His Excellency (1928 film)

His Excellency (Russian: Его превосходительство, romanizedYego 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 5 May 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

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On the eve of 1 May 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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ James Hoberman (1 March 2000). The Red Atlantis: Communist Culture in the Absence of Communism. Temple University Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN 1566397677.
  2. ^ "Seeds of Freedom," Variety, 11 September 1929
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His Excellency at IMDb