Miss Mend

Alternative title

Miss Mend, An Adventure Serial in Three Parts

Synopsis

Silent film produced in Russia in 1926 with the goal of rivalling the most entertaining American movies of the 1920s. It features stunning location photography and impressive stunt scenes: horse, car and boat chases, radio towers, jazz bands and even a spectacular train wreck, interspersed with visual references to German film classics like Nosferatu, Caligari and Dr. Mabuse. The film’s heroine, Vivian Mend, is an elegant urban professional who earns her own living and raises a child without the help of any man. But the film, partially set in an imagined America where everything is new and progressive (from technology to social relations and lifestyles) also includes a few more-than-pointed comments on labour relations, racism, excessive wealth, gratuitous violence and even rape. Although it responded to an official call for a new art that could win over mass audiences, Miss Mend was condemned by the Soviet press of the time as ideologically lightweight and a prime example of shameless "Western-style" entertainment.
DVD 1
-Miss Mend (part 1 + 2) (tinted) 1926, 175’
-Chapter selection
-16page booklet with an essay "Miss Mend and Soviet Americanism" by Ana Olenina and Maxim Pozdorovkin
DVD 2
-Miss Mend (part 3) (tinted) 1926, 75’
-Chapter selection
-A Whirlwind Vision of an Imagined America 2009, 22’
-The Music Behind Miss Mend: The Invisible Orchestra 2009, 13’

Language

English

Country

Former USSR

Year of production

1926

Subjects

Film studies

Keywords

silent films; Soviet Union; 1920s

Credits

Director

Boris Barnet

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 0 PAL

Price

35.95 Euros

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

285 minutes

Year

2018

Distributor

Name

Flicker Alley

Email

info@flickeralley.com

Web

https://www.flickeralley.com External site opens in new window