Polikushka

1922 Drama 50 minutes Directed by Aleksandr Sanin

Open in new tab

About Polikushka

Polikushka, a weak-willed yard peasant who drinks and steals small things for vodka, is called to the manor and sent to town for a sum of money. He takes it as a chance to start over. In the city he is given an envelope, hides it in his hat, and sleeps in the wagon on the way home. The envelope falls out. He dreams of handing it over and being thanked, wakes, searches, and cannot find it. At home he takes a rope from the child's cot, hides from his wife Akulina, and hangs himself in the attic.

Cast & crew

More about Polikushka

Aleksandr Sanin's only film. Fyodor Otsep and Nikolai Efros adapted Lev Tolstoy's 1863 story. Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky photographed it. Sergei Kozlovsky and Sergey Petrov were the art directors. Shooting finished in 1919. The Civil War held the release until 31 October 1922. English Wikipedia and Silent Era credit the company as Rus and as Mezhrabpom-Rus. Silent Era lists six reels; Wikipedia, Wikidata, and IMDb time it at 50 minutes.

Themes

  • a servant trusted with money
  • a lost envelope
  • suicide
  • the manor and the yard
  • Polikushka
  • envelope
  • hat
  • wagon
  • attic
  • rope
  • Akulina

Background

The story is Tolstoy's, from 1863. The film was finished in 1919 and not released until 1922, during the Civil War.

Making

Moskvin's debut required him to pull a theatrical performance back toward a plainer, more reserved style.

Look

Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky was the cinematographer.

Preservation

A copy is on the Internet Archive under the identifier silent-polikushka. Silent Era still lists the survival status as unknown.

Notes

  • Ivan Moskvin, of the Moscow Art Theatre, plays Polikushka in his first film. He had to quiet a stage manner for the camera.
  • Vera Pashennaya plays Akulina. Yevgeniya Rayevskaya plays the lady. Varvara Bulgakova plays the lady's niece. Sergey Aydarov plays the steward.
  • It opened in Denmark on 20 November 1923, in France through Phocea Film on 27 June 1924, and in the United States through the Exceptional Photoplays Committee in 1927.
  • The catalog calls Sanin one of the founders of the Moscow Art Academic Theatre.

Scenes

  • Polikushka hides the envelope in his hat and falls asleep in the wagon.
  • He wakes, finds the money gone, and searches without finding it.
  • He takes a rope from the child's cot and hangs himself in the attic.

Influenced by

  • Lev Tolstoy's 1863 story Polikushka

Also available

  • Internet Archive (silent-polikushka)