The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-10-05
Hour Day Speedily Women Workers IN Ro Correspondent Whites
SOVIET RUSSZA,S FIRST
SCREEN COMEDY SOON

JUDGING from the Russian film
y productions which have been pre-
scented in America such as "Potem-
kim" Marriage of the Bear" Gear
Ivan the Terrible" and "The Station
Master" one would be easily led to
conclude that sadness and tragedy
are the outstanding motifs of Soviet
cinemas. However, here and there
in some of these productions we
catch a twinkle of humor which is
laugh provoking albeit acridly satir-
ical.
A biting instance of this quality
is found in "Potemkin" when the
gold-rimmed spectacles of the little
ship physician are caught dangling
on the hawser as he is hurled over
board by the mutinying sailors, the
same spectacles, the audience in
stantly recalls, which were used by
this pompous official as magnify
ing glass to scan the worm-rldden
flank of the sailors meat. Another
example of satirical humor occurs
in "The End of st. Petersburg
when the sharper is released from
Jail and is selected to carry the por-
trait of the car in a parade Of
draftees.
1t is unprecedented, therefore, to
note that the Amkino is shortly to
present at the Cameo the American
premiere of the first Soviet COM
edy, SO Comrades and l Invention"
which is devoted unmitigatedly to
a primitive humor which on occa-
sion is of the slapstick variety. The
gags, however, are quite ingenious
and infectious in their hilarious ap-
peal.
1t seems that Soviet Russia has
reached a point where it is quite
willing to treat satirically its own
institutions as we'll as officialdom.
We have observed symptoms of 1t
in their books, periodicals and car
ICONS, and it is interesting that we
are now to be favored with satir-
ical screen treatment of some OF
their foibles.
A strange analogy between Rus
STA today and go-getting America is
the fact that the two nations are
addicted to the ideals of efficiency
and slogan-izing. One Of these out
standing slogans in Russia is The
Naturalization of Production" BY
this is meant the perfection and
widespread use of machines so as
to ease the workers lot as we'll as
to increase the volume of produc-
ton to pre-war levels.
"3 Comrades and l Invention"
deals with the adventures OF two
young inventors who are determined,
as they term it, to give the death
stroke to local capitalism by Great
ing a machine which will automati-
cally assemble packing cases for
soap. luSy IcChOh, iioWS'Sh' 'AO-A
out the menace and opposition of
one called Matveevich, who is one
of the numerous small business men
still conducting private enterprise
in Soviet Russia and enjoying good
government contract for the manu-
facture of such packing cases. The
trials and tribulations Of these two
geniuses, Akhov and Makhov, IN
their effort to bring their contrap-
ton to the attention of the various
groups and organizations such as
the workers factory, the county ex-
aiming officials, the main head
quarter functionaries, etc, who must
pass on the merits Of their inven-
ton, supply the background and at
mosphere for the splendid humor of
the film. The various situations
which arise are treated with satir-
ical flourishes and further complica-
lions are injected into the picture
by the fact that these two young
inventors love the same girl, soap