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A chess fanatic is in danger of losing his lover because of his obsession with the game. This is a fast-paced short comedy, filmed during a Moscow tournament and featuring a gallery of world champion chess players. Pudovkin, though committed to the Bolshevik aesthetics predominant in 1920’s Russian cinema, was also a fan of early American comic cinema and the influence of Hollywood shows in much of the exaggerated action in “Chess Fever”. While the absent-minded hero of the film debates choosing between love or chess, his forever suffering girlfriend finds herself trapped in a city where everyone seems to be playing chess. This video version of this silent classic has a new soundtrack especially composed for the film in 1993 by Roger White.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
304813
Language
Russian
Audience classification
G
Sound/audio
Silent
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)