"Chess Fever/By The Law"
1925-26
Directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin/Lev Kuleshov

Chess Fever (28 mins.), Pudovkin's first film, is the story of a young chess fanatic (Vladimir Fogel) who misses his wedding appointment. This sends his fiancee, Vera (Anna Zemtsova, a.k.a. Mrs. Vsevolod Pudovkin), into a frustrated rage and she ends their engagement. As the couple contemplates suicide, a chemist (Yakov Protazanov) plays a trick on Vera, drawing her into the world of chess and reuniting her with her fiance. By the Law (90 mins.), Lev Kuleshov's great film--and one of the most important of the silent Soviet period--is set in Alaska, where two men are killed in a remote cabin, and the killer is condemned by his two companions. 118 minutes.