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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 769

The Night Before Christmas

191341 minRussia

Synopsis

On Christmas Eve in a Ukrainian village, a devil steals the moon and joins a witch whose visitors must be hidden from one another. Her son Vakula faces a different problem: the woman he loves demands the tsarina's shoes. Discovering the devil gives the blacksmith an unexpected way to attempt the impossible errand.

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Video edition: Wikimedia Commons
Original language: No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: Russian.
This copy runs: 41:14
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 · Director: Wladyslaw Starewicz · Public domain

Cast

Ivan Mozzhukhin

Olga Obolenskaya

Lidiya Tridenskaya

P. Lopukhin

DirectorsLadislas Starevich

Inspirations

Starevich adapts Gogol's tale of village courtship, magic and comic reversals. Although the director is especially associated with animation, this production tells most of the story through live performers and visual effects.

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 reference Wikidata — 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.

Ivan Mozzhukhin — Unknown author Unknown author; Internet Archive · Public domain

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