The Vow (Klyatva) DVD (1946, Directed by M. Chiaurelli starring M. Gelovani)

“People like Lenin do not die,” Stalin proclaims.  “He is alive, and he will live forever amongst us!” 

A Bolshevik peasant from Tsaritsyn, Georgia, sets out to deliver a letter to Comrade Lenin but is murdered by rampaging kulaks. His widow takes the missive to Gorki Mansion, where Lenin has just died. She gives the letter to Comrade Stalin, who vows to bring hydroelectric dams, factories, and tractors to the USSR. But Hitler brings war to the Soviet Union!  

Mikhail Chiaureli’s propagandistic The Vow (Klyatva) is a Georgian love letter to Joseph Stalin, incorporating the Red Army’s victory over the Germans at Stalingrad into the thematic thrust of industrialization. This greatest of all Stalin personality-cult pictures was released in July 1946 and seen by over 20 million Soviet citizens. Mikhail Gelovani’s performance as Stalin was almost godlike, and it earned him a coveted Stalin Prize. Later films glorified the dictator, but none matched the power of The Vow until Gelovani reprised his role in Chiaureli’s gorgeous Agfacolor epic, The Fall of Berlin (Padenie Berlina, 1950). The Vow was never shown after Stalin died in 1953, and in 1956 it was banned forever.  

Directed by M. Chiaureli.  Starring M. Gelovani, S. Giatsintova, N. Bogolyubov, A. Gribov. 

USSR, 1946. B&W, 113 Minutes   Russian dialogue, English subtitles. Digitally remastered from 35mm print for superb quality.

 DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Original Promotional Materials Slideshow: Posters and Stills

Libraries and Institutions Please Note: Educational Editions with PUBLIC PERFORMANCE RIGHTS and DIGITAL SITE LICENSES are available

NTSC Region 0 encoding (Entire World)