The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-08-28
Film Production in
Soviet Union and
US. - A Contrast
BY IRVING LERNER.

There are 1888 motion picture
theaters in the United States, &C
.cording to the Film Daily Year Book
FOR 1888 When these figures were
compiled, at the beginning of this
year. there we're 6,053 motion picture
screens closed. BY now, the number
is estimated around 10000. The mo-
ton picture industry, at one time re-
puted to be Americas fourth largest
industry is now not even rated as a
major one.
Artistically, Hollywood has never
been alive. Now it has died econo-
nically. There are at least 1000
men and women: extras, bit players,
stars, who are literally starving in
Hollywood. The number of camera
men. directors, carpenters, cleo
tricians, etc., who are out of work
has not been estimated.
=. In sharp contrast to Hollywood is
the picture of the moving picture in
dustry in the Soviet Union as re-
vealed in the first All-Union Pro-
duction Conference for the Thematic
Plan of Soviet Motion Pictures for
1884, which was held recently in
Moscow. There are 1900 commercial
theaters. And there are $4,000 the
aters in workers villages, soldiers
and workers clubs and factories.
- Unlike Hollywood, the Soviet Union
suffers from a shortage of labor,
rather than an oversupply. This re-
suited in large measure in the
generally poor quality of Soviet
films for the past five years. The
conference pointed out that there
were in the Soviet Union, not more
than so or go experienced and first
class directors. With the studios try
ing to make minimum Of 100 to
100 feature films per year, there re-
suited the situation where many
films were done by inferior directors.
The Communist Party foresaw the
situation as far back as 1881 when
the Central Committee of the Party
urged the making of fewer but better
| films. And this year it sharply Or
dered more emphasis on good themes,
better scenarios, and competent di-
rectors.
a. Fedeyev, author of 1919,
pointed out that the Soviet producers
had neglected the classics Of Rus
sian literature Revolutionary
literature. Literature, and especi-
ally the classics, must occupy first
rank position in the new program.
Foreign literature must be selected
with the greatest of care; not indis-
crlninately, as in the past. with
sometimes unfortunate results"
"Stenka Rain, Eugene Onegin",
based on Pushkin's famous poem,
and THE Golovev Manor, based on
the novel by the great Russian satir-
list, Saltikov-C hichedrin, are some of
the literary films now in production
Erwin Piscator, the famous German
director, is making film based on
the German revolutionary novel 1.-THE
Revolt of the Fishermen.
B. Shumiatsky head of the Soviet
film industry stressed the necessity
OF following the suggestions of the
Party in connection with the prob
lens of the second Five-Year Plan.
As a concrete example he cited the
collective farms and their growth
the new naneuvers of the class
enemy, problems of new production
and technique, labor heroes, the
young people and the children. "All
of these themes, he said, should
be treated in an artistic style worthy
OF the new victories of the working
class"
This theme plan, he emphasized,
must not only be correctly laid out,
but the individual studios must take
concrete steps to organize production
SO that scenarios are made into films
correctly and on time Shumiatsky
then concluded with the statement
that second conference would take
place on November 18th of this year
to check up on the programs of the
various studios in the light of the
present conference.