Kashchey The Immortal (1945)

Here's an interesting Russian fantasy film from 1945. The version uploaded to Youtube here has the native Russian language audio track, with kindly provided English subtitles. It's based on a Russian folktale about Koschei (which I've seen spelled a half dozen different ways in the same paragraph in some sources), an evil sorcerer who has attained immortality through black magic, and can only be killed when his soul is captured. The twist is that in the various tales about Koschei, he's hidden his soul in various things that are nearly impossible to reach or catch, such as in a needle lodged in the center of an egg held by a duck that flies away when approached, or, in the case of this film, his heart (maybe changed in the translation?) is in the center of a black apple that grows on a black tree, which stands on a black hill. If one approaches the black tree, a single leaf will grow out of the branch, and a flower will appear, which will in turn produce the apple. Of course anyone who splits the apple to get at the heart will be turned to stone and frozen forever.

Georgy Millyar as Kashchey, The Immortal

The film is glaringly nationalistic, almost to a comical degree near the end when the hero's faith and love of his Mother Russia produces a literal army out of thin air. Our protagonist carries a bandana full of his native soil that he kisses and asks to protect him. At the moment in question, he tosses it to the ground and a phalanx of troops appears. Visually stunning, dramatically captivating and definitely worth the 63 minute running time. Starring actor Georgy Millyar as the titular Kashchey, a character actor who seemed to make a living out of playing grotesque creatures, sometimes with a comic bent to them, as in the popularly MST3K'd film Jack Frost (Морозко, Morozko, 1964).