The title character, Miss Mend (Natalia Glan), is a single, working girl raising her nephew by herself. She’s the kind of spunky gal who will dash into the middle of a fray to do the right thing. Even so, she (sadly) ends up spending most of the film waiting for her male counterparts to show up. They are: a reporter, Barnet (played by co-director Barnet), a photographer, Vogel (Vladimir Fogel) and a portly, comical office clerk, Tom Hopkins (Igor Ilyinsky). Together these three reckless, fearless stooges race to save the world from criminal mastermind Chiche (Sergei Komarov), who wishes to unleash a handmade black plague. Chiche’s right-hand man, Arthur Stern (Ivan Koval-Samborsky), is secretly posing as “Engineer Johnson” and trying to woo Miss Mend. But, unfortunately for the bad guys, Stern actually does have a crush on the heroine. —GreenCine Guru
Long overlooked in the West, Boris Barnet, whose career began in the silent era and lasted until the 1960s, was one of the most popular, prolific, and admired filmmakers of Soviet cinema. His untypical surname belonged to his English grandfather who had opened a printing business in Moscow. He studied painting at the Moscow School of Art before leaving in 1919 to serve as a medic in the Red Army. After the civil war he actually worked as both a physical trainer and boxer, and this physicality drew the attention of director Lev Kuleshov who cast him in his first film. Joining Kuleshov’s seminal film workshop, he took on various roles before and behind the camera, and finally directed his first film – a serial called Miss Mend – on which he co-directed with Thedore Osip. Toward the end of the silent era, he directed two wonderful comedies about peasant girls moving to the big city, Girl With the Hatbox and The House on Trubnaya Square. Though he directed several overtly political dramas… read more
Fedor Ozep (February 9, 1895 – June 20, 1949) was a Russian-born film director and screenwriter. An important early writer on film and film theory, he served as dramaturge for the Mezhrabpomfilm-Rus company and wrote a number of films for directors such as V.I. Pudovkin and Yakov Protazanov before turning to directing in 1926. During the production of The Living Corpse in Germany he decided to remain and worked throughout Europe during the 1930s, enjoying international acclaim for films including The Brothers Karamazov and Amok. With the advent of World War II he moved to Hollywood but was unable to establish a career there, directing only one film. His last two films were made in Canada. He died of a heart attack in Los Angeles in 1949. —Wikipedia
Two stylistic tours-de-force from Fedor Ozep, camera stylist and embodiment of the Pathe-Natan house style.
Our second collection of the vibrant and dynamic Soviet posters made by the Stenberg brothers.
