complex psychological nuances and so she imitated the acting of Asta Nielsen but gradually developed her own style. Vera's extravagant costumes and large gray eyes made her an enigmatic screen presence which fascinated audiences across Imperial Russia. Her next picture was The Children of the Age (Deti veka), aired in 1915, a drama with pretensions to revealing social problems. Tremendous success was Pyotr Chardynin's tragic melodrama The Mirages (1916), followed by the 'fancy drama' Beauty Must Reign in the World by Yevgeni Bauer, melodrama Fiery Devil, and another melodrama A Life for a Life, which turned one of the most popular films in Vera Kholodnaya's career and brought her the title 'the Queen of Screen'. The author of this title was Alexander Vertinsky who venerated the actress and frequented her house. In 1916 Khanzhonkov's company started making the film Pierrot with Vertinsky and Kholodnaya playing the leads. Unfortunately, the film was not completed. In the beginning of 1917 was released of one of the best films with Vera Kholodnaya, namely By the Fireplace (U kamina) which was based on a popular romance. The tragic film about a family broken by a rich lover ended with the death of the protagonist played by Vera Kholodnaya. The triumph of the drama exceeded all the films shot in Russia before that. It was so until 1918 when the movie Be Silent, My Sorrow, Be Silent (Molchi, grust, molchi) aired and received even great acceptance. Like many of her films, it was based on a Russian traditional love song. At the same time there was probably no other film so much criticized, especially after the revolution. By the middle of 1918 Vera Kholodnaya turned from just a popular and admired actress into a real phenomenon of the Russian cinema. Her latest movies were Krasnaya zarya (1918), Zhivoy trup (1918), The Last Tango (1918). However, only five works with Kholodnaya have been preserved. The Children of the Age was the earliest of them. The other four extant films are: The Mirages (1916), A Life for a Life (1916), A Corpse Living (1918), and Be Silent, My Sorrow, Be Silent (1918). A Life for a Life was the film that definitively established Kholodnaya's star status. World War I and the Russian Revolution After her husband was drafted to fight in World War I, Kholodnaya signed with a rival Khanzhonkov studio. During World War I, Kholodnaya took