The Chess Player

1938 ""

The Chess Player

6.5 | 1h10m | en | Drama

A toymaker in Poland specializes in building lifesize mechanical men. He builds a chess-playing "automaton" to hide a pretty young Polish activist who is being hunted by occupying Russian forces.

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6.5 | 1h10m | en | Drama , History | More Info

Released: November. 25,1938 | Released Producted By: Compagnie Française Cinématographique (CFC) , Country: Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:

Synopsis

A toymaker in Poland specializes in building lifesize mechanical men. He builds a chess-playing "automaton" to hide a pretty young Polish activist who is being hunted by occupying Russian forces.

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Cast

Françoise Rosay , Conrad Veidt , Bernard Lancret

Director

Lucien Aguettand

Producted By

Compagnie Française Cinématographique (CFC) ,

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Trailers & Images

Cast

Françoise Rosay

as Catherine II

Don't Take God's Children for Wild Geese The Full Treatment The Sound and the Fury Me and the Colonel The Seven Deadly Sins The Red Inn September Affair Saraband for Dead Lovers The Chess Player

Conrad Veidt

as Le baron de Kempelen

Above Suspicion Casablanca All Through the Night Nazi Agent Whistling in the Dark A Woman's Face Contraband The Thief of Bagdad A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound

Bernard Lancret

as Le prince Serge Oblonsky

That Naughty Girl Julietta Foolish Husbands The Chess Player Ultimatum Carnival in Flanders

Reviews

dbdumonteil The second version of a famous novel,the first one was made in the silent age .The special effects are successful for the time and the scene when the "baddie" is killed by an army of automatons deserves all your undivided attention even today.The automatons are the raison d'être of the movie which would be undistinguished without them ,considering the paucity of the screenplay: a young Polish Joan Of Arc (that's how her enemy calls her)wants her homeland to be free and to get rid of the Russian yoke .It was the time of Catherine The Second (played by Françoise Rosay who in her first appearance looks like a man) who is rather clever in Dreville's work ,quoting a French philosopher such as Voltaire and making a fool of her favorite Potemkine.The chess player scenes are well directed and the automaton(?)has something sinister about him.