The Death Ray translated Intertitles
(direction and scenario by Lev Kuleshov)
This one was sitting right out there on the internet. I was very pleasantly astounded when I found it on the Pacific Film Archives website.
You see, I had shelled out the bucks to get a video copy made all the way from the Gosfilmofond archives in Russia. This film had always fascinated me. The history of Russian s.f. film arguably parallels that of the United States more than any other non-English speaking nation with films such as Aelita (a silent trip to Mars), Adventures of Three Reporters (a 1926 tale featuring biological warfare), Cosmic Journey (a 1930's space opera masterpiece), The Amphibian Man, Planeta Burg, To The Stars by Hard Ways, Solaris and Stalker. The Death Ray (a.k.a. Luch Smerti in Russian) is among the very first in this impressive line.
The trouble was that when I first received and watched the film, the titles were, of course, in (what else?) Russian. Unfortunately also, the final reel is lost. I read the novel "Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin" by Alexei Tolstoi at the time for background. Various references state that this was either the source for or based on the film. This gave me an imagined storyline to help me "interpret" some of the scenes but not much else.
Viewing the film again with the PFA document makes me wonder whether Tolsoi's novel really has any connection to the film at all. Both have a death ray, some revolutionaries, and a fair share of intrigue but beyond that there is not much of a similarity.
Naturally, my repeat viewing was much more satisfying. This is really a fun film. There are plenty of crazy goings-on, serial like action and what I really get a bang out of: the kooky cast of characters. Not many matinee idols here; they seem more like living caricatures. Most of the troupe seems to have shaved heads, crooked or missing teeth, elongated noses, frizzy hair and the like. Some of the facial expressions are priceless.
I suppose that there is some hidden propaganda involved but that doesn't get in the way.
The only actual scenes of the "death ray" shown in what survives of the film are laboratory experiments. The climax apparently featured the "death ray" in action to settle a battle between the establishment and the revolutionaries. I wish that this footage had survived. Still, from what I've watched (and now understand) of "The Death Ray", I rate it a minor classic.
written: 1/27/2003