Sergei Eisenstein

Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (Russian: ?????? ?????????? ??????????, Latvian: Sergejs Eizen?teins) (January 23, 1898 – February 11, 1948) was a revolutionary Soviet theatrical scenic designer-turned-film director and film theorist noted in paticular for his silent films Strike, Battleship Potemkin and ', which vastly influenced early documentary and narrative directors owing to his innovative use of montage.

Return to the U.S.

To cap things off, when Eisenstein arrived at the American border, a customs search of his trunk revealed, along with several reels of negatives, sketches of bizarre sexual fantasies. Kimbrough was barely able to prevent their arrest and confiscation of the entire cargo. Simultaneously, it was determined that Eisenstein's re-entry visa had expired, and Sinclair's contacts in Washington were unable to secure him an additional extension. Eisenstein, Alexandrov and Tisse were, after a month's stay at the U.S.-Mexico border outside Laredo, Texas, allowed a 30-day "pass" to get from Texas to New York, and thence depart for Moscow, while Kimbrough returned to Los Angeles with the remaining film.

Related Topics:
U.S.-Mexico border - Laredo, Texas

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Eisenstein planned to edit the film in Moscow, and Sinclair was inclined to allow this. However, Eisenstein took the entire 30 days to tour the American South, and repeated his blaming of Kimbrough to the Soviet film people in New York. Additionally, once Eisenstein had left the USA, the Soviets agreed to allow him to cut the film in Moscow but expected the Mexican Film Trust to pay for the duplicate negatives and shipping of the material, then began insisting on the original negative being sent. Mary Sinclair, on behalf of herself and the other trust members, balked entirely at that juncture. The Trust was virtually broke, and all trust by the investors toward Eisenstein was also broken. Eisenstein was officially "off the project"; someone else, in the USA, would be found to edit the film. Only Upton Sinclair remained somewhat ambivalent about finding a way to let Eisenstein cut the film, and was therewith replaced by his wife as spokesman for the Trust in all future matters regarding the project.

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It took another year to find someone to deal with the vast amount of Eisenstein's Mexican footage. Other than two general descriptions of each part of the film, Eisenstein had provided Sinclair with no descriptive material to work from. Indeed, he had never developed the film's structure on paper anywhere beyond this most general of stages. The major studios were not interested in either trying to figure out a continuity for the mass of film or to market a silent picture. Another, American-made "photographic expedition" to Mexico had already been shown in New York. Finally, in mid-1932, the Sinclairs were able to secure the services of Sol Lesser, who had just opened his own distribution office in New York, Principal Distributing Corp., and was marketing documentaries and docudramas (including a large number of titles taken over from the collapsed Talking Picture Epics Inc.). Lesser agreed to supervise post-production work on the miles of negative - at the Sinclairs expense - and distribute any resulting product, and brought in a story editor and film editor to do the creative work. Two short feature films and a short subject - Thunder Over Mexico, Eisenstein in Mexico, and Death Day, respectively - were completed and released in the USA between the Fall of 1933 and early 1934. Sinclair's refusal to let Eisenstein work on the films made at least the first title an object of ire and scorn among American Communists and other Eisenstein-ophiles, and came out with some attendant publicity in the form of public controversy and protest. However, none of the films did very well, perhaps did not even return the original investments to the investors. Sinclair modified his political stance from that of an American Socialist to a more modest Social Democrat. Lesser went on to begin producing his own films, starting with two serials, Tarzan the Fearless starring Buster Crabbe and featuring music composed by Hugo Riesenfeld for Thunder Over Mexico, and The Return of Chandu starring Bela Lugosi, which utilized the same story editor and film editor as Thunder.

Related Topics:
Sol Lesser - Principal Distributing Corp. - Talking Picture Epics Inc. - Story editor - Film editor - Feature film - Short subject - Thunder Over Mexico - Eisenstein in Mexico - Death Day - American Communist - Social Democrat - Tarzan the Fearless - The Return of Chandu

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