non-existent book or film?

[Steven Hill]

Dear colleagues:

Has anyone ever heard of a ghost film, or an underlying literary work (possibly in the "pulp/
potboiler" class),  with the strange Russian title "Irene Negludov" [sic]?

According to ONE source, an uncertain one at that ("HTTP://WWW.IMDB.COM" ), in 1919, 
during the Civil War, there supposedly was a Russian or Ukrainian film entitled "Irene 
Negludov" [?], supposedly directed by Viacheslav Turzhanskii (1891-1976; known 
as "Viktor Tourjansky" in emigration, 1920- ).  Here is that citation:
_ _ _ __ __ _

Irene Negludov (1919)

Cast (in alphabetical order)
Nathalie Kovanko. [ = Mrs Turzhanskii ].

Directed by Viktor Tourjansky.	 	
Country: Russia. 
Color: Black and White. 
Sound Mix: Silent.
_ __ __ __ __ __ _ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _ 

But no matter where one turns, such as a "Google" search -- all other citations seem to 
wind up back at the doorstep of the above "IMDB" entry. -- which was the questionable 
source to start with.

I'd hoped that a rare reference book, Veniamin Vishnevskii's "Khudozh. fil'my dorevoliuts. 
Rossii" (M '45) would solve the mystery.  But when Vishnevskii is finally found & checked, 
his ref. book stops with 1917.   Thus any pre-Soviet films made in 1919 aren't covered in his 
book.  Nor does our ghost film turn up (as near as I can determine) in two recent coffee-
table books about pre-Soviet films, "Silent Witnesses" and "Velikii [sic] kinemo."   Reason: 
those 2 coffee-table books, well-researched as they are, seem to cover only films of which 
a copy has been preserved.  And that  leaves out those many pre-Soviet films of which all 
copies are now lost --- such as, presumably, "Irene Negludov."

Since the ghost-title "Irene Negludov" in itself seems a bit dubious, the question arises how 
it must have read originally.   Perhaps "Irina Nekhludova"?  Or was there a typo which 
could have transposed 2 consonants, such as "Nedlugova"??  Or was the transliteration 
"Negludov" perhaps influenced by Italian, i.e., could it go back to an original something like 
"Neliudova"???

Perhaps some encyclopedic historian of early 20th century Russian - Ukrainian literature 
could recognize that name, "Irene Negludov," as belonging to a CHARACTER in a literary 
work (pulp-potboiler or prestigeous), wherein the book bore a totally different title.  That 
revelation, at least, would tend to confirm that our ghost citation does have some real basis, 
and is not a total mirage or ghost...

Gratefully,
Steven P Hill,
University of Illinois (USA).
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