The long-standing family and creative partnership between Lyubov Orlova and Grigory Alexandrov, despite its outward prosperity and brilliant productivity, concealed many “tears hidden from the world.” Artistic councils issued as many as 200 criticisms for each of their films; detractors and envious rivals stopped at nothing in their meanness; the all-powerful OGPU kept them “under its thumb” for decades; and only the personal favor of the “Leader of the Peoples” kept the star couple afloat. Stalin’s death, at first glance, freed Orlova and Aleksandrov from that risky oversight. But at the same time, a certain stagnation set in in their creative work. Overcoming it proved to be much more difficult...
