Nikolay Batalov: biography and roles in theater and cinema

Recently, a musical "Singing in the Rain" was staged in Russia. What does he have to do with actor Nikolai Batalov? The most direct, because there it is told about the actors of the silent cinema, who hardly work in the "talking film". And if one of the main heroines of the American musical suffers a fiasco, and she is called a doubler, then the artist Nikolai Batalov with honor overcame this test and starred in the first Soviet sound picture. Unfortunately, today only a few remember this talented artist who died early, and the overwhelming majority of spectators in general know nothing about his life or about his work.

Childhood and study

Who is Nikolai Batalov? His biography is the story of a talented person who lived and worked while at the same time fighting the insidious disease. He was born in Moscow in 1899. His parents were peasants from the Yaroslavl province, who came to the capital in search of a better life. They gave their son to the Trade School. Alexander the First. At the end of his studies, at the age of 16, Nikolai made an important decision to become an actor. To achieve this goal, he passed the exams and entered the School of Dramatic Art, which was soon transformed into the Second Studio.

Work in the theater

In 1916, Nikolai Batalov entered the Moscow Art Theater. He immediately attracted the attention of the audience, creating a touching image of Petit-bookbinder in the production of the play Ginaus Gippius "The Green Ring". Critics called his work on the images of Nechayev in Mladosti, Taras-Bryukhin in The Tale of Ivan the Fool, etc., also succeeded.

Together with the studio Batalov toured the country, during which the inhabitants of the province could see his play in the productions of the "Flood" by G. Berger and in the play-farce "Attorney Patlin" by David-Augustin Brues.

In the Moscow Art Theater, Nikolai Batalov met Mikhail Chekhov, who invited him as a partner on stage in his famous vaudeville "Pisho and Michaud". Of the serious roles of the artist in this theater should be noted and the image of the passionate Franz Moore in the "Robbers" Schiller, set BI Vershilov.

Nikolai Batalov took an active part in the "Sovietization" of the Moscow Art Theater. In particular, since 1925 he was part of the internal management of the theater. For some time he was in charge of the troupe. In addition, the actor participated in the first premiers of the Moscow Art Theater of the Soviet period and demanded that the works of the "old" -idealists be replaced and a new Art Theater built with a repertoire consistent with the slogans of the Bolshevik Party. Despite this, he happily took up the role of Figaro, in which the actor stepped onto the stage for the last time before the illness riveted him to bed.

Working in a silent movie

In 1923, Batalov was invited to shoot a fantastic picture of "Aelita" based on the novel by A. Tolstov, directed by Yakov Protazanov. He got the role of the Red Army soldier Gusev, with whom he coped well, although this was his first work in the cinema. After the premiere of the film in the press appeared rave articles, in which he was called the antipode to the "painted handsome" of Western cinema and that same actor who is able to translate the image of a Soviet man on the screen.

Two years after the loud premiere of "Aelita" the audience saw Nikolayev Batalov in the film "Mother" by Leonid Pudovkin, where he played Pavel Vlasov. This role has confirmed the actor in the role of a hero fighting for the rights of the working people.

Work in sound cinema

As already mentioned, Batalov was one of the first Soviet actors who spoke to the viewer from the screen. In 1931, he starred in the legendary film "A Voyage to Life". The director of this first Soviet sound film was Nikolai Eck, who decided that Nikolai Batalov would look more plausible in the role of head of the labor commune, which successfully re-educates street children in "real Soviet people". The actor excellently coped with the task set before him, which was complicated by the fact that before that he had experience of filming only in silent films. However, the huge experience of working on the theatrical stage allowed Batalov to quickly rebuild and cease expressing emotions through gestures, as was customary in the cinema before the invention of the way to combine the picture and sound.

Disease and personal life

Filming "Aelita", held in extreme conditions, ended for Nikolai Batalov a serious cold, which was the cause of tuberculosis. Due to deterioration of health, the actor even took a break in his theatrical career, and after returning to the stage he often refused roles, following the advice of doctors who forbade him to overwork. His poor state of health greatly upset Olga Androvskaya, where Nikolai Batalov was married since 1921 (a daughter was born in marriage). This talented actress, since 1930, when the actor's health deteriorated dramatically, virtually abandoned the scene and courted him until his death in 1937.

Now you know what life lived Batalov Nikolai Petrovich - one of the pioneers of domestic sound cinema, played several dozens of interesting roles.