A Child of the State Circus (1925)

Directed and production design by Sergei Kozlovsky; script by Alexander Goldman and Olga Blazhevich; movie poster by Israel Bograd.

Children are the heroes of this film, which is described as a “drama in six parts.” Although Grisha is too young to be a Pioneer, American child star Jackie Coogan is the same age and becomes a Pioneer in absentia. After watching all the films starring Coogan, Grisha meets a clown from the circus, who thinks he is a homeless orphan. The boy experiences a series of adventures, before suffering burns while helping to put out a fire. When the Pioneers hear of this, they make an exception and accept him into their ranks, expelling the American Jackie Coogan.

Sergei Kozlovsky (1885–1962) intended the film to show the harmful influence of American adventure films on Soviet children.