The Moving Image Source Calendar is a selective international guide to retrospectives, screenings, festivals, and exhibitions.
Descriptions are drawn from the calendars of the presenting venues.
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Shadows of Russia
January 6-27, 2010 at
TCM Turner Classic Movies
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Following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Russia captured the imagination of the world - and its mysterious, exotic allure continues today. Hollywood has exploited this fascination for decades with movies that portray Russian history and attitudes with varying degrees of authenticity. The collapse of the Tsarist regime was a perfect subject for melodramas portraying the conflict, tragedy and romantic nostalgia of a bygone era.
Parodies of the severe Soviet lifestyle during the late 1930s and early '40s were followed by pro- Russia propaganda films made in obvious support of our World War II allies. As anti-Communist sentiment arose in the U.S. after WWII, the Cold War inspired a series of cautionary tales of infiltration along with a whole new genre of political thrillers.
This TCM Spotlight, suggested by Lou Lumenick, Chief Film Critic of the New York Post, and Farran Smith Nehme, who blogs as the Self-Styled Siren, considers Hollywood's treatment of Russia with regards to various themes.Featured Works:
Rasputin and the Empress (Richard Boleslavsky, 1932); The Scarlet Empress (Josef von Sternberg, 1934); Spring Madness (S. Sylvan Simon, 1938); Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch, 1939, pictured); Comrade X (King Vidor, 1940); Mission to Moscow (Michael Curtiz, 1943); The North Star (Lewis Milestone, 1943); Conspirator (Victor Saville, 1949); The Red Danube (George Sidney, 1949); I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. (Gordon Douglas, 1951); My Son John (Leo McCarey, 1952); The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, 1962); The Bedford Incident (James B. Harris, 1965); The Kremlin Letter (John Huston, 1970); The Way We Were (Sidney Pollack, 1973); Reds (Warren Beatty, 1981)
Special screening of Mission to Moscow (Michael Curtiz, 1943) at BAMcinematek on January 12, 2010. Followed by panel discussion with film critics Lou Lumenick (New York Post), Farran Smith Nehme (The Self-Styled Siren), Glenn Kenny (Some Came Running), and author/film historian Ed Hulse.
Program information:
Related Articles:
Shadows of Russia by Farran Smith Nehme posted Jan. 06, 2010
Mission: Improbable by Lou Lumenick posted Jan. 06, 2010
