The Cigarette Girl from Moscow (1924)
"Papirosnitsa ot Mosselproma" (original title)

As she works in her tedious office job, Maria Ivanovna dreams about being married, and she has particular hopes that her co-worker Nikodim Mityushin will take an interest in her. Nikodim, ... See full summary »

Director:

Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky

Writers:

Aleksei Fajko, Fyodor Otsep

Stars:

Yuliya Solntseva, Igor Ilyinsky, Anna Dmokhovskaya

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Yuliya Solntseva	...	Zina Vesenina, cigarette girl
Igor Ilyinsky	...	Nikodim Mityushin, bookkeeper
Anna Dmokhovskaya	...	Maria Ivanovna (as A. Dmokhovskaya)
Nikolai Tsereteli	...	Latugin, cameraman (as N. Tsereteli)
Leonid Baratov	...	Barsov-Aragonsky, film director (as L. Baratov)
M. Tsybulsky	...	Oliver Mac-Bride, American

Storyline

As she works in her tedious office job, Maria Ivanovna dreams about being married, and she has particular hopes that her co-worker Nikodim Mityushin will take an interest in her. Nikodim, though, is in love with Zina, who sells cigarettes on the sidewalk, and he frequently buys cigarettes from her even though he does not smoke. One day, a film crew uses Zina as an extra in an outdoor scene, and the cameraman, Latugin, falls in love with her. Latugin soon arranges an acting job for Zina. To complicate matters further, Zina has yet another admirer in Oliver MacBride, an American businessman who is visiting Moscow.

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Plot Keywords:

love | american | businessman | office | movie studio | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

2 December 1924 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

The Cigarette Girl from Moscow

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mezhrabpom-Rus

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Sergei Eisenstein: Autobiography (1996)

User Reviews

Excellent acting, and a sweet story

This is a movie, which I consider to be nearly perfect. The characters are endearing and believable, and the plot ties up nicely.

Zina is the beautiful cigarette girl, who is discovered by the cameraman, Latugin, and becomes an actress. Latugin loves Zina. Mac-Bride loves Zina. Mityushin loves Zina. The land lady loves Mityushin. Zina loves Latugin. Zina, Latugin, and Mityushin loose their jobs. What will happen?

This is essentially a comedy. There is a mixtures of restrained slapstick and humorous love mix ups. Some of it has been done before (well you will have seen it before), but the movie is original enough and very well done.

There are still some weird bits to this. For example when Nikodim Mityushin smokes the cigarette the hall starts spinning. Hmmm, I donÕt think that was tobacco in there.

I highly recommend watching this, even if you are not into silent film.