The Girl from the Street () is a 1914 short film directed by Yevgeni Bauer.
The film tells about the daughter of a poor laundress who falls in love with a rich guy, and when she throws him, he commits suicide.
The film received positive reviews the year it was released. âÂÂBulletin of Cinematographyâ wrote that âÂÂthe picture is set above praiseâÂÂ. The review also noted that Elena Smirnova's performance âÂÂleaves nothing to be desired.â The âÂÂoriental danceâ performed by Emma Bauer stood out in particular, the reviewer wrote about the amazing plasticity of the artist, her quivering snake-like movements, reminiscent of the expressive plasticity of the famous English dancer Miss Maud Alan.
âÂÂThe only beauty of the production of Russian dramaâ was called the picture by the magazine âÂÂKinemaâÂÂ. He also noted the game of E. Smirnova and M. Salarov and the fact that âÂÂthe rest of the performers supported the general ensemble.âÂÂ
In the future, critics also highly appreciated the film. In particular, film historian Veniamin Vishnevsky singled out this picture as âÂÂthe most interesting film by E. F. Bauer, realistically interpreting the characters and the environmentâÂÂ.
Film critic Oksana Bulgakova in her book âÂÂGesture Factoryâ pointed out that âÂÂChild of the Big Cityâ repeats the plot scheme of another film by Yevgeny Bauer, âÂÂSilent WitnessesâÂÂ: a girl from a low social class becomes the mistress of an aristocrat. But in Silent Witnesses, neither the position nor the sign language of the maid changes. In the film âÂÂChild of the Big CityâÂÂ, âÂÂthe fashionista, becoming a cocotte, adopts the posture and body language attributed in âÂÂSilent Witnessesâ to an aristocratâÂÂ, âÂÂthe actress plays two bodiesâÂÂ. The author of the book also cites one of the âÂÂmagic hand gesturesâ from the film as an illustration of the means of expression in silent films.