''The Death Ray'' (russian: Луч смерти, Luch smerti) is a 1925 Soviet
science fiction film directed by
Lev Kuleshov
Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov (russian: Лев Владимирович Кулешов; – 29 March 1970) was a Russian and Soviet filmmaker and film theorist, one of the founders of the world's first film school, the Moscow Film School. He ...
. The first and last reels of the film have been lost. This film ran at 2 hours, 5 minutes, making this one of the earliest full length science fiction films.
Despite the fact that many sources claim the inspiration for the film to be the novel ''
The Garin Death Ray'' by
Aleksei Tolstoy
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (russian: link= no, Алексей Николаевич Толстой; – 23 February 1945) was a Russian writer who wrote in many genres but specialized in science fiction and historical novels.
Despite having ...
, this is not the case. It is impossible, since the book was published two years after the film, in 1927. Furthermore, the film has many similarities with a book by
Valentin Kataev
Valentin Petrovich Kataev (russian: Валенти́н Петро́вич Ката́ев; also spelled Katayev or Kataiev; – 12 April 1986) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright who managed to create penetrating works discussing ...
, called ''Lord of Iron'', published in 1924. Moreover, the theme of death rays was very popular at the time because of the 1923 claim of British inventor
Harry Grindell Matthews
Harry Grindell Matthews (17 March 1880 – 11 September 1941) was an English inventor who claimed to have invented a death ray in the 1920s.
Earlier life and inventions
Harry Grindell Matthews was born on 17 March 1880 in Winterbourne, Glo ...
to have created a "death ray".
Plot
The film takes place in an unspecified
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
capitalist
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
country where a
fascist government is attempting to suppress a
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
uprising. The revolutionary leader Thomas Lamm is imprisoned by the government but he escapes to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. There he meets the engineer Podobed who invents the "death ray" – a device which explodes gunpowder and fuel mixtures at a distance.
Father Revo, a fascist intelligence agent, steals the invention and brings it back to his country. The government begins using it as an instrument for suppressing labor strikes. However, the workers end up seizing the device and use it to blow up
bombers
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an aircra ...
in the air which are sent against them.
Reception
The film received negative reviews on its release and did not do well at the box-office. Kuleshov explained the film's failure as the result of its experimental nature and that the main goal of the picture was to merely display that the director was capable of making professional films at a low budget.
Cast
*
Porfiri Podobed
Porfiri Artemyevich Podobed (russian: Порфирий Артемьевич Подобед; — 9 November 1965) was a Soviet film director, actor and manager at the Moscow Art Theatre.Cinema: Encyclopedic Dictionary // ed. Sergei Yutkevich. — ...
as Engineer Podobed
*
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin ( rus, Всеволод Илларионович Пудовкин, p=ˈfsʲevələt ɪlərʲɪˈonəvʲɪtɕ pʊˈdofkʲɪn; 16 February 1893 – 30 June 1953) was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwrite ...
as Father Revo
*
Vladimir Fogel
Vladimir Pavlovich Fogel (russian: Влади́мир Па́влович Фо́гель; 19029 June 1929) was a Russian silent film actor.
Biography
Vladimir Fogel was born in Moscow. His family name comes from his German father, an immigrant who ...
as Fascist Fog
*
Aleksandra Khokhlova
Aleksandra Sergeyevna Khokhlova (born Alexandra Sergeyevna Botkina, russian: Александра Сергеевна Хохлова, 4 October 1897 – 22 August 1985) was a Soviet actress, theatre director, writer, and educator.
Biography
...
as Sister Edith and Female Shooter
*
Leonid Obolensky as Mayor Hard, Boss of the Fascists
*
Sergei Komarov as Thomas Lann
*
Andrei Fajt
Andrei Andreyevich Fajt (russian: Андрей Андреевич Файт; 29 August 1903 – 17 January 1976) was a Soviet film actor. He appeared in 44 films between 1925 and 1976. He was born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia and died in Moscow ...
as agent
*
Mikhail Doller
Mikhail Ivanovich Doller (russian: Михаил Иванович Доллер, 1889 – 15 March 1952) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He worked as co-director with Vsevolod Pudovkin and was awarded Stalin Prize twice in 1941.
...
*
Lev Kuleshov
Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov (russian: Лев Владимирович Кулешов; – 29 March 1970) was a Russian and Soviet filmmaker and film theorist, one of the founders of the world's first film school, the Moscow Film School. He ...
References
External links
*
See also
*
1925 in science fiction
1925 films
Soviet science fiction films
Films directed by Lev Kuleshov
1920s science fiction films
Soviet silent feature films
Soviet black-and-white films
Russian black-and-white films
Russian science fiction films
Russian silent feature films
Silent science fiction films
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