The Arrival of April. Part II
More Films Come to Minsk
Things turned to the exotic on April 12, 1923, when the Red Star cinema showed Plennitsa Arabskogo Sheykha (Aziade) (The Arab Sheikh's Captive [Aziyadé]) (1918) 1. The film was also known as In the Harem Against Her Will.2
Mihail Mordkin and Margarita Froman in the ballet "Aziadé," staged by Mordkin,
Source: Published by Brentano's, NY, 1922 — The Russian Theatre by Sayler, Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11876733
"Aziadé" poster from Letterboxd.
Source: https://letterboxd.com/film/aziade/
On April 15, the Kultura cinema advertised a movie about a horse named Emir, Tsirkovoy Chert (The Circus Devil) (1917).3
Film poster for Emir, the Circus Horse.
Source: https://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/stampe/schede/6x010-01792/
Because what is the use of having a cinema if you cannot show a movie about a circus horse?
And here is Emir, himself (on the left).
Source: https://ilcinemaritrovato.it/film/emir-cavallo-da-circo/
The Spartak advertised on April 18 that it would show Net, Ne Vinoven (No, He is Not Guilty).4 The advertisement claims the film starred Maria Orska. We can find her, but not information on the film under this title.
Maria Orska.
Source: Arnold Mocsigay, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Maria Orska on the cover of the Viennese magazine "Die Bühne".
Source: https://www.flaneurin.at/grandios-maria-orska/
Two other films we cannot track were advertised on April 18. The Red Star advertised Dama Kluba (The Women’s Club), which the ad said starred Esperia. This was almost certainly the Italian diva Hespiria. We found nothing in her filmography that matches The Women’s Club. There was also the actress Esperia Sperani, born 1903, whom we believe would likely have been too young to have a lead role in this film.
The other April 18 film was Tayna Komnaty №7 (The Mystery of Room Number 7),5 screened at the Kultura. The film is as mysterious as the room. We can find nothing on it.
Vera Kholodnaya demonstrated her popularity, despite having died 5 years earlier, when the Internatsional advertised Na Altar' Krasoty (The Altar of Beauty) (1917) on April 18.6 By the next day, the film was at the Kultura, too.7 This is the first instance we found of two theaters showing the same film at the same time.
On the Altar of Beauty. Poster from KinoTeatr.ru
Source: https://www.kino-teatr.ru/kino/movie/empire/12513/annot/
Also on April 19, the 1918 German film Zheltyy Bilet (The Yellow Ticket), with Pola Negri, was advertised at the Grotesk.8
Film poster for Der Gelbe Schein. By Josef Fenneker.
Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157534/mediaviewer/rm2056209153/
Note the difference between the presentation and name on the German poster and the American poster. They are the same movie.
The Yellow Ticket (German: Der Gelbe Schein), also known as The Devil's Pawn, 1918.
Source: Paramount Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
On April 21, the Red Star and the Kultura both screened Sten'ka razin [Stenka Razin].9 There were two versions by this time. We presume this is the 1914 production and not the 1908 film.
Film poster for Stenka Razin, 1914.
Source: Peter Mosyagin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Now we have seen that Vera Kholodnaya’s The Altar of Beauty, and the 1914 version Stenka Razin were both in multiple theaters at the same time. That prompts a question. Were the films that popular or were there just not enough films to go around in Minsk?”
On April 24, the Internatsional ran I Gore i Radost' [And Sorrow and Joy] while at the same time the Kultura advertised a “change in pictures.”10 By the 28th, the Kultura had added And Sorrow and Joy. So, for the third time in a month, two theaters were running the same picture.11 While there is no film listed with that original title, the naming of Mia May and Joseph Conradi as performers identifies this film as Nebel und Sonne [Fog and Sun] from 1916.12
On April 26, came Nabat [Alarm] (1917) with Vera Karalli at the Red Star.13
Vera Karalli (the one on the far left) a.o. in Nabat, 1917. Russian postcard.
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/truusbobjantoo/28603080827
Also on April 26, the Spartak advertised Tayna Sada (The Mystery of the Garden].14 The Spartak called it an Italian film but we can find no record of it. On the same day, the Grotesk was running the Russian film Net Schast'ya na Zemle (No Happiness on Earth)(1922).15
The month ended with Riskovyy Shag (A Risky Move), which the Spartak advertised as “an American picture.”16 In reality, the film was a 1918 British production entitled A Fortune at Stake. We know that because the advertisement says the film starred Violet Hopson as Lady Lancelot (or Launcelot).17
Violet Hopson.
Source: Hepworth Stock Company, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
1 Plennitsa Arabskogo Sheykha (Aziade) [Пленница арабского шейха (Азиадэ); The Arab Sheikh's Captive (Aziyadé)]. Zvezda, 84 (1386) 12 Apr. 1923.
2 Morley, Rachel. Performing Femininity: Woman as Performer in Early Russian Cinema. I.B. Tauris 2017. p. 277.
3 Tsirkovoy Chert [Цирковой черт; The Circus Devil]. Zvezda, 87 (1389) 15 Apr. 1923.
4 Net, ne vinoven [Нет, не виновен; No, He is Not Guilty]. Zvezda, 89 (1391) 18 Apr. 1923.
5 Dama kluba [Дама клуба; The Women’s Club]. Zvezda, 89 (1391) 18 Apr. 1923.
6 Tayna Komnaty no. 7 [Тайна комнаты no. 7; The Mystery of Room Number 7]. Zvezda, 89 (1391) 18 Apr. 1923.
7 Na Altar' Krasoty [На алтарь красоты; The Altar of Beauty]. Zvezda, 90 (1392) 19 Apr. 1923.
8 Zheltyy Bilet [Желтый билет; The Yellow Ticket]. Zvezda, 90 (1392) 19 Apr. 1923.
9 Sten'ka Razin [Стенька Разин; Stenka Razin]. Zvezda, 92 (1394) 21 Apr. 1923.
10 I Gore i Radost' [И горе и радость; And Sorrow and Joy]. Zvezda, 98 (1400) 28 Apr. 1923.
11 I Gore i Radost' [И горе и радость; And Sorrow and Joy]. Zvezda, 98 (1400) 28 Apr. 1923.
12 “Fog and Sun”. Filmportal.de https://www.filmportal.de/film/nebel-und-sonne_6043feff8ab44979ba6f060f3f7db862 Accessed 23 Jul. 2026 (English page).
13 Nabat [Набат; Alarm]. Zvezda, 96 (1398) 26 Apr. 1923.
14 Tayna Sada [Тайна сада; The Mystery of the Garden]. Zvezda, 96 (1398) 26 Apr. 1923.
15 Net Schast'ya na Zemle [Нет счастья на земле; No Happiness on Earth]. Zvezda, 96 (1398) 26 Apr. 1923.
16 Riskovyy Shag [Рисковый шаг; A Risky Move]. Zvezda, 98 (1400) 28 Apr. 1923.
17 “A Fortune at Stake“. BFI Film and TV Database. Archived at Internet Archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090924124213/http:/ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/62007 Accessed 23 Jul 2026.