Page 42 - Inside the Film Factory New Approaches to Russian and Soviet Cinema

EARLY RUSSIAN CINEMA: SOME OBSERVATIONS 23
It was even worse when the picture was ready and Drankov wanted to check
up on how we were getting on with the recitation. It was terribly
embarrassing. We were unable to say a single word so that it matched the
image and simply gabbled something hastily. The same thing happened the
second time round. Another few tries produced almost exactly the same
result. We were overcome with such confusion and despair that we simply
did not know where to hide our faces in shame. But Drankov tried to cheer
us up, saying that perhaps after a few days of constant rehearsal we would
manage something. But where and how were we to rehearse? We started
searching and soon f found a suitable cinema on Yelokhovskaya Street. We
came to an agreement with the owner that we would have the building, light,
equipment and a projectionist at our disposal and in return we were to
appear for him free for as many days as we rehearsed. After four or five
days we were so well prepared that we were able to start appearing before
an audience. 45

Novitskaya recalled yet another problem, which forced the reciters to rehearse all
over again in each new town: the synchronisation of the speed of the projection
with the rate of delivery of the monologue, because these rehearsals were more for
the projectionist than for the actor:

The projectionist might project so fast that it would be difficult to catch the
movement of the mouth and projecting slowly also would not work. The film
had to be shown at medium-speed. 46

‘Film recitals’ and ‘speaking pictures’ were very successful, mainly in the
provinces. They gave rise to a number of touring groups: V.Niglov, D. Vaida-
Sukhovy, A.Filgaber, S.Kramskoy, the Ukrainian troupe of A. Alexeyenko, the
acting duo Nadezhda and Alexander Arbo, and others. In the Jewish Pale of
Settlement Smolensky’s ‘singing’ troupe was particularly successful. In 1913 Cine-
Phono reported this event in Minsk:

Since 19 September the film reciter and vocalist, A.M.Smolensky, has been
appearing at the Modern electric theatre for an extended season. He
performs in Yiddish to special films, in which he plays the leading role,
illustrating comic and dramatic scenes from Jewish life. 47

The film A Mother’s Letter [A Brivele der Mamen, 1912] was shown. In 1940 this
event surfaced unexpectedly in a story by M.Daniel, the author of literary sketches
of the Jewish past:

In the cinema they are showing the Yiddish picture A Mother’s Letter. A
real-life artist has come from Warsaw. He is behind the screen all the time
while living people walk across it. He sings but you cannot see him. 48