Morning Star (1959 film)

Morning star (Russian: Чолпон - утренняя звезда) is a 1959 Soviet ballet film directed by Roman Tikhomirov, based on a Kyrgyz folk tale by the same name, and featuring the Kyrgyz State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.

Synopsis
An evil witch, Ai Dai, uses magic to switch bodies with a beautiful young woman, Cholpon, and, with her new form, attempts to seduce the young prince Nurdin.

Cast

 * Reina Chokoyeva as Cholpon
 * Uran Sarbagishev as Nurdin
 * Nurdin Tugelov as Temir Khan
 * Bubusara Beyshenalieva as Ai-Dai
 * Sapar Abduzhalilov as Genie

Reception
Upon the film's release in the United States in 1962, the New York Times wrote of it positively, saying:

“As a co-production of the Leningrad and Frunze Film Studios, the picture certainly moves [...]. The dancers go to town, and for once (on screen, anyway) a ballet heroine, Reina Chokoyeva, conveys real terror. But the incredibly mercurial Bibisara Beishenalieva, as the sorcerer, goes the whole company one better by suggesting that she's about to take off into space.”