The Secret of House No. 5
About The Secret of House No. 5
The courtesan Elsa wins the young rich Count Darsky and keeps other women away from him. He soon turns to Mimi. Elsa decides to kill him and brings in a former lover to help. At dinner she dares Darsky, playing on his pride, to spend a night in a house where a woman's portrait is said to come alive. He agrees. After his friends leave he is alone in the house, and he dies. Elsa is pleased that the plan has worked. The surviving print has no intertitles.
Cast & crew
More about The Secret of House No. 5
Kai Hansen directed for the Moscow branch of Pathé. Georges Meyer and Aleksandr Levitsky photographed it. The premiere was 1 December 1912. Vera Pashennaya, Mikhail Doronin, and Boris Pyasetsky are the billed players. A KM.ru note says the print that survives has no titles.
Themes
Background
A December 1912 Russian drama from Pathé's Moscow studio, built around a fatal night in an empty house.
Making
Hansen shot the revenge plot at Pathé's Moscow branch, with Pashennaya as Elsa.
Look
Georges Meyer and Aleksandr Levitsky photographed the dinner and the untitled night in the house.
Preservation
A print survives without its intertitles. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- The Russian title is Тайна дома номер пять.
- John Melton's Encyclopedia of Vampires says it may be the first vampire film.
- The death happens inside the house after Darsky stays the night alone. The print does not explain it with titles.
Scenes
- Elsa dares Darsky to spend the night in the house.
- He stays alone, and he dies. Elsa is glad.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Тайна дома номер пять (1912).webm)
