British Pathe

Russian titles over cards with illustrations of galaxies and planets.

Great Universe - Educational Film. Screenplay: I. Kentarov. Director: F. Tyapkin. Operators: I. Vasileva I. Dmitrev A. Krilova. Sound Operator: A. Mashistov. Screenplay consultant: Winner of Lenin's Award, Professor S. Orlov....

Russian titles over cards with illustrations of galaxies and planets.

Great Universe - Educational Film. Screenplay: I. Kentarov. Director: F. Tyapkin. Operators: I. Vasileva I. Dmitrev A. Krilova. Sound Operator: A. Mashistov. Screenplay consultant: Winner of Lenin's Award, Professor S. Orlov. Consultant: Professor B. Voroncov-Velyaminov. Produced in Moscow's Red Star Medal awarded studio 'Voentehfilm' - 1945.

Drawing of the Sphinx at night under a starry sky. Stars twinkle and representations of the mythological figures which certain constellations have been assigned to are superimposed over the stars. Orion, Taurus and Canis Major are shown. An arrow is superimposed over the "Great Bear" pointing to the tail of the "Little Bear" - Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Voiceover gives instructions how to find Polar star by drawing an arrow with help of the two stars of Ursa Major constellation. A map of the earth has animated stars and planets moving across it. This changes into a representation of the star signs which in turn revolve around the earth - very pretty. A closer shot shows the star signs in more detail with the earth visible underneath. Voiceover explains poetic understanding of the Universe of the Ancient world.

Animation of planets showing the distance between Earth and our Sun - 150,000,000 km. Animation of light bursting out from the sun. Russian titles superimposed - Speed of Light 300,000 kilometres per second - It takes 8 minutes for light to travel from Sun to Earth. An aeroplane is superimposed on the scene with another title - Plane would take 30 years for the same distance. Animation of planets circling the sun. Animation of the sun. Various constellations are featured. Voiceover explains what constitutes Solar System and names Saturn the last planet in it.

Canis Major is shown with another Russian title. Sirius (nose of the dog) is the star closest to Solar System. Russian title reads 9 years - 9 Solar Years - distance from Earth. Orion is shown.

The Milky Way is seen from various angles. A portrait of Galileo - man who discovered it. More views of the Milky Way, Orion, Great Bear etc. Animation of a "camera pull back" where we get further away from the stars and deeper and deeper into the wider universe. The spiral galaxy which represents the end of the journey is animated to turn upside down. Animation of planets circling the sun. Arrow points to where the sun is to be found in this greater conglomeration of planets. Various weird shapes are animated in the black sky - other galaxies. Animation going back towards earth. Man operating large telescope. Back to animation - universe. End title reads 'End of Film'.

Note: two prints exist, check for best quality. One print has Russian soundtrack - This is a nice cheesy film!