Ivan Kozlovsky

From Chaliapin to Reizen

A musical film dedicated to the soldiers fighting at the front line.

The life of the inhabitants of the veterans' house was boring and monotonous. Everything changed with the arrival of the new head physician, Varvara Dmitriyevna. Her kindness and sensitivity began to work miracles. After all, Varvara Dmitriyevna tries not only to treat the ailments of the elderly, but also to return to them their lost interest in life, the belief that one can still love and be loved...

Russian filmmaker Vera Stroyeva specialized in cinematic adaptations of famous operas. One of the most successful of these was her 1955 film version of Mussorgsky and Pushkin's Boris Godunov. Stroyeva's adaptation deftly streamlines the story of a Russian czar whose life is placed in jeopardy by a pretender to his throne. A. Pirogov sings the title role, while G. Nellep provides vocal and visual menace as the "False Dmitri". The use of a color process known as Magicolor adds just the right touch of theatrical artificiality to the pomp-and-splendor proceedings.

A Soviet dam project means that many old Ukrainian villages will end up under water. There are conflicts between the dam engineers and villagers who don't want to move.

Adapted from the opera written by the composer Semen Hulak-Artemovsky.

Young Soviet farm workers are treated to a weekend in Moscow visiting the Bolshoi theater, in gratitude for which they invite the artists who've befriended them to visit their farm and be entertained by performances of their own.

A movie concert filmed at the Mosfilm studio in 1940 with the participation of leading soloists and musical groups of the Soviet Union.