Miss Mend

Miss Mend is a 4-and-a-quarter hour sprint that will leave you breathless in its sheer epic expanse and non-stop running, driving, swimming and horse-back riding action - surely the most athletic silent movie ever!

Some of the other reviewers have guessed at the historical context of the film, albeit inaccurately. The Bolshevik revolution was over by 1926; the post-WWI Civil War in Russia actually had ended in 1922 (16 million Russians died between WWI and the Civil War). The Bolsheviks were in sole power, but it would still be 4 more years before Stalin consolidated and took sole dictatorial control of the Soviet Union. Stalin would ultimately micro-manage much of Russian film production - but not yet. Thus, and here I am guessing, Russian film makers probably had more freedom for these few years to experiment, and be less heavy-handed in their propaganda, then they soon would be. Hence, a Western-style series of films, including a lot of explicit criticism of Communism, which I doubt Uncle Joe would have allowed later, even if it is expressed by the bad guys.

And who are the "bad guys" exactly? We have to play along with the fact that those who see the Communists as evil are the bad guys; those looking to help the Soviet Union the good guys.

The plot is absurd, and one has to really over-look a lot of sloppiness in the details; just a few examples: 2 reporters locked in small coffin-shaped boxes in the hold of a ship for its entire journey from America to Leningrad - a 10 or 14 day trip - without food or bathrooms; the improbability that the Westerners and Russian people would be able to communicate with each other, given the unlikelihood that the Russians spoke English or the English Russian (French was the preferred second language of early 20th century Russia). And so on.

One scene appears to be the inspiration for "Weekend at Bernie's": one of the reporters grabs and nods the head of the unconscious Arthur Stern as he is questioned by his co-horts. He remains unconscious as he is carried from the car he is in - but not before opening his eyes and looking around just before being removed from the car.

The attempts at recreating Western or American life are hilarious - others have mentioned the reference to "Rocfeller and Co."; how about the "Police Office" sign, instead of Police Station? However, these are more than made up for by some outstanding visions of lovely Leningrad (today back to St. Petersburg).

Finally, the funniest title card in the history of Silent Film may have appeared in this film: "Who's next in line for an enema?" Fascinating film history. Try to watch at least some of it.

Of all the products issued by Flicker Alley, MISS MEND (THE ADVENTURES OF THE THREE REPORTERS) is certainly the most unusual so far. Intended by the Soviets as a satire of Western style entertainment, this movie has a little something for every silent film fan from the French serials of Feuillade to the American cliffhangers of Pearl White and Helen Holmes. Throw in a little Fritz Lang for good measure and you have a unique offering that can't quite seem to make up its mind as to what it wants to be.

It starts off as a protest film with our heroine, a lowly typist, getting involved in a worker's strike at the "Rockefeller" plant. Three "intrepid" journalists enter the fray each one pining after the heroine. We are then introduced to an engineer who is more than he seems at first and a cute little boy with a dark secret. Finally we meet the nefarious villain, Chiche, a demented capitalist who will stop at nothing to destroy Soviet Russia. This he hopes to accomplish through an early form of germ warfare. Can our heroine/heroes stop him in time? Stretch this out over 4 hours and you have a film that remains fascinating to watch although it can be hard to follow.

Flicker Alley & Co. Have done their usual fine job in bringing another silent offering to us. The film, transferred from 35mm material, looks very good especially considering its obscurity (it was panned by Soviet critics for incorporating the very things it was poking fun at although the masses loved it). I may have run across it in a reference book but if I did, I don't recall it so I am delighted to become acquainted with another title that I'm unfamiliar with.

The movie has been given new English intertitles and is accompanied by another fine score from Robert Israel. Part of the fun for me is listening for the classical music and popular music of the day quotations that he uses. While I can't imagine people lining up to buy the DVD, it is like all Flicker Alley offerings, a quality release worthy of our time and the extra cost. Just don't expect BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN or MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA or even THE PERILS OF PAULINE...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

Seen this little gem on TCM a couple weeks ago, wow,, first off this is quite long run time over 4 hours without commercial. Natalya Glan wow she is pure beauty,, and sexy as well, this takes place during the Bolshevik Revolution,, a man and his cohorts are trying to wipe Russia off the face of the earth with the ampules that are filled with some kind of poison, they are attached to antennas spread across the city and once the signal is given,, instant annihilation,, but in their way are three intrepid, clumsy, and yet hilarious reporters, it seems weird how this story seems to just fall into their lap, dumb luck i guess,, time is of the essence and they really don't have time to tell Interpol, or say the police, so these brave reporters must do it all by themselves,, this is a very good silent picture, as i have seen more than a few, this is the first foreign one however that i have seen, and i think that TCM is on the right path here, i would like them to make a whole entire day once a month of nothing but silent films.. excellent film with great characters,, and humor also.

At over 4 hours this was quite an undertaking for the silent era of Russian cinema and frankly I was prepared to be bored. But that was far from the case. It kept going, adding new layers to the adventures of our four intrepid heroes and their counterparts, the two leaders of a capitalist cabal set on destroying the Soviet Union. Their plot was very much the glue that held the whole thing together and gave meaning to our heroes' actions and yet it seemed nothing more than a vehicle that permitted them to exhibit their extraordinary physical and comedic abilities. These were all fit people able to run at length, climb walls, jump, fight and in general be highly active. For example in the third installment Barnet, the director, jumps out of a second story window with only a pile of snow to break his fall and runs through the snow bare-chested.

I wonder if the capitalist plot was not used to get the film past the censors who might otherwise not look kindly on a frivolous serial. In any case it is very entertaining and even more so because of the way the Russian film-makers sought to portray Americans. It's obvious they didn't have a clue. None of the actors even remotely looked American. And they must have thought all Americans wore high water pants, rumpled shirts and over-sized, ill-fitting coats despite their wealth and social standing. Very funny indeed.

As for the title, "Miss Mend" is a bit of a misnomer. The real protagonists are the three reporters. Vivian Mend does very little other than glare and be generally victimized by the bad guys. Even the good guys treat her more like an object, ignoring her for the most part unless she is in danger in which case they gallantly run to her rescue.

Finally other than Barnet and Igor Ilyinsky who plays Hopkins, the real standout is Vladimir Fogel who plays the photographer and in my opinion a real athlete. He should be familiar to aficionados of silent Russian cinema. I was sorry to learn that he committed suicide in 1929 at the age of 27, apparently from the strain of his busy schedule.

A three part Russian serial, running a little over four hours. It's a pretty big time commitment, but this series is darn entertaining. It's a sometimes uneasy combination of Soviet propaganda and American adventure, with the American adventure kind of winning out in the end. The film starts off more on the propaganda side, with three American reporters (Barnet himself, Vladimir Fogel, who starred in many famous films of the era including The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West, By the Law, Chess Fever, The End of St. Petersberg, and Igor Ilyinsky, who starred in Aelita: Queen of Mars) covering a workers' strike. As corporate lackeys, they only care about sensationalism, and the three of them fall for the factory's own Norma Rae, Miss Vivian Mend (Natalya Glan). The propaganda aspects start to fade into more Feuillade-inspired crime conspiracy territory, with villain Chiche (Sergey Komarov) using corporate funds to create a biological weapon he plans to use against the Soviet Union. The film also has some elements of German expressionism, with direct references to Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari sprinkled in. Over the course of the serial, the three reporters and Miss Mend (who, truth be told, is a pretty passive heroine) follow Chiche to Russia to stop his plot. This film was not well regarded by Soviet critics of the day - they instantly noted that the film's ideologies were often eclipsed by its love for adventure - but audiences loved it, and it was one of the more popular films among general audiences at the time. It's a bit hard to follow at times, but it's worth the time.