The Cigarette Girl of Mosselprom

The Cigarette Girl of Mosselprom

1924 silent Soviet film Directed by Yuri Zhelyabuzhsy released Kino on DVD. The items listed in quotes are titles from the film. Restored by the Cinematheque De Toulouse.

The story start as an American business man Oliver MacBright (M. Tsibulski) flies to Moscow (great aerial shots of the city) to oversee some of his business interests. Then the scene shifts to an office where Maria Ivanovna Rybstova (A. Dmokhovskaia) a secretary who is “hungry for a husband”. She works with an accounting assistant, Nikodim Mityushin (Igor Ilinski) “schooled in Romance languages”. He sits at his desk writing a love letter. The scene then shifts back to Oliver landing at the airport. The scene then shifts to the streets of Moscow. A motion picture cameraman, A. A. Latugin (N. Tsereteli) is working for a director (L. Baratov) “prior to filming was always a bit anxious”. The cigarette girl is Zina Vesenina (J. Solntseva). She has a large box which she sells cigarettes on the street. The American buys the cigarettes with American dollars. After work Maria walks home with Mityushin who ditches her along he way. “Smitten by the charming cigarette girl, Mityushin purchased a pack every day.” The director and crew film in the street. The director has Zina stand in the corner of the shot as an extra. The cameraman looks at Zina and forgets to crank the camera. Back home Mityushin “carefully guarded all the cigarettes he had bought”. He has piles and piles of cigarette boxes. He does not smoke. A man comes to see him and takes a cigarette and lights one and Mityushin lights one for himself. He coughs and when the man leaves he gets rid of the cigarette. Disoriented he and he the hallway sway back and forth and he ends up in Maria’s room on his knees hugging her waist. “I’ve waited so long for this moment” Maria states. Mityushin makes a comment (no title card but it is clearly on his face) and Maria who was washing dishes throws dish soap bubbles in his face and pushes him out of the apartment.

The Latugin sees the footage of Zina and tries to get the director to hire her. He grudgingly agrees. Mityushin goes to the candy store and buys a box of candy and has is love note into the box and then the box is wrapped in brown paper. Latugin goes to Zina on the street and states “Would you like to make a movie?” She agrees and goes with him to the studio. Mityushin looks for her but can’t find her. At the studio Zina has a small role of a cigarette girl in a film and is given a bigger part. She goes home to practice. Latugin comes to her house to help her rehearse. Mityushin goes back to work. He pretends to be ill so he can leave the office to find Zina. While rehearsing Zina decides to become an actress and returns her cigarette box. Mityushin waits around her street waiting for Zina. It starts to rain and Mityushin decides to go back to the office. At the office he gives the sodden package to Maria. Mityushin forgot about the note and tries to find away to say it is a mistake it is not for her when Maria states “congratulate us. We’re engaged!” At the studio Zina is struggling. The next we see her she is standing at a bridge looking down. Mityushin walking with Maria sees her. Zina climbs over the railing and jumps in the water. Mityushin runs down the pathway to the water followed by Maria. He goes into the water and swims to where she is bobbing in the water. It is only a dummy with a wig. Mityushin then struggles in the water and has to be rescued. Maria who had only made it a few inches in the water is very upset. Finally Mityushin is brought to shore where Zina runs to him. Maria pushes Zina aside and then faints once she realizes he is alright. Zina and Latugin take Mityushin home. The director is dragged from the shore by Maria. He then takes her home and he likes how she looks. At Mityushin’s apartment Zina sees the stacks of cigarette boxes and realizes who Mityushin is. She puts the flower from her dress on the boxes.

The director does not like how much time and how close the cameraman and are. Zina is disrupting the set. The director gets Latugin reassigned to a new project, filming everyday life in Moscow. Through an interpreter the American tells Zina “a woman with your face and figure could quite easily earn a fortune” to which she takes as offensive. Back at the office Mityushin is writing a script “The Forgotten Flower” a cinematic tragedy. The next day Latugin goes on his new assignment and Zina is with him. Mityushin goes to the office and walks across the street through a carriage (the driver bounces up and down with the movement but does not wake) and into the office door at 5 minutes after 9. When confronted by the boss he states “it is terribly difficult balancing my efforts as a creative writer with the trifling duties of a desk clerk.” He sits at his desk and works on his cinematic tragedy. When he gets writers block he tries to play out the story with his coworkers. The boss having enough of this fires him. Mityushin finishes his story and takes it to the studio, where they laugh at his story and throw him out. At the studio he sees Zina. She convinces the American to hire him as a writer since he knows English. The American reiterates “a woman with your face and your figure could earn an awful lot of money.” Zina is at the studio to see a preview of the everyday life of Moscow by Latugin. It is a lovely film of Moscow city and parks with Zina as the star. A “living landscape” Latugin calls the story. The backers disagree and fire both Latugin and Zina. Latugin states he did it for her and she walks away.

Mityushin has become secretary to the American. Zina writes the American a letter that “scruples are a luxury a poor young woman cannot afford”. Mityushin sees the letter and gets upset. Mityushin goes to a bar and gets drunk. Latugin goes to see Zina to beg her forgiveness and tells her he loves her. Mityushin drunk, sees the two of them kiss but more upset that she has offered herself to the American. In the apartment Mityushin calls her a hussy and Latugin defends her. Mityushin gives Latugin the letter. Latugin leaves and becomes a street photographer. Zina becomes a kept woman. They all meet at the races but pretend they don’t see each other. Mityushin follows Zina into a dress shop. At the shop he sees a woman in a box and thinks that Zina has been murdered. He runs to the police station. Along the way he sees Latugin and they both go to the police. When they go back they find the box has already been taken to the station, which they follow. At the station the box is opened and it is a mannequin. At the station Zina decides to tell the American “she no longer works for him.” Mityushin goes to Maria and states “my life is in shambles” and gets down on his knees. She rejects him and he leaves. Mityushin back in his apartment starts playing a guitar and signing. Maria can’t stand it and tries to find a way to drown out the sound.

The American can’t sleep and requests Mityushin to come to his house “to carry out an important mission“. Mityushin is to be a “translator to help negotiate a delicate business affair“. The business affair is a dinner with Zina. The American asks Zina to marry him. She says no. Mityushin states “Wonderful. She refused.” and starts drinking from every cup on the table. The American accepting her response states “tell her that the most cherished souvenir I shall carry with me over the ocean is the memory of her face.” To which Mityushin translates “the traveling salesmen says ‘she has seduced me and profited from my money. She doesn’t bother to hid the fact that is a gold digger.’” Zina yells (no need for title cards to know what is said) and slaps the American then leaves. The two men fight and Mityushin falls out the window. The American takes Mityushin home. When they arrive Maria is being brought home by the director. She immediately goes to Mityushin. They kiss. The American leaves. Zina goes back to selling cigarettes. On the street the American, Mityushin and Maria pass Zina and ignore her. Latugin sees her and jumps out the trolley window. He runs to her. The police detain him for exiting out the window. He and Zina and a large group of people go to the police station. They show their papers, explain what happened and the desk sergeant let them go. They go to the marriage bureau with the same crowd following them. They get married. The film The Cigarette Girl of Mosselprom finally comes out and there are throngs of people to see the film. Most caring their own cigarette boxes. Zina and Latugin sit in a special box get a grand welcome. “Latugin had gotten what he wanted, Zina had become an actress, in the film that you just watched…” As Zina’s name and picture comes up, Mityushin reacts and Maria makes Mityushin take her home. The End.

Most Soviet/Russian films, whether silent or sound I don’t usually understand. This film just proves that comedy is universal. It is a charming romantic comedy. The music is good but it seems more fitting for a drama than a comedy. It makes the film a little darker in some places. The visuals of Moscow are stunning. The buildings and parks are views that are seldom seen. The film is fast paced, with a lot going on, yet easy to understand. The film is almost 2 hours long but there is not a slow spot in the film.