"The grotesque characters of Gogol lent themselves to (FEKS') eccentric acting styles. The complete version of this film has a kind of prologue based on Gogol's 'Nevsky Prospect' in which the lowly civil service clerk undergoes a painful youthful adventure. This version contains only the second part, based on Gogol's 'The Cloak,' in which the clerk has his all-important cloak, so critical to his well-being and prestige, stolen from him. This symbolic theft leads to his madness and death. Influenced by German Expressionism and reminiscent in theme of The Last Laugh (1924), the picture is characterized by elongated shadows and distortions and stylized performances." The Museum of Modern Art