''Be Silent, My Sorrow, Be Silent'' or ''Still, Sadness, Still'' (russian: links=no, italics=yes, Молчи, грусть, молчи, Molchi, grust, molchi) is a 1918 Soviet film directed by

Pyotr Chardynin Pyotr Ivanovich Chardynin (russian: Пётр Иванович Чардынин) ( – 14 August 1934) was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter and actor. One of the pioneers of the film industry in the Russian Empire, Chardynin direc ...

, and starring

Vera Kholodnaya Vera Vasilyevna Kholodnaya ( Levchenko; russian: link=no, Вера Васильевна Холодная; uk, link=no, Віра Василівна Холодна; 5 August 1893 – 16 February 1919) was an actress of Russian Empire cinema. She w ...

Ossip Runitsch Ossip Iliych Runitsch ( rus, Осип Ильич Рунич, p=ˈosʲɪp ɨˈlʲjitɕ rʊˈnʲitɕ; born Osip Fradkin, 18896 April 1947) was a Russian Empire silent film actor, producer and stage director. He was one of the biggest stars of Russ ...

Vitold Polonsky Vitold Alfonsovich Polonsky (Russian: Витольд Альфонсович Полонский; 1879 – 5 January 1919) was a Russian silent film actor. Biography The son of a nobleman, Polonsky took drama courses in the Moscow theatre schoo ...

and Vladimir Maksimov. The film is in two parts, but only the first part (44 minutes) survives.

Plot

Paula is a circus performer married to clown-acrobat Lorio. Lorio drinks heavily, and eventually he is critically injured when he performs drunk. The crippled Lorio and Paula are forced to become street musicians. A group of wealthy young men who had previously seen Paula at the circus decide to invite the two to perform at their private "bachelor" party, at which Paula is the main attraction. The young men vie for her attention, give her an expensive necklace and offer Lorio money to turn her over to them. Outraged, Paula leaves and refuses to return to the streets to perform. But when they are truly destitute, she returns to offer herself to one of the gentlemen, the artist Volyntsev. As Lorio sinks deeper into poverty, Paula enjoys her life as a rich man's mistress – for a while. Her lover becomes too possessive for her taste, and eventually tires of her. When Volyntsev attempts to offer her to a younger rival, Telepnev, Paula leaves him for another young man – Zaritskiy, who is deeply in love with her. Zaritskiy is an inveterate gambler, and playing against Telepnev, he has lost a huge sum of money. Desperate, he devises a plot to steal a cheque he gave to Telepnev. While Paula unwittingly serves as decoy, distracting the party by singing for the guests, her lover sets off the alarm as he attempts to break into the safe. Telepnev doesn't recognise Zaritskiy in the dark room, and shoots him. Thus concludes the first part. The second part is considered to be lost.

Cast

– Paula,a circus artiste *

– Lorio,a clown-acrobat *

– Zaritskiy, a barrister *

– Telepnev, a rich gentleman * Vladimir Maksimov – Volyntsev, an artist *

Konstantin Khokhlov Konstantin Pavlovich Khokhlov (russian: link=no, Константин Павлович Хохлов, 1 November 1885 – 1 January 1956) was a Soviet stage and film actor, theater director, teacher. People's Artist of the USSR (1944). Sel ...

– Olekso Presvich, a hypnotist and illusionist *

Ivan Khudoleyev Ivan Nikolaevich Khudoleyev (Russian: ''Иван Николаевич Худолеев''; 24 September 1875 – 19 May 1932) was a Soviet silent film actor. Selected filmography *'' Be Silent, My Sorrow, Be Silent'' (1918) *'' The Last Tango' ...

– Prakhov, a merchant * M. Masin – Innokentiy, Prakhov's valet * Yanina Mirato – A lady of the demi-monde * Olga Rakhmanova – Volyntsev's mother

External links

1918 drama films 1918 films Russian black-and-white films Russian silent feature films Russian drama films Soviet drama films Soviet black-and-white films Soviet silent feature films Silent drama films {{1910s-USSR-film-stub