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MISS MEND
An Adventure Serial in Three Parts
$34.95 ($39.95)
Flicker Alley, in collaboration with Blackhawk Films and Turner Classic Movies, is proud to present the astonishing Miss Mend, a 1926 three-part serial / adventure film from Soviet directors Boris Barnet and Fedor Ozep.Widely regarded by the official Soviet press of the time as a prime example of shameless “Western-style” entertainment, the serial was nevertheless hugely popular, becoming one of the most successful Soviet films of the 1920s. Miss Mend is an energetic, fast-moving serial which opens a window on the phenomenon of Soviet Americanism and reveals a little-known side of early Soviet cinema. This new edition was mastered in high definition from superb original 35mm elements produced by David Shepard and Jeffery Masino, with digital restoration and editing being carried out by Eric Lange of Lobster Films, Paris. Featuring a “dream cast” of 1920s Soviet films stars and special bonus features by film historians Ana Olenina and Maxim Pozdorovkin.
About
MISS MEND
Miss Mend: An Adventure Serial in Three Parts by Boris Barnet & Fedor Ozep / 1926 / 285 min. / B&W / Tinted / Silent / Sound / 1:33:1
Miss Mend, an action-packed adventure serial in three feature-length episodes, was produced in Russia with the goal of rivaling, and possibly even surpassing, the most entertaining American movies of the 1920s. Instead of the avant-garde works of Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov, Russian audiences were enchanted by fast-moving American films starring serial queens like Pearl White, swashbuckling heroes like Douglas Fairbanks, and comedians from the Keystone Cops to Lloyd, Keaton and Chaplin.
Miss Mend meets them all head-on and hardly stops for breath. It features beautiful location photography, impressive stunt scenes; horse, car and boat chases, radio towers, jazz bands and even a spectacular train wreck, interspersed with visual references to German film classics like Nosferatu, Caligari and Dr. Mabuse, The film’s heroine, Vivian Mend, is an elegant urban professional who earns her own living and raises a child without the help of any man. But the film, partially set in an imagined America where everything is new and progressive (from technology to social relations and lifestyles) also includes a few more-than-pointed comments on labor relations, racism, excessive wealth, gratuitous violence and even rape.
Bonus Features
MISS MEND
On the Disc: Miss Mend: A Whirlwind Vision of an Imagined America - A brand new, 25-minute documentary exploring the creative forces and cultural influences behind Miss Mend
Also on the Disc: The Music Behind Miss Mend: The Invisible Orchestra - Go behind the scenes of Robert Israel’s brilliant new score in a new, 15-minute documentary featuring the actual Miss Mend recording sessions
Booklet: Miss Mend and Soviet Americanism – A new booklet essay by historians Ana Olenina and Maxim Pozdorovkin
Images
MISS MEND
Mikhail Zharov as Gordon Stern in Miss Mend Part One
Vladimir Vogel as Fogel rescuing Miss Mend from danger in Miss Mend Part Two
Igor Illyinsky as Tom Hopkins in Miss Mend Part Two
Plot Revealed: Natalya Glen as Miss Vivian Mend and Boris Barnet as Barnet in Miss Mend Part Three
Natalya Rozenel as Elizabeth Stern in Miss Mend Part Three
Sergei Komarov as the evil capitalist, Chiche, inside his lab of death
Ivan Koval-Samborsky as Arthur Stern and Natalya Glan as Miss Vivian Mend in Miss Mend Part Three
A Russian sailor risks his life in trying to get Chiche to the Russian ship, Torpedo
Mikhail Zharov as Gordon Stern imprisoned in suspended animation by capitalist, Chiche
Sergei Komarov as Chiche reflected in the glass bottles of his "death lab."
