Michele Strogoff - Il corriere dello zar

Ever since the death of his wife, the famous and once highly-respected general Michael Strogoff has fallen steadily into a state of decrepitude. The Tartars have again overrun the empire's Eastern Siberian territories, and constitute a serious threat. At this point the Tsar asks Strogoff to go and look for Boris, his young nephew and heir, who # even though he managed to escape from the Tartars # has so far not been found. Strogoff agrees to the mission, mainly because he hopes to take revenge on Ogareff, who was originally in the Czar's service but is now on the side of the Tartars. It was Ogareff who murdered Strogoff's wife and unborn child. Ogareff, who is now in the employ of the emir Feofar Khan, wants Boris too, and suspects that Count Krasov is hiding the boy. When he starts pressurizing the Count to tell him the boy's whereabouts, the Count's beautiful daughter Nadia offers to deliver Michael Strogoff, the Czar's emissary, up to him. Although Nadia falls in love with Strogoff shortly afterwards, she still has to betray him in order to save the life of her father, whom Ogareff has in his power. Strogoff manages to escape, however. The search for Boris leads him to the emir, where he sees Nadia again, fighting to get her father back. When Strogoff is tortured so that he will provide information, Nadia gives Ogareff new information about Boris's whereabouts and sends him off on a false scent. With the help of Sangarra, Ogareff's jealous mistress, who is sympathetic to Nadia's fate, Nadia successfully saves Strogoff from having to lose his eyesight as a punishment for not cooperating. Together they bring little Boris to safety # but when they release Nadia's father, they meet Ogareff on his way back. Strogoff kills Ogareff in a fight to the death # and Nadia and Strogoff are finally united after a successful mission. —Anonymous