Inside Russia

After a narrated introduction suggesting that Rudolf Hess traveled to London to persuade the British to join forces with the Nazis against Russia, the film presents a visual tour of Russia, a country encompassing two continents, several different climates and whose varied inhabitants speak more than one hundred and fifty languages and dialects. In Moscow, monuments to Russian writers including Pushkin, Gorky and Tolstoy, and musicians Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninoff are shown and the theatrical district is visited. Other famous sights such as the Moscow Art Theater, the House of the Unions, the Cathedral of Assumption built in 1475, the thirty-eight ton Czar cannon and the Kremlin are seen. The Mausoleum of Lenin stands against the adjoining Kremlin wall in Red Square. The narrator relates that many great estates once owned by the wealthy have been converted into educational centers and orphanages. English is the most frequently taught foreign language in many of these Russian schools. The narrator comments that, although Russians prefer American-made machinery, their goal is to increase their own manufacturing capabilities. The hiring of women to work in factories to meet this goal has led to the establishment of large nurseries at each plant. Nighttime entertainment is seen, including several different dances, chess games and concerts. At Tolstoy's home, a dictaphone presented to the author by Thomas Edison is viewed. The next stop is the commercial center of Kharkov, 350 miles south in the Ukraine, which was founded early in the seventeenth century and is the home of Kharkov University. The film then proceeds to the industrial center of Nizhni Novgorod, now called Gorki. Located at the junction of the Oka and Volga Rivers, it has been an important trading center since the eleventh century. The tour continues by river boat to Kazan, the capital of the Tartar Republic, where the Tartar Tower of Sumbeka is displayed. From there, the film proceeds by boat down the Volga to Stalingrad. Along the way, villages populated by the descendants of German colonists, granted land by Katherine the Great, are passed. In industrial Stalingrad, a large tractor plant created with the help of American workers and engineers is seen and the cobblestone beaches are visited. Collective farms in the North Caucasian Steppes are the next stop. A typical Caucasian village is passed. The narrator explains that a method of grain farming was introduced in 1921 by American workers who settled in the Northern Caucasus and established a farm called the Seattle Commune. The Valley of Narzan, noted for its curative waters, is viewed from the top of the Caucasian Mountains, which separate Europe and Asia. Scenic landscapes including Mount Elbrus, Mount Kazbek and Daryal Pass are shown. The narrator notes that this area is populated by the Georgians, among the earliest converts to Christianity, and that according to Greek legend, Prometheus was punished for stealing fire by being chained in these mountains. Mitchet, the capital of old Georgia, is next on the itinerary. According to the narrator, its citizens claim that it was founded by one of Noah's sons. The tour then continues down the Georgian Military Highway, past a hydro-electric power plant to Tbilisi, which is noted for its hot sulphur springs, and on to the oil city of Baku on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. The narrator comments that after American methods were introduced, Baku became the third largest oil field in the world. More farms and the ruins of the Temple of Bagrat are seen. Other Black Sea towns visited are Kutaisi, the industrial town of Tviguly, Gagri, which has the warmest climate on the Russian sea coast, Sukhumi and Batumi, where a celebration of the unveiling of young women by the Adjarian Women's Club is observed. Next scenes are shown from the Crimea, known as the Black Sea Paradise, and Yalta, where many villas and gardens are surveyed. Next the ruins of the city of Chufut Kalsh are visited. Pictures of Bakhohisarai, the capital of the Khans and nearby ruins and cave towns are shown. Finally, the tour returns to the Ukraine, through which flows the Dnieper, the fourth largest river in Europe. Footage of the large dam across the Dnieper, which was designed by Russian engineer Alexandrov with the help of American engineers, and machinery is shown. The tour ends with a return to Kharkov. The narrator observes that Kharkov's new development "symbolizes the ambition and stamina that is the--New Russia."