The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-01-17
and
CLOSE-UPS
By LENe


ema has come to town, this time the
result OF a little business agreement
between the Gotham Book Mart and
the Manhattan Press, Inc. vanished
have the angels Of yore, and with
them the hundred-dollar checks for
the cause Of creative cinema"D
Somewhere in the more exclusive
bookshops Of New York's more eK-
elusive parts you will discover, per-
hsps sandwiched between more popu-
lar 50-centers like Vogue and Har-
per's Bazaar, this swanky magazine.
We can still remember the time
when Experimental Cinema sold for
20 cents and gave clear indications
of a publication that might even
tually have become the first printed
mouthpiece Of revolutionary cinema
in America. But With number four
it struck out in a new direction,
changed its formal, nearly tripled its
price, and became a cinematic cross
between Creative Art and Modern
Monthly. This was an expected con-
sequence Of the shift in editorial con-
troll from the founders Of the maya
zine in Philadelphia and New York
to q group in California that made
E. C. what it is today. Significantly
enough the name of comrade Dave
Plat no longer appears on the pages
Of the present number 80, 50 that
the only one among the editors who
might have been relied upon to hold
down the magazine TO a revolutionary
proletarian approach is now dis
pensed with.
The March issue Of New Theatre
will carry long and detailed analy-
sis of Experimental Cinema and its
four-year history, with particular
reference to the contents Of the cur
rent number. We wish here only to
comment briefly on a few Of the
features OF number five, which beg
immediate attention,
In an editorial introduction there
appears the slanderous assertion that
"the editors of Experimental Cinema
were privately backed to produce a
film dealing with the exploitation Of
labor, and in particular with the
tragedy Of Mexican workers, in agri-
cultural sections of Southern Cali
fornia, notably in Imperial Valley
and adjacent territory. The prepara-
ton for this production consumed a
great deal Of time, but the produe-
ton itself Yves foredoomed to the fate
OF many an independent film: viz,
to fatal conflict between producers
and production-lnanager. In this
instance the conflict arose over the
insistent demand Of the Experimental
Cinema staff that the film be an ar
tistic achievement as well as a piece
of agitatiYe propaganda. The produc-
tion-Inanager, however, adhered to
the same policy that was adopted by
the production-msnager Of ESsen-
STEMS Mexican film, to whom Essen
stein has referred as the evil genius
Of Que Viva Mexico!" and relent-
lessly opposed making the film
creative effort, in which the formal
qualities Of cinema would share
honors with the agitatiYe drive OF
the film. The film, unfortunately,
has been Scrapped."
What, briefly, are the facts? '"The
evil genius" referred to, comrade
readers, is none other than the Work
ers international Relief, which had
entrusted the editors" Of Expert
mental Cinema with the making of
a film on conditions in Imperial VAL
ley. The editors" in question squan-
dered q small fortune belonging to
this organization. In order to carry
out the editors idea Of what an "ar-
tistic achievement" should be, they
shot $4,000 feet of film, most of which
consisted Of canteloupeS taken from
various angles "CanteloupeS at sun
SET" was the characterization by
Sidney Howard, an eyewitness to the
carnage, Our editors" jealousy
concealed this part treasure in Their
private vaults and surrendered it to
the W.I.R. only after terrific Strug-
gle. Only about 1000 feet Of the film
exposed proved to be barely disable.
And now, to add insult to injury, the
staff" Is using the pages of its mag
azine to present itself as martyr in
the cause Of 'creativeness" and as the
champion of art" versus "propa-
gande." The attempts on the part of
the staff" to compare its position
in this case to that OF EiSenstein in
the famous Lesser Sinclair scandal is
SO self-evidently the demagogy Of a
chariatan as not to deserve even
the concession Of our reply.
ITO Re Continued