife Marie and begs the landlord baron for a plot of land to rent. The Baron grants the request, but only for a barren, rocky, useless acreage. The pair struggle to make do on this land, but then the Baron demands that Maria leave her husband to serve as wet nurse to his married daughter Anya's new baby, on threat of eviction. While nursing the daughter's baby, Maria receives unwelcome attentions from the daughter's husband, and a scandal erupts, ruining Maria in her husband's eyes. When she escapes from her employers and seeks to return home, the police give her the yellow passport signifying a prostitute, further degrading her. She approaches home, unsure of the reception that awaits her.

1928

Interplanetary Revolution

Interplanetary Revolution 1924

4.70

The spread of the Soviet revolution drives the blood sucking international capitalists to desperation, so they take their wealth and fly off into space, but even then cannot escape the wrath of the wronged workers.

1924

The Bear's Wedding

The Bear's Wedding 1925

4.80

Konstantin Eggert both directed and starred as Count Shemet, cursed by his insane mother’s traumatic experience with a bear to have seizures during which he himself becomes a “bear” on the kill.

1925

Moscow in October

Moscow in October 1927

1

October reflects a general attempt in Russia to sustain the frenzy and dynamism of revolutionary fervour. This attempt increased in scale and ambition as they pushed it further, resulting in the theatricalisation of life. In other words, the boundaries between real events and fabricated drama became blurred as the portrayal of life became more exaggerated. It is important to remember that the film does not represent what actually happened during the 1917 Revolution, but is rather an adaptation.

1927

Miss Mend

Miss Mend 1926

5.60

Three reporters and an office girl are trying to stop a bacteriological strike by some powerful western business leaders against the USSR.

1926

Victory of Women

Victory of Women 1927

1

About life and customs in the boyar environment during the reign of Peter I.

1927

A Kiss from Mary Pickford

A Kiss from Mary Pickford 1927

4.70

Goga is a Russian man who has no luck with women. He has a chance meeting with Mary Pickford, and after she kisses him on the cheek, he becomes as irresistible as her.

1927

Bolvashka's Adventures

Bolvashka's Adventures 1927

1

A group of children goes to the toy museum and then toy workshop. The master makes Bolvashka - a wooden Pinocchio-like boy on hinges. Upon returning, children tell their friends about the museum and dream of Bolvashka being alive.

1927

The Forty-First

The Forty-First 1927

4.80

A young woman sharpshooter fighting with the Reds in Turkestan misses her forty-first victim, a handsome White lieutenant, and ends up escorting him, by boat, into captivity across the Aral Sea. A storm strands the two on an island.

1927

Mechanics of the Brain

Mechanics of the Brain 1926

4.40

"Though not given a New York showing until 1935, V. I. Pudovkin's Mechanics of the Brain (Mekhanika Golovnovo Mozga) was written and directed by Pudovkin in 1926. A full year in the making, this scientific documentary concentrates on the behavioral studies conducted by Prof. Ivan Pavlov. The laboratory dogs used in Pavlov's research don't seem too happy about it, and as a result this film might be hard to take for the more sensitive viewers (the vivisection sequence is particularly rough). The progress of the research is detailed with charts and graphs, hardly the "cinematic" touches one might expect from Pudovkin. Interestingly, Mechanics of the Brains was released two years before the results of Pavlov's studies were printed in book form."

1926

Эх, яблочко, куды котишься

Эх, яблочко, куды котишься 1926

1

1918 Odessa. German occupiers plunder the city. Sailor Petrus, who has lagged behind the Red Army detachment, saves one of the victims of bandit terror - the girl Marusya... Years have passed. The time has come for peaceful construction in the country. Red commander Petrus and Marusya, who has become a teacher, meet in Moscow in one of the cafes, where both were attracted by the sounds of the popular song “Eh, apple...”, accompanying the adventure of the heroes.

1926

We'll Keep Our Eyes Peeled

We'll Keep Our Eyes Peeled 1927

5.50

Billed as "a cinema-propaganda poster," this 1927 short advocates the purchase of government bonds as a means to combat a British trade embargo. Its dynamic interpolation of newsreel footage and animation is a good deal more radical than its political message.

1927

His Call

His Call 1925

1

The main protagonists of the film are Katya (Varvara Popova), the daughter of a factory worker and Andrey (Ivan Koval-Samborsky), the son of the former owner of the factory who illegally returns to the USSR to find treasures hidden by his father. The film title refers to the Communist party's appeal, after Lenin's death, to enlarge its membership.

1925

The Stationmaster

The Stationmaster 1925

1

A small town postal official allows a military officer to take his lovely daughter away to St. Petersburg, assuming the man will do the right thing and marry her.Instead, a future of scandal and tragedy await her.

1925