''The Death Ray'' (russian: Луч смерти, Luch smerti) is a 1925 Soviet science fiction film directed by

Lev Kuleshov Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov (russian: Лев Владимирович Кулешов; – 29 March 1970) was a Russian and Soviet filmmaker and film theorist, one of the founders of the world's first film school, the Moscow Film School. He ...

. The first and last reels of the film have been lost. This film ran at 2 hours, 5 minutes, making this one of the earliest full length science fiction films. Despite the fact that many sources claim the inspiration for the film to be the novel '' The Garin Death Ray'' by

Aleksei Tolstoy Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (russian: link= no, Алексей Николаевич Толстой; – 23 February 1945) was a Russian writer who wrote in many genres but specialized in science fiction and historical novels. Despite having ...

, this is not the case. It is impossible, since the book was published two years after the film, in 1927. Furthermore, the film has many similarities with a book by

Valentin Kataev Valentin Petrovich Kataev (russian: Валенти́н Петро́вич Ката́ев; also spelled Katayev or Kataiev; – 12 April 1986) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright who managed to create penetrating works discussing ...

, called ''Lord of Iron'', published in 1924. Moreover, the theme of death rays was very popular at the time because of the 1923 claim of British inventor

Harry Grindell Matthews Harry Grindell Matthews (17 March 1880 – 11 September 1941) was an English inventor who claimed to have invented a death ray in the 1920s. Earlier life and inventions Harry Grindell Matthews was born on 17 March 1880 in Winterbourne, Glo ...

to have created a "death ray".

Plot

The film takes place in an unspecified

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

country where a fascist government is attempting to suppress a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

uprising. The revolutionary leader Thomas Lamm is imprisoned by the government but he escapes to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. There he meets the engineer Podobed who invents the "death ray" – a device which explodes gunpowder and fuel mixtures at a distance. Father Revo, a fascist intelligence agent, steals the invention and brings it back to his country. The government begins using it as an instrument for suppressing labor strikes. However, the workers end up seizing the device and use it to blow up

bombers A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an aircra ...

in the air which are sent against them.

Reception

The film received negative reviews on its release and did not do well at the box-office. Kuleshov explained the film's failure as the result of its experimental nature and that the main goal of the picture was to merely display that the director was capable of making professional films at a low budget.

Cast

Porfiri Podobed Porfiri Artemyevich Podobed (russian: Порфирий Артемьевич Подобед; — 9 November 1965) was a Soviet film director, actor and manager at the Moscow Art Theatre.Cinema: Encyclopedic Dictionary // ed. Sergei Yutkevich. — ...

as Engineer Podobed *

Vsevolod Pudovkin Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin ( rus, Всеволод Илларионович Пудовкин, p=ˈfsʲevələt ɪlərʲɪˈonəvʲɪtɕ pʊˈdofkʲɪn; 16 February 1893 – 30 June 1953) was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwrite ...

as Father Revo *

Vladimir Fogel Vladimir Pavlovich Fogel (russian: Влади́мир Па́влович Фо́гель; 19029 June 1929) was a Russian silent film actor. Biography Vladimir Fogel was born in Moscow. His family name comes from his German father, an immigrant who ...

as Fascist Fog *

Aleksandra Khokhlova Aleksandra Sergeyevna Khokhlova (born Alexandra Sergeyevna Botkina, russian: Александра Сергеевна Хохлова, 4 October 1897 – 22 August 1985) was a Soviet actress, theatre director, writer, and educator. Biography ...

as Sister Edith and Female Shooter * Leonid Obolensky as Mayor Hard, Boss of the Fascists * Sergei Komarov as Thomas Lann *

Andrei Fajt Andrei Andreyevich Fajt (russian: Андрей Андреевич Файт; 29 August 1903 – 17 January 1976) was a Soviet film actor. He appeared in 44 films between 1925 and 1976. He was born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia and died in Moscow ...

as agent *

Mikhail Doller Mikhail Ivanovich Doller (russian: Михаил Иванович Доллер, 1889 – 15 March 1952) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He worked as co-director with Vsevolod Pudovkin and was awarded Stalin Prize twice in 1941. ...

Plot

Reception

Cast

References

External links

See also