Alexander Popov (film)

Alexander Popov
Alexander Popov
Directed by	Herbert Rappaport; Viktor Eisymont
Written by	Alexander Razumovsky
Starring	Nikolai Cherkasov; Yefim Kopelyan; Aleksandr Borisov; Bruno Freindlich; Yury Tolubeyev; Osip Abdulov
Cinematography	Anatoli Nazarov; Yevgeni Shapiro
Production; company	Lenfilm
Release date	1949;
Running time	87 minutes
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

Alexander Popov (Russian: Александр Попов) is a 1949 biographical drama film directed by Herbert Rappaport about the life and work of Alexander Stepanovich Popov, who was a notable physicist and electrical engineer and an early developer of radio communication.

Plot

Alexander Popov collaborates with Pyotr Rybkin (portrayed by Alexander Borisov), who is studying the electromagnetic theory of light. Together, they conduct experiments that lead to the invention of the wireless telegraph, a device they use to save the lives of sailors trapped in Arctic ice under the command of Admiral Makarov (played by Konstantin Skorobogatov).

However, Popov's journey is fraught with challenges. Alongside supportive colleagues, he faces unscrupulous individuals seeking to exploit scientific breakthroughs for personal gain. The invention's patent is ultimately secured by Marconi, forcing Russia to purchase devices from abroad for years. Despite offers from foreign institutions, Popov remains a patriot, reflecting the integrity and moral principles that make him a figure of admiration and respect.

Role as propaganda film

Along with Grigori Roshal's Ivan Pavlov, which came out that same year, Alexander Popov was among the first in a series of patriotic biographical films produced in the Soviet Union which aimed to prove the superiority of Russian and Soviet science and art over that of the West.^[1]

The films acknowledges the Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi, but makes no mention of Nikola Tesla, whose work paved the way for Popov's inventions. This obscuring of American achievements is in line with other Russian Cold War-era films.^[2]

Cast

Nikolay Cherkasov as Aleksandr Stepanovich Popov
Aleksandr Borisov as Rybkin
Konstantin Skorobogatov as Admiral Makarov
Ilya Sudakov as Mendeleyev
Yuriy Tolubeev as Petrushevsky
Vladimir Chestnokov as Lyuboslavsky
Kseniya Blagoveshchenskaya as Raisa Alekseevna
Leonid Vivyen as Tyrtov
Bruno Freindlikh as Marconi
Osip Abdulov as Isaacs

Awards

In 1951, Cherkasov, Skorobogatov, Freindlich, and Borisov received the Stalin Prize of the 2nd degree for their work on Alexander Popov.^[3]

References

^ Liehm, Mira; Liehm, Antonín J. (1977). The Most Important Art: Soviet and Eastern European Film After 1945. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-520-04128-8.
^ Kozovoi, Andrei (2014). "The Cold War and Film". In Kalinovsky, Artemy M.; Daigle, Craig (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of the Cold War. London and New York: Routledge. p. 341. ISBN 978-1-134-70065-3.
^ Alexander Popov at kino-teatr.ru

External links

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[1] Liehm, Mira; Liehm, Antonín J. (1977). The Most Important Art: Soviet and Eastern European Film After 1945. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-520-04128-8.

[2] Kozovoi, Andrei (2014). "The Cold War and Film". In Kalinovsky, Artemy M.; Daigle, Craig (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of the Cold War. London and New York: Routledge. p. 341. ISBN 978-1-134-70065-3.

[3] Alexander Popov at kino-teatr.ru

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