His Excellency (1928 film)
| His Excellency | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Directed by | Grigori Roshal |
| Written by |
Serafima Roshal Vera Stroyeva |
| Starring |
Leonid Leonidov Maria Sinelnikova Tamara Adelheim Nikolay Cherkasov Mikhail Rostovtsev |
| Cinematography | Nikolai Kozlovsky |
| Edited by | Mark Donskoy |
Production company | |
Release date |
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Running time | 60 minutes |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Language | Russian |
His Excellency (Russian: Его превосходительство, translit. Yego prevoskhoditelstvo) is a 1928 Soviet drama film directed by Grigori Roshal.[1] The film is based on real events. On May 5, 1902, a shoemaker-laborer Hirsh Lekert, member of the Jewish party Bund, attempted to murder Victor von Wahl, the governor of Vilnius.
Plot
On the eve of May 1 leaflets turn up in the city with the appeal to support the May Day demonstration of Vilnius workers. May Day workers' march is dispersed by Cossacks, several demonstrators are killed, and a large group of demonstrators get arrested. Among the latter many are laboring Jews. Fearing riots, the Jewish bourgeois elite send their representatives to the governor with the request that they punish the prisoners, but do not touch the rest of the Jewish population. The governor promises to prevent a massacre; the arrested he orders to flog. In response to this outrageous order Hirsh Lekert, a laborer of a shoe workshop proposes to kill the governor. He wounds the governor with a shot from his gun. Hirsh Lekert gets arrested and is sentenced to death.
Cast
- Leonid Leonidov as governor von Wahl
- Maria Sinelnikova as Miriam, the rabbi's adoptive daughter
- Tamara Adelheim as Rivele
- Nikolay Cherkasov as the tall clown
- Mikhail Rostovtsev as the short clown
- Abraham Grinfeld as Layser, the rabbi
References
- ↑ James Hoberman (2000-03-01). The Red Atlantis: Communist Culture in the Absence of Communism. Temple University Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN 1566397677.