[THE "CINEMA OF ATTRACTIONS" IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE, 1910–1916] Group of 125 broadsides and small posters for silent film theaters from the Russian Empire.

Russia, 1910–1916. Various sizes, both posters and single folded leaves with [4] pp. of text, attractively set in a variety of decorative typefaces and printed on different stock. Item #52546

A sizeable collection of 125 handbills, small posters, and advertising programs for silent film theaters across the Russian Empire, which captures the vibrant and changing film culture of pre-Revolutionary Russia, predominantly in Siberia and the far Eastern regions, with many of the posters produced in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, Ussuriisk, Irkutsk, Blagoveshchensk, Vladivostok, and even Harbin (modern-day China). They are printed on a variety of colored stock using a range of decorative fonts and were produced ca. 1910–1916.

The posters for “elektricheskii teatr” (electrical theater), also known as “elektrichka” and “illiuzion”, range from variety theatre programs to star-driven dramas and action films featuring Asta Nielsen, Max Linder, Ivan Mosjoukine, and Vera Orlova. Some of the playbills are illustrated with film scenes, while others include librettos, reviews, order of programming, and information about musical accompaniment by famous musicians. An estimated 90% of films from this early period were destroyed due to overuse and high flammability of the material, making playbills such as these the rare remaining sources of information.

The playbills also reflect the rapid changes in film culture, with the earliest fliers in the collection advertising variety shows featuring a mixture of live musical performances by folk and opera singers, interspersed with trick films, comic sketches, dance films, as well as travel panoramas. Later programs revolve around longer dramas, and include librettos, film reviews, and film stills, advertising foreign and domestic stars. Some fliers advertise film shows as fundraisers for orphans and the homeless, or for veterans of the Russo-Japanese war. Films were also used to raise public health awareness (Cholera epidemic), education (Röntgen rays), delivering news (Pathé journal), and political propaganda (Royal family attends Omsk parade). The latest flyer in the collection advertises a documentary compiled of battle scenes of WWI from 1914–1916.

Changes in exhibition practices are also evident from the collection. The earliest screenings were held in public spaces designed for other purposes, such as the buildings of the local General Assembly or House of Culture at Nikolaevsk-on-Amur. Most playbills in this collection were printed by the first regional theatres built explicitly for film, such as Teatr-illiusion “Progress” which opened in Omsk in 1909, or Тeatr Roganova “Grand Illiuzion” in Blagoveshchensk, which opened in 1899 and started showing moving pictures in 1908, with the opening of the first electrical station in the region. The later playbills advertise the theatre space as much as the films themselves, highlighting the foyer “lit by electrical lightbulbs,” and cafes offering refreshments and live music during intermission. Some brochures note that all intertitles will be in translation, while others ask the audience not to come in and out of the theatre during sound films.

A striking group documenting the early fascination with the motion picture in Imperial Russia. See also: Yuri Tsivian, Early Cinema in Russia and Its Cultural Reception (1991).

Price: €17,500.00

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