The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-11-01
FLASHES ana
CLOSEUPS
BY LENS

v flashed upon the screen of the
Cameo Theatre the world premiere
of Soviet film. D2iga Vertov's
long-awaited Three Songs About
Lenin" will open in New York City
some "a hours ahead of its open
ing date in Moscow, u. S. S. R. For
several months Three Songs About
Lenin" has been withheld from
public presentation so that its first
showing might coincide with the
anniversary of the Russian RevoIu-
ton. The great Soviet movie pro-
duction trust, Meschrapomfilm
considers Three Songs" its con-
tribution to the celebration of the
18th year of the existence of a
new world.
A new film by Dziga Vertov is
something about which I claim the
right to become unusually enthu-
siastic. For many years now have
been repeating that Vertov is the
most significant director and
thinker in the Soviet cinema. Para
doxically enough, I have been say
ing this despite the fact that the
only film by the leader of the
movie-eye" school ever to reach
this country, "the Man With The
Camera" was but a stack of rough
notes and calculations in which the
author was merely beginning to
evolve method destined to become
the most important one in the his
tory of the film.
But we have seen some products
of Vertov's teachings: Shanghai
Document" Turkish" Spring" We
know that Vertov has freed the
film from the literary and theatre
cal trappings which Soviet cinema
Biography inherited from the bour-
geois film No actors, no artifice,
no illusion. The movie camera is
the great documentary revealer that
must plunge headlong into the tur-
bulent currents of life itself, must
become a fearless visual reporter,
must expose, must unearth, must
praise and condemn.
I'VE must transfer the cinema
from the arena of the stage to the
arena of life ITSELF" says Vertov.
And that is of pivotal Importance
to all workers in the revolutionary
film movement because among us
there are still some who maintain
that 100 per cent factual" in the
film means limitations and artless-
ness.
The work of Vertov is therefore
something that we must observe
and study tirelessly because it bears
directly on our own orientation in
the Film and Photo League.
THREE SONGS ABOUT LENIN"
does not contain a single foot
of film that is not actual. One
fourth of the film is composed of
material recently uncovered and
never before shown anywhere.
Lenin appears frequently through
out the film, ten newsreels of him
having been made use of especially
for Three Songs"
Recently Lars Moen reported the
following in the Moscow News:
"The film ended and the light
flashed en- in TIN film projection
theatre. Dziga Vertov, the d.
rector, looked around inquiringly
for opinions, suggestions and crit
icisms. But for full five minutes
no one spoke. doubt if we could
have. It's that kind of a film.
A graduate of the newsreeI school,
he has always worked with au-
thentic material. The film is
only over an hour long, and 1
doubt If one could stand more of
1t, so terrific is the hammer-Iike
impact of it on your emotions"
And Andre Malraux, the famous
French novelist:
Il consider Three Songs of
Lenin" a great achievement of
Soviet cinematography ;. The in
tellectual quality of the shots, the
quality of editing, the document
airy material, the subdued excite
ment which the film spreads, puts
us face to face with a work of
exceptional value. 1t is the more
wonderful because the means of
emotional influence are restrained,
tanned and muzzled. :. This ex-
element, courageous, forceful and
simple, without sentimentality,
gives the foreign writer a feeling
of the great traditions of the
Russian art of Pushkin and Toll
stoy. g. 1t is interesting and al
most overwhelming to see how a
Soviet director creates a great
work, having to solve at the same
time technical problems like Gil
otto or Francesca. :"
The subject: Vladimir Ilytch
Lenin. The director: Dziga Vertov.
The occasion: the 18th Anniversary
of the Russian Revolution. What
a glorious combination!
World Premiere, Tuesday, Nov. 6,
at the Cameo Theatre.
"A Call to Arms" enters its fifth
production week.