The Leper (film, 1936)

Premiere show in Poland - September 17, 1936 (Warsaw).

World premiere - December 30, 1936 (USA).

The nobleman Grigory Rudetsky, the owner of the estate in the province, is close to bankruptcy. When Edmund Protnitsky, a prudent businessman who has laid eyes on the dowry of his daughter Stefka (Stephanie), finds out about this, he only terminates the recently held engagement. Unhappy Stephanie, wanting to find solace after a love failure, leaves her father's house and leaves for Warsaw, where she finds work in the estate of the ordinate Valdemar Mikhorovsky, she was offered the position of governess for the education of the young girl Lucia, the cousin of Valdemar and the daughter of Baroness Idalia Elzhanovskaya, who also lives in the estate.

Between Stephanie and Waldemar, a feeling is born that in a short time develops into great love. However, conventions stand in the way of their happiness - relatives have already found him a rich bride, Melania Barskaya. A ball is planned at the Mikhorovsky estate, at which it was supposed to announce the engagement of the ordinate with Melania.

Meanwhile, Protnitsky also appeared on the estate, who had come as a trainee. And here he plans to realize his dream - to marry a money girl, this time choosing Lucia as such.

During the ball, Waldemar Mikhorovsky defiantly ignores Melania, who was scheduled for him in the bride, and dances all evening only with Stephanie, which plunges the assembled elite into a state of shock. And offended and humiliated by such a situation, Melania’s father, Count Barsky, throws the phrase to Waldemar: “They don’t easily enter our society. This person will always be a leper for us, ”after which he and his daughter leave without saying goodbye to the owners. However, at the same time, Melania, driving away from the estate, notices Stefania from the carriage, running into the guest house located on the estate and decides to follow her.

Stefania does not run into this house not on a date, but in order to protect her ward Lucia, whom Protnitsky made an appointment from, from rash actions. Having taken Lucia, she nonetheless loses the bracelet there, a gift from Valdemar. The bracelet is in the hands of Protnitsky, and Melania Barskaya, who was following what was happening, now knows about it.

Some time after the ball, at the family council, Waldemar announces that he wants to marry Stefania Rudetskaya. His grandmother, the head of the clan, Princess Podhoretskaya against, is supported by her and the rest of the gathered relatives. And only Prince Maciej Mikhorovsky gives Valdemar his blessing. He himself once could not resist the will of the family, married not in love, and all his life repenting of his weakness. Valdemar, having not received universal approval from the family clan, leaves the estate.

Stephanie is also leaving, having received a letter from her parents asking her to return home, for gossip about their daughter’s “inappropriate behavior” has also reached them. At home, she learns from her parents about family secrets - it was her grandmother who was engaged to Prince Matsey Mikhorovsky, it was her who he once loved, but married another, fulfilling the will of the family.

Princess Podhoretskaya, upon reflection, still agrees to her grandson’s marriage, but it’s too late, because at that time Stefanie was visited by the failed bride of Valdemar, Melania Barskaya, blackmailing her with a lost bracelet. Melania requires Stefanie to break with Valdemar, requires to forget him, otherwise she will publicize the alleged fact that Stefania met Protnitsky in the guest house, shaking her lost bracelet in front of her. And although this is not so, but Stefania gave the word to Lucia that she would not tell anyone about her meeting with Protnitsky. After the departure of Barskaya, Stefania could not stand the blow of fate and experienced a nervous breakdown, she becomes ill.

Valdemar rushing to her bed is crying by the side of her dying beloved.

• Director - Juliusz Gardan
• Producer - Jerzy Starchevsky
• Script writers - Juliusz Gardan , Jan Fetke
• Operator - Severin Steinwurzel
• Composer - Vladislav Eiger
• Artists - Stefan Norris, Jacek Rotmil
• Costume Designers - Gena Galevskaya, Maximilian Apfelbaum

• Elzbieta Barschevskaya - Stefania Rudetskaya
• Frantisek Brodnevich - Waldemar Mikhorovsky
• Mechislava Tsviklinskaya - Idalia Elzhanovskaya, Baroness
• Stanislava Vysotskaya - Podhoretskaya, Princess
• Tamara Vishnevskaya - Lucia, daughter of Elzhanovskaya
• Zofia Lindorf - Rita
• Irena Malkevich - Melania, the daughter of Barsky
• Wanda Yarshevskaya - Tsviletskaya, Countess
• Alina Halskaya - Rudetskaya
• Maria Divinevichuvna - daughter of Tsviletskaya
• Kazimierz Youth-Stempovsky - Maciej Mikhorovsky, Prince
• Vaclav Pavlovsky - Prontitsky
• Jozef Wengzhin - Rudetsky
• Vladislav Grabovsky - Cod, Count
• Zygmunt Khmelevsky - Barsky, Count
• Ludwik Fritzsche - valet
• Jozef Zeydowski - Doctor

Actors Jozef Wengzhin and Ludwig Fritzsche, performers of roles in this version of The Leper, also played in the first (silent, 1926) film adaptation, with Wengzhin playing the same role as Radetzky.

The last pre-war and the second of four adaptations of the famous novel by Elena Mnishek. This is undoubtedly ^[1] one of the best Polish films of the time; it was warmly received by the audience and critics. For Elzhbeta Barshchevskaya, this was only the second appearance on the screen, but a turning point for her entire career - it was after the success of this film, the actress that is called “woke up a star” ^[1] .

• Ordinat Mikhorovsky / Ordynat Michorowski ( Poland , 1937 , directed by Henrik Sharo, in the role of Waldemar Mikhorovsky - Frantisek Brodnevich ). The actors are almost the same, except, of course, Elzbieta Barshchevskaya , as her heroine dies in the first film. The film is weaker, less successful, and Waldemar Mikhorovsky is already in the background here, the main passions in the sequel develop around his cousin Lucia, two of her admirers are fighting (in the literal sense - in a duel) for her hand and heart. By the way, the sequel to The Leper has its own remake - the television play Ordinate Mikhorovsky ( Poland , 1970 , director Ryszard Zawidowski).

• The Leper ( Poland , 1926 , directors: Edward Puchelsky, Boleslav Mezheevsky; in the role of Stephanie - Jadwig Smosarska , in the role of Waldemar Mikhorovsky - Boleslav Mezheevsky) - the film did not survive .
• The Leper (Poland, 1976, directed by Jerzy Hoffmann , in the role of Stefanie Rudecki - Elzbiet Starostetskaya , in the role of Waldemar Mikhorovsky - Leszek Teleszyński ).
• Leper (TV series, Poland , 2000 , directors: Wojciech Ravecki, Krzysztof Lang; in the role of Stephanie Radecka - Anita Sokolovskaya, in the role of Waldemar Mikhorovsky - Tomas Mandes).

• " Leper » on the Internet Movie Database
• Film description on filmweb.pl ( pl )
• Description of the film on the site polskifilm.ru ( ru )