This film was a true peculiarity, a filmed version of the great Feodor Chaliapin in one of his most famous roles; the fact that it was a silent film, with title cards, meant that audiences could only appreciate his acting. Another curiosity is that the film also included a minor role enacted by Richard Boleslavsky, who in 1932 directed “Rasputin and the Empress.”(9)

Music, art, stage - great and holy words, beckoning lights of life. Young beautiful souls burst into their light. And often merciless fate ruins them on this path or breaks their fragile delicate strength. Young Ira, with her sensitive and impulsive soul, aspired to something else. Life with her old father weighed on her.

Princess Marusya fell in love with Dr. Toporkov, the doctor who had treated her, but he failed to notice her affection and married a wealthy merchant’s daughter. Several years later, called upon to treat Marusya once more, at last her deep feelings melt his hardened heart... but it is far too late: Marusya is dying.

Dedicated to the history of the international labour movement. It consists of a series of episodes that are not narratively connected. Scenes from the history of the French Bourgeois Revolution are interspersed with footage showing Karl Marx calling for the unity of the proletariat across all nations. Inspired by the call to action, the workers rise up to fight for freedom. An escape is organised from the fortress wherein political prisoners are held. The revolutionaries print and distribute leaflets. They are pursued and arrested. But the struggle continues. The film’s visual material serves as an illustration for the captions, which present brief summaries of the history of the revolutionary movement. The film marks the first attempt to create a screen portrait of Karl Marx. Partially lost film.