His Excellency (1928 film)

His Excellency (Russian: Его превосходительство, romanized: Yego prevoskhoditelstvo) is a 1928 Soviet drama film directed by Grigori Roshal.[1] It was released in the United States under the name, "Seeds of Freedom." [2] The film is based on real events. On May 5, 1902, shoemaker-laborer Hirsh Lekert, a member of the Jewish party Bund, attempted to murder the governor of Vilnius, Victor von Wahl.

His Excellency
Directed byGrigori Roshal
Written bySerafima Roshal
Vera Stroyeva
StarringLeonid Leonidov
Maria Sinelnikova
Tamara Adelheim
Nikolay Cherkasov
Mikhail Rostovtsev
CinematographyNikolai Kozlovsky
Edited byMark Donskoy
Production
company
Release date
  • 1928 (1928)
Running time
60 minutes
CountrySoviet Union
LanguageRussian

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. Cossacks disperse the May Day workers' march killing some and arresting others. Among the dead and arrested are Jewish laborers. Fearing riots, the Jewish bourgeois elite send their representatives to the governor with the request that he punish only the prisoners, and not the rest of the Jewish population. The governor agrees; he orders those who were arrested to be flogged. Hirsh Lekert, a cobbler, is outraged and proposes killing the governor. Despite advice from revolutionary friends (one intertitle states that "six shots do not make a revolution"), he shoots the governor and kills him. Lekert is arrested and sentenced to death.

Behind the Scenes

The film is notable in that star Leonidov played two important roles, Governor Victor von Wahl and the "Old Rabbi." He is both sides of the split face on the poster.

Cast
  • Leonid Leonidov as Governor von Wahl and "Old Rabbi"
  • Maria Sinelnikova as Miriam, the rabbi's adoptive daughter
  • Yuly Untershlak as Hirsch Lekkert
  • Tamara Adelheim as Rivele
  • Nikolay Cherkasov as the tall clown
  • Mikhail Rostovtsev as the short clown
  • Abraham Grinfeld as Layser, the rabbi
  • A. Nenyukov as Pyotr
  • Mariya Dobrova as Circus Star
  • Aleksandr Sandel as Factory Owner Spiess
  • Igor Doronin

References
  1. James Hoberman (2000-03-01). The Red Atlantis: Communist Culture in the Absence of Communism. Temple University Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN 1566397677.
  2. "Seeds of Freedom," Variety, Sept 11, 1929

His Excellency on IMDb


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