Hi All,
Don't know if this is old news now. Been searching for this movie for years, and finally it has been released, albeit on Russian dvd, but good nethertheless. You can select the English version when you set up the DVD, sometimes a bit out of sync, but better than nothing. Bought from Amazon.com for about £20.
I just went on Amazon,com (3/28/07) and they do not have this version available. They have DVDs of the Shirley Temple version from 1940, and an earlier Russian version. But no record of this particular version.
shareI got mine on eBay a year or more ago, and I notice there's one on sale there right now.
"Manuscripts don't burn."
Commercial Russian DVD release often available here:
http://www.russiandvd.com/store/product.asp?sku=35106&genreid=&genresubid=
The film was widely panned by critics and was a major financial flop upon release! It has never been released in any home-video format in the US, though a Russian-language DVD is available from some on-line retailers!
According to some sources, possession of the film rights reverted back to the Russians, hence its disappearance from US TV and its absence on video, Laserdisc, and DVD.