In preparation for a recent post on Karel Čapek's Robots I learned of a 1935 Soviet science fiction film entitled Loss of Sensation. Although the film is in no way based on the play by Karel Čapek, but rather a Ukrainian novel "Iron Riot" by Volodimir Vladko, the robots in the film have "R.U.R." stamped upon their chests. This is the film's only reference to the play. Calling the machines "robots" and the use of "R.U.R." shows just how influential the play was from the beginning.
The film is in the public domain and can be seen on Youtube with English subtitles.
The film was made during Stalin's time and I was curious to see what was permitted. There is no mention of the country where the story takes place, though obviously it is not the Soviet Union. The villains in the film are the capitalists and their flunkies in the military. Naturally, the heroes in the film are the proletariat workers.
The most bizarre aspect in the film, from my point of view is the way in which the robots' creator, Jim Ripple, controls them. They were designed to be controlled by sound, and at one point Ripple plays the saxophone to make the robots dance.
Although there are English subtitles, I found it helpful to refer back to the wikipedia article while watching the film.
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