This unusual silent film shows the Soviet Union in the summer of 1937. It depicts the annual summer Athletes Parade, usually conducted on June 24th on the Moscow’s Red Square, and the events preceding and following, both it in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg, (then Leningrad). In a typical display of the era’s celebrations, one can see the portraits of the Politburo members – Chubar and Kosior – which were purged in 1938 and therefore do not appear after 1938. There’s some pictures of the Saint Petersburg landmarks, such as the Bronze Horseman, the Peter and Paul fortress, the Saint Isaac’s cathedral and the Church of the Savior on the Blood, interspersed with the footage of people going about their daily life.00:12 Crowded “Old” Arbat street Three-carriage KM-type tram in the background and a car of unknown make.

0:21 GAZ-M1, 0:24 GAZ-A, a Ford-A licensed copy, however with a soft top rear window styled as a Ford-T

0:32 Arbat continued, one can see more of the GAZ-A and GAZ-M1 cars, GAZ-AA trucks, as well as a GAZ-03-30, a GAZ-AA-truck chassis-based bus, going down the street towards the cameraman, in the distance

0:51 A snack stall inside a covered shopping arcade, possibly inside the TsUM arcade and department store

00:58 Inside the Arbat Produce market.

1:10 A banner, celebrating the first non-stop Trans-Arctic USSR to USA flight of Chkalov, Baidukov and Belyakov 18-20th of June 1937

1: 17 Shoppers inside the Arbat Produce market

1:18 Sausages stall, clothier stall, people dressed in typical 1930s clothes. Possibly inside the TsUM arcade

1:45 Woman trying out a summer hat

1:59 People and nature at the Gorky Park

2:37 A group playing volleyball. Volleyball was extremely popular in the USSR, fundamentally, since the country’s inception

2:53 Playing pool — another, extremely popularhobby sport

3:26 Participants in the annual Athletes Parade preparing floats, lining up by the side of the Moscow Hotel, before marching towards the Red Square.

3:37 Flowers float and lion flags, possibly a Soviet Republic of Armenia or a Soviet Republic of Georgia group.

3:40 Participants marching towards the Red Square

3:53 Some sort of anticapitalist float of a “fat cat”

4:07 An airplane parade float, a large (Stalin’s) portrait in the background

4:09 Shot from the Moscow Hotel’s side of the street, marching participants, a parade carriage

4:37 A large portrait being carried into the parade, in the distance. Possibly Hitler’s (by the hair and mustache)

4:46 Shot towards the dignitaries cars and covered sitting area

4:52 A standing Stalin SSSR / USSR float

5:00 The “Swimmers” group

5:36 Three participants from “Women of the Republics” group, wearing festive clothing – Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.

5:41 Portraits of the Politburo members, mounted as floats on individual bicycles. Mikoyan, followed by Chubar — who was arrested July 4th 1938 and executed and is considered to be a war criminal after the Ukraine Holodomor Trials, followed by Bulganin, followed by Kalinin , Molotov, and ending by Kosior, who was arrested 3rd may 1938.5:47 A Cossack and a Russian young women

5:58 Floats, one can see the Soviet police in their old white uniforms and pith helmets, which were abolished in 1939, for their colonialist connotations, and the white uniform itself was changed in 1952.

6:05 Ski float. One of many early, unsuccessful, attempts to popularize skis (ski wasn’t popular in the USSR until after the 1939-1940 Winter War).

6:18 Saint Basil’s cathedral, crowds on the Red Square, Lenin’s mausoleum and its guards, queue towards the Mausoleum.

7:28 State History Museum’s wall with the “Religion is the opium for the masses” inscription. GAZ-AA driving by.

7:48 Peter the Great’s statue – the Bronze Horseman in Saint-Petersburg

8:01 The Admiralty buildings seen through the Alexandrovski Garden

8:21 Saint Isaac’s Cathedral seen from the east.

8:48 Peter and Paul Fortress from across the Neva.

9:02 Quai of the Neva, Trinity bridge in the background

9:24 – kindergarteners on a walk by Saint Michael’s castle’s park.

9:30 – Nevsky prospekt, Gostiny Dvor building seen in the background

9:50 Church of the Savior seen from the Griboyedovskaya embankment

10:00 Kirov Central Park, Elagin island with balance and coordination-improvement machines, more commonly used for pilots and parachute training.

11:00-11:36 Children playing outdoors at the Central Young Pioneer’s Palace of Leningrad, at the Anichkov Palace

11:40 Peterhof palace

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com