Our Russian Front: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
expand and cite |
→Reception: adds detail |
||
| (32 intermediate revisions by 22 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{short description|1942 film}} |
|||
{{Infobox film |
{{Infobox film |
||
| name = Our Russian Front |
| name = Our Russian Front |
||
| image = |
| image = Our Russian Friont 1942 lobby card.jpg |
||
| |
| alt = |
||
| |
| caption = Lobby card |
||
| caption = |
|||
| director = [[Joris Ivens]]<br/>[[Lewis Milestone]] |
| director = [[Joris Ivens]]<br/>[[Lewis Milestone]] |
||
| producer = Joris Ivens<br/>Lewis Milestone |
| producer = Joris Ivens<br/>Lewis Milestone |
||
| writer = [[Elliot Paul]] |
| writer = [[Elliot Paul]] |
||
| screenplay = |
|||
| story = |
|||
| narrator = [[Walter Huston]] |
| narrator = [[Walter Huston]] |
||
| starring = |
| starring = |
||
| music = |
| music = |
||
| cinematography = [[Roman Karmen]]<br/>Ivan Belyakov<br/>Dmitri Rymarev<br/>Arkadi Shafran<br/>Mark Troyanovsky<br/>Vladimir Yeshurin |
| cinematography = [[Roman Karmen]]<br/>Ivan Belyakov<br/>Dmitri Rymarev<br/>Arkadi Shafran<br/>Mark Troyanovsky<br/>Vladimir Yeshurin |
||
| editing = Marcel Craven<br/>Albert Nalpas |
| editing = Marcel Craven<br/>Albert Nalpas |
||
| studio = [[Russian War Relief|Russian War Relief Inc.]] |
| studio = [[Russian War Relief|Russian War Relief Inc.]] |
||
| distributor = [[Nicola Napoli|Artkino Pictures]] |
| distributor = [[Nicola Napoli|Artkino Pictures]] |
||
| released = {{Film date|1942|02|11 |
| released = {{Film date|1942|02|11}} |
||
| runtime = 45 |
| runtime = 45 minutes |
||
| country = |
| country = United States |
||
| language = English |
| language = English |
||
| budget = |
| budget = |
||
| gross = |
| gross = |
||
}} |
}} |
||
'''''Our Russian Front''''' is a |
'''''Our Russian Front''''' is a 1942 American documentary film directed by [[Joris Ivens]] and [[Lewis Milestone]], and narrated by [[Walter Huston]] to promote support for the [[Soviet Union]]'s war effort.<ref name="The New York Times"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Joseph R. Millichap|title=Lewis Milestone|publisher=Twayne Publishers|year=1981|series=Twayne's filmmakers series|pages=108, 109, 115|isbn=0-8057-9281-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sy8eAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Our+Russian+Front%22}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Michael J. Strada, Harold R. Troper|title=Friend or foe?: Russians in American film and foreign policy, 1933-1991|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=1997|pages=46|isbn=0-8108-3245-3}}</ref> |
||
|last=Joseph R. Millichap |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
|publisher=Twayne Publishers |
|||
|date=1981 |
|||
|series=Twayne's filmmakers series |
|||
|pages=108, 109, 115 |
|||
|isbn=0805792813 |
|||
|url=http://books.google.com/books?ei=ADC-TZDtBYqCsQODk-HCBQ&ct=result&id=sy8eAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Our+Russian+Front%22%2C+1942+film&q=%22Our+Russian+Front%22}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |
|||
|last=Michael J. Strada, Harold R. Troper |
|||
|title=Friend or foe?: Russians in American film and foreign policy, 1933-1991 |
|||
|publisher=Scarecrow Press |
|||
|date=1997 |
|||
|pages=46 |
|||
|isbn=0810832453}}</ref> |
|||
==Film== |
==Film== |
||
In production before America entered [[World War II]], the film was completed several weeks after the [[Japan]]ese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], having gone through frantic last minute updates to ensure it meeting its February 1942 release date.<ref>{{cite book|last=Eugene P. Walz|title=Flashback: people and institutions in Canadian film history|publisher=Mediatexte Publications|year=1986|series=Volume 2 of Canadian film studies|pages=38, 40, 52|isbn=0-9691771-1-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xo0aAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Our+Russian+Front%22}}</ref> Joris Ivens anticipated that editing might take a week, but stated that Hollywood {{sic}} "fiddled with it for two months and unrecognizably altered the original version."<ref name="Hans Schoots">{{cite book|last=Hans Schoots|title=Living dangerously: a biography of Joris Ivens|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|year=2000|pages=168|isbn=90-5356-433-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JlcfbzDx9HEC&q=%22Our+Russian+Front%22%2C+1942+film&pg=PA168}}</ref> Walter Huston narrates a [[World War II]] documentary intended to bolster United States support for the [[USSR]]'s war efforts. Created using front line footage taken by [[Russia]]n battlefield cameramen,<ref>{{cite book|last=Robert Mann|title=Complete idiot's guide to the Cold War |publisher=Penguin|location=Russian Films|year=2002|pages=148|isbn=0-02-864246-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TeSwjppr4zcC&q=%22Our+Russian+Front%22%2C+1942+film&pg=PA148}}</ref> and archive footage of [[Averell Harriman]], [[Joseph Stalin]], and [[Semyon Timoshenko]], the film was edited in the US. Upon release, the film screened for more than 20 hours a day and broke all previous box office records at the [[Rialto Theatre (New York City)|Rialto Theater]] in [[Times Square]].<ref name="Hans Schoots"/> |
|||
In production before America entered [[World War II]], the film was completed several weeks after the [[Japan]]ese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]. Joris Ivens had expected that editing might take a week, but Hollywood "fiddled with it for two months and unrecognizably altered the original version."<ref name="Hans Schoots">{{cite book |
|||
|last=Hans Schoots |
|||
|title=Living dangerously: a biography of Joris Ivens |
|||
|publisher=Amsterdam University Press |
|||
|date=2000 |
|||
|pages=168 |
|||
|isbn=9053564330 |
|||
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=JlcfbzDx9HEC&pg=PA168&dq=%22Our+Russian+Front%22,+1942+film&hl=en&ei=MSi-TdyKLpGasAP5w8SsBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22Our%20Russian%20Front%22%2C%201942%20film&f=false}}</ref> Walter Huston narrates a [[World War II]] documentary intended to bolster United States support for the [[USSR]]'s war efforts. Created using front line footage taken by [[Russia|Russian]] battlefield cameramen,<ref>{{cite book |
|||
|last=Robert Mann |
|||
|title=Complete idiot's guide to the Cold War |publisher=Penguin |
|||
|location=Russian Films |
|||
|date=2002 |
|||
|pages=148 |
|||
|isbn=0028642465 |
|||
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=TeSwjppr4zcC&pg=PA148&dq=%22Our+Russian+Front%22,+1942+film&hl=en&ei=MSi-TdyKLpGasAP5w8SsBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Our%20Russian%20Front%22%2C%201942%20film&f=false}}</ref> and archive footage of [[Averell Harriman]], [[Joseph Stalin]], and [[Semyon Timoshenko]], the film was edited in the US. Upon release, the film screened for more that 20 hours a day and broke all previous box office records at the [[Rialto Theater]] in [[Times Square]].<ref name="Hans Schoots"/> |
|||
==Reception== |
==Reception== |
||
''[[The New York Times]]'' reports that "the greatest battle in history" was assembled by Lewis Milestone and Joris Ivens into a "tersely contemporary document". They note that it did not rank favorably when compared to "great documentaries" because its commentary was uninspired, and it attempted to crowd too much within a timeframe of 40 minutes resulting in it being only "a synoptic account of the Russian war effort". They |
''[[The New York Times]]'' reports that "the greatest battle in history" was assembled by Lewis Milestone and Joris Ivens into a "tersely contemporary document". They note that it did not rank favorably when compared to "great documentaries" because its commentary was uninspired, and it attempted to crowd too much within a timeframe of 40 minutes, resulting in it being only "a synoptic account of the Russian war effort". They granted that as a record of the Russian people's struggle, "it is a heartening account," and communicated the "urgency of this urgent moment." The reviewer noted that the film was a picture of [[total war]], from the bayonets and shells of the front lines, to the efforts of the peasants and laborers and scientists struggling to support the war effort, sharing that in such circumstances, there are "no 'noncombatants' in this war."<ref name="The New York Times">{{cite news|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movi/review?res=9C04EFDE1439E33BBC4A52DFB4668389659EDE|title=review: ''Our Russian Front'' (1941)|last=T.S.|date=February 12, 1942|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2 May 2011}}</ref> |
||
|url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C04EFDE1439E33BBC4A52DFB4668389659EDE |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
|last=T.S. |
|||
|date=February 12, 1942 |
|||
|work=[[The New York Times]] |
|||
|accessdate=2 May 2011}}</ref> |
|||
In the [[New York Daily News]], reviewer [[Dorothy Masters]] noted that while "scenes of actual combat are few and far between" the film nevertheless provided "a fairly comprehensive outline of activity behind the front, with the home guard assembling for detail, guerrillas getting their secret orders, the hurried harvesting and storing of grain, old [[Cossack]]s getting back into saddle, replacement of women on tractors and in the factories, and care of infants not yet old enough to take their places in the machinery of war."<ref name=Masters>Dorothy Masters, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108989185/lewis-milestone-film-our-russian/ "Soviet War Effort Screened at Rialto,"] ''New York Daily News,'' Feb. 12, 1942, section B, p. 44.</ref> |
|||
| ⚫ | In ''Russians in Hollywood, Hollywood's Russians: biography of an image'', author Harlow Robinson writes that of the several pro-Soviet documentaries made in Hollywood, the most important were ''Our Russian Front'', directed in 1942 by Lewis Milestone for [[Nicola Napoli|Artkino Pictures]] and |
||
|last=Harlow Robinson |
|||
| ⚫ | In ''Russians in Hollywood, Hollywood's Russians: biography of an image'', author Harlow Robinson writes that of the several pro-Soviet documentaries made in Hollywood, the most important were ''Our Russian Front'', directed in 1942 by Lewis Milestone for [[Nicola Napoli|Artkino Pictures]] and [[Russian War Relief]], and ''[[The Battle of Russia]]'', directed in 1943 by [[Anatole Litvak]] and [[Frank Capra]] as part of the ''[[Why We Fight]]'' series.<ref name="Harlow Robinson">{{cite book|last=Harlow Robinson|title=Russians in Hollywood, Hollywood's Russians: biography of an image|publisher=UPNE|year=2007|pages=116, 117, 118|isbn=978-1-55553-686-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i2hxJrlSE0AC&q=%22Our+Russian+Front%22&pg=PA116}}</ref> |
||
|title=Russians in Hollywood, Hollywood's Russians: biography of an image |
|||
|publisher=UPNE |
|||
==See also== |
|||
|date=2007 |
|||
|pages=116, 117, 118 |
|||
* [[Russian War Relief]] |
|||
|isbn=1555536867 |
|||
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=i2hxJrlSE0AC&pg=PA116&dq=%22Our+Russian+Front%22,+1942+film&hl=en&ei=ADC-TZDtBYqCsQODk-HCBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBzgU#v=onepage&q=%22Our%20Russian%20Front%22&f=false}}</ref> |
|||
==References== |
==References== |
||
<references/> |
<references/> |
||
==External links== |
==External links== |
||
* [ |
* [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035161 ''Our Russian Front''] at the [[Internet Movie Database]] |
||
* [http://posteropolis.com/store/images/00ourrussianfrontlcplane.jpg 1942 lobby card 146kb] |
|||
{{Joris Ivens}} |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
{{Authority control}} |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
[[Category:American documentary films]] |
|||
[[Category:1942 films]] |
|||
[[Category:American black-and-white films]] |
|||
[[Category:Eastern Front (World War II)]] |
|||
[[Category:Films directed by Lewis Milestone]] |
|||
[[Category:Films directed by Joris Ivens]] |
|||
[[Category:American pro-Soviet propaganda films]] |
|||
[[Category:1942 documentary films]] |
|||
[[Category:Black-and-white documentary films]] |
|||
[[Category:1940s American films]] |
|||
Latest revision as of 18:13, 5 September 2022
| Our Russian Front | |
|---|---|
 Lobby card | |
| Directed by | Joris Ivens Lewis Milestone |
| Written by | Elliot Paul |
| Produced by | Joris Ivens Lewis Milestone |
| Narrated by | Walter Huston |
| Cinematography | Roman Karmen Ivan Belyakov Dmitri Rymarev Arkadi Shafran Mark Troyanovsky Vladimir Yeshurin |
| Edited by | Marcel Craven Albert Nalpas |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Artkino Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 45 minutes |
| Land | Vereinigte Staaten |
| Sprache | Englisch |
Our Russian Front is a 1942 American documentary film directed by Joris Ivens and Lewis Milestone, and narrated by Walter Huston to promote support for the Soviet Union's war effort.[1][2][3]
Film
[edit]In production before America entered World War II, the film was completed several weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, having gone through frantic last minute updates to ensure it meeting its February 1942 release date.[4] Joris Ivens anticipated that editing might take a week, but stated that Hollywood [sic] "fiddled with it for two months and unrecognizably altered the original version."[5] Walter Huston narrates a World War II documentary intended to bolster United States support for the USSR's war efforts. Created using front line footage taken by Russian battlefield cameramen,[6] and archive footage of Averell Harriman, Joseph Stalin, and Semyon Timoshenko, the film was edited in the US. Upon release, the film screened for more than 20 hours a day and broke all previous box office records at the Rialto Theater in Times Square.[5]
Reception
[edit]The New York Times reports that "the greatest battle in history" was assembled by Lewis Milestone and Joris Ivens into a "tersely contemporary document". They note that it did not rank favorably when compared to "great documentaries" because its commentary was uninspired, and it attempted to crowd too much within a timeframe of 40 minutes, resulting in it being only "a synoptic account of the Russian war effort". They granted that as a record of the Russian people's struggle, "it is a heartening account," and communicated the "urgency of this urgent moment." The reviewer noted that the film was a picture of total war, from the bayonets and shells of the front lines, to the efforts of the peasants and laborers and scientists struggling to support the war effort, sharing that in such circumstances, there are "no 'noncombatants' in this war."[1]
In the New York Daily News, reviewer Dorothy Masters noted that while "scenes of actual combat are few and far between" the film nevertheless provided "a fairly comprehensive outline of activity behind the front, with the home guard assembling for detail, guerrillas getting their secret orders, the hurried harvesting and storing of grain, old Cossacks getting back into saddle, replacement of women on tractors and in the factories, and care of infants not yet old enough to take their places in the machinery of war."[7]
In Russians in Hollywood, Hollywood's Russians: biography of an image, author Harlow Robinson writes that of the several pro-Soviet documentaries made in Hollywood, the most important were Our Russian Front, directed in 1942 by Lewis Milestone for Artkino Pictures and Russian War Relief, and The Battle of Russia, directed in 1943 by Anatole Litvak and Frank Capra as part of the Why We Fight series.[8]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b T.S. (February 12, 1942). "review: Our Russian Front (1941)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
- ^ Joseph R. Millichap (1981). Lewis Milestone. Twayne's filmmakers series. Twayne Publishers. pp. 108, 109, 115. ISBN 0-8057-9281-3.
- ^ Michael J. Strada, Harold R. Troper (1997). Friend or foe?: Russians in American film and foreign policy, 1933-1991. Scarecrow Press. p. 46. ISBN 0-8108-3245-3.
- ^ Eugene P. Walz (1986). Flashback: people and institutions in Canadian film history. Volume 2 of Canadian film studies. Mediatexte Publications. pp. 38, 40, 52. ISBN 0-9691771-1-9.
- ^ a b Hans Schoots (2000). Living dangerously: a biography of Joris Ivens. Amsterdam University Press. p. 168. ISBN 90-5356-433-0.
- ^ Robert Mann (2002). Complete idiot's guide to the Cold War. Russian Films: Penguin. p. 148. ISBN 0-02-864246-5.
- ^ Dorothy Masters, "Soviet War Effort Screened at Rialto," New York Daily News, Feb. 12, 1942, section B, p. 44.
- ^ Harlow Robinson (2007). Russians in Hollywood, Hollywood's Russians: biography of an image. UPNE. pp. 116, 117, 118. ISBN 978-1-55553-686-2.