The 1002nd Ruse
About The 1002nd Ruse
An older husband studies a book of 1,001 tricks by which young wives fool old men, and he watches his wife through the keyhole. For a while the book works: he will not promise before he knows the request, and he will not let her walk out alone. They bet on who is the cleverer in the house. She gives him a glass of wine and he drops off. She telephones her lover; they kiss, drink, and smash a glass. He wakes, she hides the man in a closet, and he throws the book on the floor, sure he has been had. She opens the closet, picks the book up, and tells the lover she has just invented the 1,002nd ruse.
Cast & crew
More about The 1002nd Ruse
Yevgeny Bauer directed from a scenario by Vladimir Azov, drawn from Azov’s play 1001 хитрость. The Russian premiere was 29 May 1915. English Wikipedia lists the running time as 20 minutes. The Russian title is Тысяча вторая хитрость.
Themes
Music
Silent.
Preservation
A print survives and is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Lina Bauer plays the wife, S. Rassatov the husband, and Sergei Kvasnitsky the lover.
- A copy attached to the English Wikipedia article runs 17 minutes 38 seconds.
- The bet is over which spouse is the cleverer in the house.
Scenes
- He watches the bedroom through the keyhole with the book in his hand.
- She opens the closet after he has thrown the book down and claims the 1,002nd ruse.
Influenced by
- Vladimir Azov’s play 1001 хитрость
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (1915 Тысяча вторая хитрость.webm)
