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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 876

Don Diego and Pelagia

192858 minSoviet Union
DramaComedy

Synopsis

A stationmaster absorbed in heroic adventure stories becomes the object of local women's laughter. Embarrassed, he asserts his authority by enforcing a railway rule against an elderly peasant who cannot get away quickly enough. A minor crossing of the tracks becomes a criminal case, exposing the distance between his imagined nobility and the harm caused by his official power.

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Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: Russian.
This copy runs
58:08
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: Russian. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · «Межрабпом-Русь» · Public domain

Cast

DirectorsYakov Protazanov

Historical context

Protazanov's satire follows a bureaucratic injustice from wounded vanity to punishment. The fantasy name Don Diego stands against Pelagia's ordinary circumstances, emphasizing whose life bears the cost of the official's performance.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceWikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

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