Les Ombres Qui Passent

Famous Russian screen actors play themselves in this drama about the lives of actors. Thirteen minutes of the film survive.

A conductor is haunted by hallucinations during a performance of Camille Saint-Saëns's Danse macabre.

Republic of Venice, 1760. Pursued by a vengeful husband, the intrepid womanizer Casanova, who symbolizes the decline of the city and its fall into debauchery, manages to escape and, by a circuitous route, arrives in Saint Petersburg, where he will be involved in the many plots that threaten the throne of Czar Peter III…

Film composed of 10 episodes: 1.- L'Ami felon. 2.- Le secret de L'etang. 3.- L'Ambition au service de la haine. 4.- L'Implacable verdict. 5.- Le Pont vivant. 6.- La Voix du sang. 7.- Les Caprices du destin. 8.- En Champ clos. 9.- Les Angoisses de Corradin. 10.- Le Triomphe de L'amour.

By 1820, Edmund Kean is the most admired Shakespearan actor. But if his art is peerless, his free lifestyle is ill thought of, particularly by the high society. Kean has fallen passionately in love with Countess Elena de Koefeld, the wife of the ambassador of Denmark. Elena loves him too but hesitates to give up her rank in society and follow Kean. On the other hand, Anna, a rich heiress who refuses to marry Lord Mewill, the husband chosen by her parents, confesses her love for Kean and decides to become an actress like him... The aristocrats, outraged by Edmund's profligate ways, decide to boycott his performances and his career is broken. Kean does not recover from such a blow and, on a stormy night, dies in Elena's arms.

Ivan Mozzhukhin is a "...hot-headed Caucasian mountaineer leader whose irrational behavior comes to the attention of the Czar . Hoping to use Hajji Murad as a go-between in his plans to conquer the Caucasus mountaineers, the Russian ruler finds that the hero is not so easily manipulated. Rescuing the beautiful Saira from the Czar's clutches, Hajji Murad leads the mountain people's revolt against the despotic regent." Needless to say, the film ends in tragedy.