“Information about Nikolai Malikov is rather scanty. We ignore his biographical and professional data before and after his arrival in Germany together with producer Charitonoff. The latter, having founded Atlantik Co., brought to the screen Psicha, die Tänzerin Katharina de Grösse. This is an ‘all Russian’ film, so that maybe it can be one of the many movies started in Russia and then edited afterwards in exile.

The second film produced by Charitonoff and felicitously directed by Malikov, Frühlingsfluten, was certainly shot in Germany. In 1927 he was in Paris, working as director and interpreter of a French-German co-production, with a cast comprising Charles Vanel, Ruth Weyher and Jacque-Catelain, Paname n’est pas Paris/Die Apachen von Paris. Before the opening night French censorship demanded that the original title Paname, had to be completed with n’est pas Paris. Malikov was very active at the onset of the sound period, either as second lead in Überflüssige Menschen, an interesting feature by his fellow-countryman Alexander Razumny, or Der Präsident (from 1927, as the previous one), together with Mosjoukine, or as leading actor, leaving us an interpretation marked by a frightfully extraordinary depiction of evilness in the role of the frantic monk bragging miracolous healing in Rasputins Liebesabenteuer”.

Vittorio Martinelli