Nikolai Cherkasov Movies

This film biography of 19th-century French dancer and choreographer Marius Petipa plays out like a tear-jerking melodrama. Petipa (Gilles Segal) signs on with the Russian Ballet and becomes known as the father of modern ballet. Much ado is made about the combining of Petipa and Tchaikovsky and the fruits of their collaborations. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Veteran Russian character actor Nikolai Cherkasov plays the noble but befuddled title character in this Soviet adaptation of Don Quixote. Yuri Tolubeyev co-stars as Sancho Panza -- and if Sancho sounds a bit like Sherlock Holmes' Dr. Watson at times, it is because his voice was dubbed for the English-language version by Howard Marion-Crawford, who portrayed Watson on the 1954 TV series Sherlock Holmes. The film follows the path laid out three centuries earlier by Miguel de Cervantes, stopping short of Cervantes' original ending, which intimated that Quixote would never die (this was not in keeping with Communist ideology of the period). In this version, Quixote jousts with imaginary giants and mistakes milkmaids for aristocrats against the backdrop of the Crimea, standing in for the hills of Spain. Filmed in 1957, Don Quixote was not released in the U.S. until 1961 due to the heating up of the Cold War. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Russian Mussorgsky was a prize winner at the 1951 Cannes Film Festival. Ostensibly a biopic of the titular composer, the film stars Alexander Borisov. Modest Mussorgsky's life is recounted not so much through events as through his music. Highlights include excerpted performances of such works as Boris Godunov, Song of the Flea and Khovanschina. The 2-hour film was lensed in the Soviet Magicolor process, which makes up in vibrancy what it lacks in consistency. Typical of its era, Mussorgsky adheres to the Party Line by showing the sympathy the protagonist extends towards the humble peasantry of Russia. The film was co-scripted and directed by Grigory Roshal, a former purveyor of "message" films who by and large stuck to pure entertainments in the 1950s; Roshal followed the film with another musical biography, Rimsky-Korsakov. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The First Front was part one of Russian filmmaker Vladimir Petrov's two-part historical epic The Battle of Stalingrad. The hero of the piece is, of course, Josef Stalin (Alexei Dieky), who courageously (in this film at least) urges his countrymen to stand their ground as the Nazis lay siege to Stalingrad in 1941. One suspects that Petrov's positive portrayal of Stalin as a cunning, cool-headed military strategist would cause him no end of trouble during Khrushchev's de-Stalinization campaign of the 1950s. Other historical personages appearing in The First Front are generals Vasilievsky, Voronov, Rokossovsky, Yeremenko and Chukov--not to mention Roosevelt, Churchill and Hitler, all depicted according to the current Soviet party line. The film's vibrant musical score was composed by no less than Aram Khatchaturian. First Front was followed in 1950 by the second part of Petrov's Stalingrad saga, The Victors and the Vanquished. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It would be facetious to refer to the Russian Ivan Pavlov as the story of a boy and his dogs. Yet, it is true that this is the filmed biopic of the famed Russian psychological scientist who used laboratory canines to illustrate his theories about behavior conditioning. Constructed in Hollywood's "overcoming the odds" fashion, the film depicts Pavlov as a man before his time, subject to the ridicule of the hidebound scientific establishment. One of the few people who stands by Pavlov is his loving assistant Ivanova. Alexander Borisov plays the title role, Natalia Alisova is Ivanova, and Nikolai Cherkasov dispenses wry philosophical wisdom as author Maxim Gorky. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Heavily influenced by Hollywood musicals, the Soviet tunefest Spring won several awards for its director, the prolific Grigory Alexandrov. Not surprisingly, the leading role went directly to Alexandrov's wife, popular film personality Lyubov Orlova. Actually, Orlova essays the leading roles, since the story is a mistaken-identity affair involving a female scientist named Irina and her lookalike, a Bolshoi dancer named Vera. When a Russian film studio announces plans to film Irina's life story, Vera is chosen to play the role, leading to a wacky comedy of errors. Though unimpressed by Spring, American reviewers were at least grateful that the film wasn't a podium for Communist ideology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second part of Sergei Eisenstein's baroque chronicle of the legendary Russian czar was originally planned as a three-part epic. But Eisenstein had battles with Russian censors over the second part of his trilogy, ostensibly because of a negative depiction of Ivan's secret police force (Stalin feared that Eisenstein was making a veiled reference to himself). Although filmed shortly after Part One in 1946, the film was suppressed and was not released until 1958. In the meantime, Eisenstein, who died in 1948, never completed his project, spending most of his time defending himself before Stalin and his censor boards. Part Two takes up the story of Ivan the Terrible (Nikolai Cherkasov) upon his return to Moscow from Alexandrov. Ivan must deal with a group of unfriendly boyars and becomes even more insulated after his mother is poisoned and an assassination plot is uncovered. The black-and-white film ends with a luminous color banquet scene. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The reputation of Soviet filmmaker Vladimir Petrov rests largely on a group of multipart films, honoring Russian heroes past and present. The first of these mammoth historical dramas was the two-part Peter the First, which took Petrov two years to complete. The second half of this auspicious undertaking was released in the US under the title Conquests of Peter the Great. Nikolai Simonov stars as Peter, with Alia Tarasova as Catherine I. The film gets off to a rousing start as Peter's troops triumph over their Swedish foes at the battle of Poltava, then segues into a second victory at sea over those indefatigable Swedes. Though undermined by the treachery of his weakling son Alexei (Nikolai Cherkassov), Czar Peter brings order out of the chaos, opening Russia to fair and equitable trade with other nations (and incidentally destroying those who don't conform with his special brand of diplomacy). Criticized by some for his obsession with "pretty" pictorial compositions, director Petrov nonetheless paints a vivid and reasonably accurate portrait of 17th century Russia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Like many of Eisenstein's best films, Alexander Nevsky was conceived as a morale-booster, aimed at stirring up Russian patriotism. It is set in the 13th century, but the villainous Teutonic Knights are obviously meant to represent the burgeoning threat of Hitler's hordes. With Russia besieged by both these knights and by the Tartars, only a charismatic leader can save the populace from these barbaric baby killers (yes, we see the villains tossing screaming infants into bonfires!) The hero of the piece is the legendary Prince Alexander Nevsky, portrayed by Nikolai Cherkasov, who bears a striking resemblance to Gary Cooper. The saving turnaround for Nevsky is the battle of ice-covered Lake Peipus in 1242. This bravura sequence is staged in spectacular fashion, underlined by the specially-commissioned music of Sergei Prokofiev. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Russian epic chronicles the first few years of the reign of the title Czar. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Visionary French novelist Jules Verne is practically a folk hero in Russia, so it stands to reason that many of the Verne movie adaptations have emanated from the USSR. Captain Grant's Children concerns the efforts by two fearless youngsters (O. Bazarova and Y. Segal) to find their long-lost sea-captain father. With a cryptic note as their only clue, the kids and a pack of adult colleagues travel halfway around the world and back again, encountering a variety of bizarre adventures that Indiana Jones might envy. Unfortunately, the film's execution isn't quite up to the concept, with a painfully phony volcano and a tinker-toy shipwreck heading the list of ineffectual special effects. Capt. Grant's Children was more elaborately remade (albeit with less fidelity to the original) by Walt Disney as In Search of the Castaways (1963). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide