158. Anderson et al., Kremlevskii kinoteatr, 227 (RGASPI, f. 17, op. 114, d. 379, l. 163–4), 229–30 (d. 661, l. 97–9: Jan. 17, 1934). “Newsreels are an interesting type of art, they have notably done well here, they are pleasant and edifying to watch,” Stalin remarked after watching the May Day 1934 newsreel. Typically, he wanted them shortened and sharpened. Anderson et al., Kremlevskii kinoteatr, 919–23 (RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 828, l. 27–30).
159. Bulgakowa, Eisenstein, 137 (citing Eisenstein archive, 1923–2–1116); Anderson et al., Kremlevskii kinoteatr, 139 (PARf, f. 3, op. 35, d. 87, l. 13). Geduld and Gottesman, Sergei Eisenstein and Upton Sinclair. On Dec. 1, 1931, Eisenstein’s colleagues in Moscow pronounced the AWOL director a “deserter.” Anderson et al., Kremlevskii kinoteatr, 150 (APRF, f. 3, op. 35, d. 87, l. 27: Yukov, Dec. 1, 191), 151 (l. 32: Shumyatsky, Dec. 1). On May 20, 1932, eleven days after Eisenstein and his assistant Grigory Alexandrov had finally arrived back from their three-year sojourn, they asked for an audience with Stalin, who wrote on the request, “I cannot receive them, no time.”
160. Anderson et al., Kremlevskii kinoteatr, 184 (APRF, f. 3, op. 35, d. 87, l. 81: June 8, 1932). See also Pyr’ev, Izbrannye proizvedeniia, I: 64; Anderson et al., Kremlevskii kinoteatr, 176–7 (APRF, f. 3, op. 35, d. 87, l. 77–8), 180 (RGASPI, f. 17, op. 114, d. 403, l. 62); and Pravda, Jan. 23, 1973. Thunder over Mexico, attributed to Eisenstein, was screened in Los Angeles on May 10, 1933. In July 1933, he entered a hospital in Kislovodsk with depression. Anderson et al., Kremlevskii kinoteatr, 195–200 (RGASPI, f. 142, op. 1, d. 586, l.11–22).
161. Shumyatsky had only been able to show parts of the film at the first screening; a week later he showed it in its entirety. Anderson et al., Kremlevskii kinoteatr, 940–5 (RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 828, l. 46–60: July 14, 1934), 945–7 (l. 51–2), 947n3 (d. 27, l. 88). One of the film’s numbers, “Such a lot of nice girls!,” would be immortalized as the tango “Heart” by Pyotr Leshchenko. Stalin tended to like thoughtful songs, even those a bit sad (such as “Suliko”) but he was captivated by the dance numbers. Stalin’s thirst for relaxation was immense. Anderson et al., Kremlevskii kinoteatr, 947–9 (RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 828, l. 53–4).
162. Aleksandrov, Epokha i kino, 159; Kushnirov, Svetlyi put’, 96–7; Shumiatskii, Kinematografiia millionov, 236. On the resistance of some musicians to the acting tricks under Utyosov, and the changeover in his band’s personnel, see Batashev, Sovetskii dzhaz, 40–3; and Chernov and Bialik, O legkoi muzyke, 120. Igor Savchenko, the Ukrainian filmmaker, had actually made the first Soviet musical comedy, The Accordion (June 1934), about a youth who stops playing the supposedly frivolous instrument after he becomes a village Communist Youth league secretary. Aleksandrov, Epokha i kino, 196; Zel’dovich, Liubov’ Orlova, 17. Stites, Russian Popular Culture, 90–2.
163. “A film and its success are directly linked to the degree of entertainment in the plot,” Shumyatsky had noted in Dec. 1933. But that year, of the eight Soviet films released, a mere three were comedies. Shumiatskii, “Tvorcheskie zadachi templana”; Taylor, “Ideology as Mass Entertainment,” 193.
