By the Law

By the Law (1926) is Lev Kuleshov's silent drama, free to watch online on iFILM. A Yukon gold claim, a one-room cabin, and a single gunshot that leaves three people trapped together.

When one prospector murders two of his partners, the Nelsons are left alone with the killer in a snowbound hut. Spring floods make it impossible to haul him to the nearest court, so the couple keeps him for months and slowly turns into his jailers, his jury and his hangmen. Aleksandra Khokhlova takes the lead, with Vladimir Fogel and Sergei Komarov beside her.

Kuleshov built the whole film out of almost nothing: three actors, one house, grey water stretching past the window. Adapted from Jack London's short story "The Unexpected", it remains a textbook study in early Soviet montage. Stream By the Law (1926) online on iFILM.