''The Night Before Christmas'' (, ''Noch pered Rozhdestvom'') is a 1913

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

made in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

Ladislas Starevich Ladislas Starevich (, ; August 8, 1882 – February 26, 1965) was a Polish-Russian stop-motion animator notable as the author of the first puppet-animated film '' The Beautiful Leukanida'' (1912). He also used dead insects and other animals as p ...

, based on the 1832 tale of the same name by

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...

. Unlike most of Starevich's films, it is mainly live-action.

Plot

The plot is, on the whole, close to Gogol's classic tale. The action is set in a Ukrainian village. On

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

, a minor

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

arrives to a local

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

called Solokha. They both ride on the witch's broom, after which the demon steals the Moon and hides in an old rag. In the ensuing darkness, some

inebriated Alcohol intoxication, commonly described in higher doses as drunkenness or inebriation, and known in overdose as alcohol poisoning, is the behavior and physical effects caused by recent consumption of alcohol. The technical term ''intoxication ...

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

s can't find their way to a ''shinok'' (

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

) and decide to go home. One by one, they each come to visit Soloha, who hides each one (starting from the demon) in bags so that none of them see each other. At the same time, Solokha's son Vakula the

Metalsmith A metalsmith or simply smith is a craftsperson fashioning useful items (for example, tools, kitchenware, tableware, jewelry, armor and weapons) out of various metals. Smithing is one of the oldest list of metalworking occupations, metalworking o ...

(P. Lopukhin), tries to woo the beauty Oksana ( Olga Obolenskaya), but she laughs at him and demands that he find her the shoes which the Tsarina wears. Vakula goes to Soloha in sadness, but upon coming there sees the bags and decides to take them to the

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to the ...

. Getting tired along the way, he leaves the heaviest bags on the street, which are picked up by a

caroling A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with Christian church worship, and sometimes accompanied by a dance. A caroller (or caroler) is someone who sings carols, and is said to be carolling (or caroling). ...

company. Vakula, who is left only with the bag containing the demon, goes to Patsyuk, a

sorcerer Sorcerer may refer to: Magic * Sorcerer (supernatural), a practitioner of magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources * Sorcerer (fantasy), a fictional character who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sou ...

, to ask him how to find a demon - only with the help of a demon can he hope to get Tsarina's shoes. The Patsyuk answers that a person should not search for a demon if he has a demon behind his back. Vakula takes it as some kind of a murky wise say, but indeed eventually finds the demon in the bag and forces him to take him to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. There,

Prince Potemkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (A number of dates as late as 1742 have been found on record; the veracity of any one is unlikely to be proved. This is his "official" birth-date as given on his tombstone.) was a Russian mi ...

takes him for an ambassador of the

Zaporozhian Cossack The Zaporozhian Cossacks (in Latin ''Cossacorum Zaporoviensis''), also known as the Zaporozhian Cossack Army or the Zaporozhian Host (), were Cossacks who lived beyond (that is, downstream from) the Dnieper Rapids. Along with Registered Cossac ...

s and gives him Tsarina's shoes. The demon takes Vakula home and Vakula lets him go. Oksana agrees to marry Vakula.

Cast

Ivan Mozzhukhin Ivan Ilyich Mozzhukhin ( rus, Иван Ильич Мозжухин, p=ɪˈvan ɨˈlʲjitɕ mɐˈʑːʉxʲɪn; – 18 January 1939), usually billed using the French transliteration Ivan Mosjoukine, was a Russian silent film actor. Career in Russ ...

as Devil (as Ivan Mosjoukine) * Olga Obolenskaya as Oksana *

Lidiya Tridenskaya Lidiya is a feminine given name. People *Lidiya Alekseyeva (1924-2014) Russian basketball player *Lidiya Alfeyeva (born 1946), a Soviet long jumper *Lidiya Belozyorova (1945–2022), Ukrainian actresses *Lidiya Ginzburg (1902–1990), a major S ...

as Solokha * Petr Lopukhin as Vakula (as P. Laphukin) * Aleksandr Kheruvimov as Golova * Pavel Knorr as Chub * S. Sorin

Significance

* The first time that an adaptation of ''The Night Before Christmas'' was filmed which was true to the letter and spirit of the original. * In this film Ladislas Starevich combined in one scene live action and

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

. This occurs in the scene with the hopping galushkis at Patsyuk's place, and in the scene where the demon shrinks and hides in Vakula's pocket.

Critical reaction

From the journal "Kino-theatre and life" («Кино-театр и жизнь», 1913, № 2):

"The Night Before Christmas" (after Gogol) is a very well written and acted cinema piece; however, not without some deficiencies in the scenes of crowds. Of all artists, who by-and-large performed well, it is impossible not to distinguish the
makeup Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources or created sy ...
and acting of Mr. Mozzhukhin in the role of the demon. The fantastic sections of Soloha's flight on a broom and Vakula's on the demon are not carried off well, but the spectacular trick of the demon's shrinking was skillfully done. This picture will have success in Russia as a live illustration to the work of literature well- known to all the Russian public.

From the journal "Cinematography news" («Вестник кинематографии», 1913, № 24):

Some scenes - such as, e.g., the scene at Soloha's, meeting the ''Stanitsa'' Head fetched out of the bag by Chub (a Cossack), Patsyuk's dinner and many others - shine with distinctively Gogolian humour and play over the incessant laughter of the public... The film is made excellently, including the minute details which create the reality of the Ukrainian life.

External links

* * * (English subtitles) {{DEFAULTSORT:Night Before Christmas (1913 film), The 1913 films Russian black-and-white films Russian Christmas films 1910s fantasy films Films based on works by Nikolai Gogol Films directed by Ladislas Starevich Films of the Russian Empire Russian silent films Articles containing video clips 1910s Christmas films Works based on Christmas Eve (Gogol)

Plot

Cast

Significance

Critical reaction

See also

External links