7 main stars of Russian silent movies (PHOTOS)
Even before cinema began to “speak”, this genre had its stars. With just one gesture, they could convey the full depth of their character’s emotions.
1 Vera Kholodnaya
In five years of her career, she managed to become a diva of Russian silent cinema. Kholodnaya starred in movies by the most famous directors of that time, critics enthusiastically wrote about her that she “didn’t act, but lived on the screen”. She had no acting education, but co-founder of the Moscow Art Theater Konstantin Stanislavsky invited her to join the troupe. However, the actress remained faithful to cinema. The revolution caught her in Odessa, but she refused to leave the country. And, in 1919, she fell ill with the Spanish flu and died.
2 Ivan Mozzhukhin
There is a prejudice that silent movie actors are only capable of making expressive faces and wringing their hands. But, this is definitely not about Mozzhukhin. He was a master of instant transformation. In the movie ‘Life in Death’, the camera dispassionately recorded how Mozzhukhin cried. The movies with his participation, such as ‘Father Sergius’ and ‘The Queen of Spades’, are still striking in their dramatic intensity. In 1919, the actor miraculously escaped execution and went to France and then to the U.S.. However, he was not able to achieve the same success as in Russia.
3 Vera Karalli
Ballerina Karalli once saw a movie with Danish actress Asta Nielsen – the performance impressed her so much that the soloist of the Russian Ballet and the Bolshoi Theater decided to follow her example. The audience cried when Karalli’s heroine in the movie ‘Chrysanthemums’, having taken poison, performed her last dance and died on stage. After the revolution, she left Russia, continued to act in films in exile while teaching ballet.
4 Vitold Polonsky
Actor of the Maly Theater, a screen hero-lover. Poets of that time would caustically note: “He plays handsome men and only such exclusively!” But, still, Polonsky, thanks to his charm and skill, made movie characters truly deep and dramatic. His fate was tragic: in 1919, he died from poisoning.
5 Vera Orlova
She linked her life with the theater – she studied at the Moscow Art Theater School and played on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater. One of the first movies with her participation was ‘Sashka the Seminarian’, a four-part detective story with murders, robberies and daring escapes. But, Orlova’s real fame came from director Yakov Protazanov. She played in ‘The Queen of Spades’, ‘Father Sergius’, ‘Aelita’. Orlova continued to act even after the advent of movies with sound.
6 Vladimir Maksimov
He is known as an actor in both cinema and theater. He played in the Moscow Art and Maly theaters and participated in the creation of the Bolshoi Drama Theater in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg). Maksimov made his cinema debut in 1910 in the short movie ‘Midnight at the Cemetery’ and did not part with it until 1926. His last work was ‘The Decembrists’, where he played Alexander I.
7 Natalia Lisenko
Silent cinema brought her not only fame, but also happiness. Lisenko made her debut in 1915 in the role of Katyusha Maslova in the movie based on Tolstoy’s novel ‘Resurrection’. Her filmography includes movies by the most famous silent movie directors. She also starred in Yakov Protazanov’s dramas ‘Satan Triumphant’ and ‘In the Power of Sin’, as well as ‘Hawk’s Nest’ by Cheslav Sabinsky. After the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, Lisenko and her husband Ivan Mozzhukhin left for Paris, where they continued to act in movies.
