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Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 62, 4 June 1927, Page 25 (Supplement)

The story of the making of “Michael Strogoff,” which was presented at the Regent last night, provides another striking example of the manner in which the motion picture has become one of the greatest industries and strongest educational forces in the world. When Jean Sapene decided to produce *the Jules Verne story through his Films de France Company, lie determined that it would be the most spectacular and historically correct feature ever made in Europe. Every possible endeavour was made to reproduce with exact fidelity the scenes, the time, and the costumes and manners of the period of the story. By transporting the entire production unit to Latvia, the new Russian Republic in which costumes, customs, scenery and architecture have scarcely changed during the last 75 years, one of the objectives was most satisfactorily achieved. Riga and the smaller cities, towns and countrysides of Latvia, presented exactly the Russian type of architecture and peasant types required. Elaborate sets representing amongst others the grand salon of the palace of the Czar were built by noted designers. Famous designers in Paris lent their support.