The Dashing Merchant
About The Dashing Merchant
Pathé's Moscow unit filmed Ivan Nikitin's 1859 poem, also known as the folk song Ukhar-kupets. Vasily Goncharov directed and wrote the short. Georges Meyer photographed it. Wikipedia calls it the first hand-colored Russian film. The English page says the action can be read from the Russian intertitles and does not print a scene list.
Cast & crew
More about The Dashing Merchant
Wikidata gives the year 1909, the Russian Empire, and no running time. The same Pathé Moscow group started Peter the Great and Dmitry Donskoy in 1909, released in 1910. The source on Wikidata is titled The Happy-go-lucky Merchant.
Themes
Background
Drankov's 1908 success pushed Pathé to open a Moscow division with Russian actors. Ukhar Kupets was one of its first three story films.
Look
Georges Meyer photographed the Pathé Moscow short, which was hand-colored.
Technique
Wikipedia calls it the first hand-colored Russian film.
Notes
- English renderings of the title include The Dashing Merchant and The Happy-Go-Lucky Merchant.
- The film uses Russian-language intertitles.
- No cast names are on Wikidata.
- Pathé's earlier Picturesque Russia documentaries, including Moscow Clad in Snow, had aimed at foreign audiences.
Influenced by
- Ivan Nikitin's 1859 poem Ukhar-kupets
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Ухарь-купец (1909).webm)
