In "Petersburg Nights" the Soviets have again produced a propaganda play, but with the all-is-bliss-in-the-Communist-state motif subdued sufficiently to eliminate boredom. Neither boring, nor gripping, this picture has its beauty in the Russian mode of presentation. The intense characterization and fascinating attention to detail make it an artistic masterpiece. Close-ups of the native physiognomy are numerous; the lorgnetted double-chinned dowager, the bewhiskered pre-Revolution land owner, and then the ardent young Nihilist and the inspired musician. In contradiction to the travelogues, Amkino Productions has found some hauntingly lovely Russian women.

The plot moves slowly due probably to the difficulty of adapting two of Dostoevski's lesser-known novels into the one film. Egor Efimov is the gifted violinist who will not prostitute his talent to the bourgeois ideas of the patrons of the arts. Although he wins the fiancee of Schultz, his money-grabbing, plagiarizing fellow musician, he ends in poverty, while Schultz cavorts in the salons of Europe. But there is no doubt in the minds of the audience that Egor will find appreciation for his realistic compositions in the revolt of the workingmen. Fortunately there is only one shot of troops ruthlessly suppressing revolution and that is well-done through suggestion.

Even the animated cartoons serve the purpose of the state in the Soviet Republic. But despite its glorification of the machine. "The Unlucky Truck", shown along with the main picture, is easily as amusing as Mickey Mouse. Then there is Professor Mather's third episode in his Geology series and also another elementary exposition of the symphony orchestra.