Boris Barnet-Devushka s korobkoy ('Girl with the Hat Box') (1927)

The Girl with the Hat Box established Barnet's reputation. The charming Anna (Anna Sten) works in a hat shop, sharing her small apartment with a penniless student. A supposedly worthless lottery ticket from her employer turns into a gold mine, leading to a madcap chase for the ticket - and her love. (-DVD Product Info.)




Natasha and her grandfather live in a cottage near Moscow, making hats for Madame Irène. Madame and her husband have told the housing committee that Natasha rents a room from them; this fiddle gives Madame's lazy husband a room for lounging. The local railroad clerk, Fogelev, loves Natasha but she takes a shine to Ilya, a clumsy student who sleeps in the train station. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0017809/plotsummary)




To help Ilya, Natasha marries him and takes him to Madame's to live in the room the house committee thinks is hers. Meanwhile, Madame's husband pays Natasha with a lottery ticket he thinks is a loser, and when it comes up big, just as Ilya and Natasha are falling in love, everything gets complicated (http://imdb.com/title/tt0017809/plotsummary)




As it happens with his compatriot Evgenii Bauer, Barnet is one of the most unknown and great Russian filmmakers. Of course he passed several seasons in hell, because of the "stalinism" but the average quality of a quite long career is high enough to consider him a master. This is his funniest movie, a delightful, almost screwball comedy played with that old charm and grace that only in silent cinema you can find. Far from politics, socialism and - the great mother Russia that will grow us all- "The girl..." follows the traces of DeMille, La Cava and Lubitsch. Moscow seems even a great city to live, with his problems, but human. Some hilarious moments and laughs assured. Marvellous feature (http://imdb.com/title/tt0017809/usercomments)