(2 of 2)
Three scenes are represented from Dostoievsky's prodigious novel The Brothers Karamazof. In the first Moskvin expresses with astonishing poignancy the mental agony of a weak and inadequate soul after an insult from the drunken Dmitry. In the last Katchalof gives the first complete expression to the power which makes him the greatest of Russian Hamlets. He is alone on the stage for a quarter of an hour, as the half-mad Ivan, whose brother is being tried for the murder of his father, and who sees the whole world and its meaning sliding through his fingers.
The second selection from The Brothers Karamazof consists in a colloquy between the saintly Karamazof brother and the neurotic cripple, Lise (Lydia Korenieva), a brilliant interpretation of a mind running wild.
In The Lady from the Provinces the Russians begin unexpectedly looking on the bright side of things. It is an uproarious and not very distinguished comedy by Turgenieff It varies between slapstick farce and French light comedy. Mme. Olga Knipper-Tchekova and Mr. Stanislawski appear as the coy wife of a provincial official and the goutily affectionate nobleman whom she makes a fool of quite adequately.
John Corbin: ". . . . new triumphs of their art."
Alan Dale: ". . . . another touch of artistic paprika."