The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-11-29
FLASHES and
CLOSE-UPS
By LENS
To Mr.. William Troy:

" tsAAs w lAlldhl 1IOJ
I've just read your long paragraph
on the Harry Alan Potamkin Film
School in the November % issue of
The Nation. Thanks for the space.
You were the only critic in town to
acknowledge our existence and to take
the trouble Of bit of editorial COM
ment. That's very brave of you. Mr..
Troy, condescending to discuss the
founding Of an institution which. as
far as know, is unique not only in
America, but in the whole capitalist
world. You know your colleagues, the
Cohens, Halls and Delehantys better
than I do. Tell me, do they really
hate us so, or are they simply too
cowardly to commit themselves?
Permit me, however, to set you
straight on some of the things you
say about us. "The founding of such
a school in this country" you say,
was suggested by the success and
prestige of the great academy Of the
screen in Moscow, whose faculty is
made up Of the greatest names in
Russian directing, etc. :" The
founding of our school was Suggest
ed" not, as you say, by the sue
cess and prestige of the great aca-
DENY Of the screen in Moscow" but
by the Immediately urgent need to
develop trained cadres of critics,
scenarists, cameramen and directors
to combat the monster Hollywood
reactionary propaganda machine. We
are in terrible hurry to do this be-
cause the revolutionary film move
ment is very weak in this country
where the capitalist movie is the
most powerful in the world. We are
not initiating, Mr.. Troy. We are Gre
ating. And aside from Ralph Stein
er, the healthiest and most sincere
artist in the "avant-guarde" of the
bourgeois cinema and photo, you can
not find the name Of q single great"
director in our faculty. Is that i'm
portant for us' Give us another IL
months.
1t Is also naive in the extreme to
say that "the Workers School will
undoubtedly follow to a large extent
the plan for Film School, OUT
lined by its namesake some months
before his death and published in the
current Hound and Horn. Potam-
kin'S school would provide a COM
plete training in the arts and sciences
of the cinema for students profess
sionally interested in the films. A
degree from the school would be an
equivalent of Bachelor CT Science
from an established college," For the
benefit of those readers of The Ma
ton whom this fantastic supposition
has grossly misinforrned, it must be
clearly and definitely stated here that
the Potamkin Film School is neither
particularly interested in students
professionally interested in the film"
nor do we intend to issue degrees.
Our student body is at present COM
posed of workers and intellectuals who
have pledged to become active par
Elephants in the work of the. Film and
Photo League upon completion of
their studies "a five-months course).
Their League membership books will
be their degrees" Our school bears
the name of Harry Alan Potamkin
because he pioneered in the field of
revolutionary cinema criticism in AM
erica and not because he outlined
sketchy plan for film school as
an adjunct to some large university"
which your statement seems to imply.
You state that the possibility
that a school which has the workers
interests so much at heart will be
tempted, In its study and practice Of
the new art, to ignore much that is
not Immediately concerned with
those interests. This Is a danger
that can be avoided if it will only be
recognized that the Soviet film has
become increasingly less effective,
both as propaganda and as art, as it
has become more direct and explicit
in expressing its motives" We shall,
Mr.. Troy, do our utmost to be as
explicit and direct" as possible in
expressing our motives" We shall
make a major virtue of this weak
ness" that you ascribe to the Soviet
film. HOW RARELY I HEAR YOU
SCOLD HOLLYWOOD FOR BEING
TOO DIRECT AND EXPLICIT IN
EXPRESSING IT'S (ANTT WORK
ING-CLASS) MOTIVES!' But the
Soviet filml All, there's your villain!
The big bad wolf threatening the poor
little pigs of the bourgeois film world!
Can you really mean it when you
say that you would like to see our
School turn out more perfectly re-
allied expressions Of experience"
rather than illogical and convincing
arguments in celluloid?" notice in
the same column In which you dis
cuss our School that you shower law
.sh praise on Hollywood's Prize
fighter and the Lady" II that is
your idea Of perfectly realized ex-
preston of experience" then I feel
no harm will come to us If we take
your questionable advice with grain
Of salt and continue our efforts on
the road towards a really effective
workers film movement in America
Immediately concerned" with It's
own class interests. LENS.
phsTrrJoI mir