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The Girl with the Hat Box

192767 minSoviet Union
ComedyRomance

Synopsis

A hat maker travels between her grandfather's home and a Moscow shop whose owner is pretending to rent her a room. To help a homeless student, she agrees to a marriage that gives him a claim to the space. A lottery ticket accepted as wages unexpectedly becomes valuable, pulling money, housing and courtship into the same comic predicament.

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Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: Russian.
This copy runs
68:04
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 · Boris Barnnet · Public domain

Cast

DirectorsBoris Barnet

Historical context

The Soviet finance authorities commissioned the comedy to promote government bonds. Barnet turns that practical assignment into a story about precarious housing and the uncertain value of money during the New Economic Policy.

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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