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There have been all kinds of criticism directed against the film; its symbols were cheap, its cutting obvious, etc. It should be remembered that the film was made in 1927. Then, its technique was revolutionary. But though there may be symbolism that we have since rejected, bad photography, cheap effect cutting, they are all as nothing beside the realisation of a great conception. All the good looks in the world are not going to make a film. What matters is the content, the theme. Beautiful photography, smooth direction are worthless, (vide Viva Villa) if there is no theme behind the picture, if no thought has gone to the making of it.
There is such a wealth of virtues in the film that it is difficult to isolate individual sequences for consideration. Perhaps the raising of the bridge is the greatest individual piece of cutting in the film. Nothing inanimate on the screen yet has been so supercharged with idea as that bridge. Never has the cinema been used so effectively for satire as in the Kerensky episode. Satire is not achieved inside the frame, but by relation, by movie methods. The economy of shots Eisenstein uses to create an effect should be a lesson to movie directors. There are places in which the film sags, particularly when Eisenstein uses twenty minutes of screen time to express the twenty minutes before the Bolsheviks took over the revolution. The sequence in the Tsarina's bedroom is masterly; the young sailor is momentarily affected by the visible symbols of royalty and the conquering of tradition in his mind is superbly suggested.
This film is the work of a master, one of the few directors who have left an indelible stamp on the work of film producers all over the world.
D. F. Taylor.
BLOOD MONEY
Production: 20th Century. Written and Directed by Rowland Brown. Photography: J. Van Trees. Distribution: United Artists. Length: 5, j 40 feet.
Rowland Brown has probably gone nearer to presenting a logical social explanation of the racket system of business in America than any other movie director, and despite the mawling of hirelings Blood Money gets across a sincere expression of social feeling. As a picture, it parades most of the familiar ingredients of the stereotyped box-office subject. It is patent that Brown has written a movie story which he knew would prove acceptable to the mentalities of the picture business, yet which at the same time allowed him a little freedom for his own outlook. Hence we get an admirable interpretation of a millionaire's daughter (from Frances Dee of all
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