Hollywood Filmograph (Jan-Jul 1930)

12 June 21, 1930 Eisenstein Russian Director Arrives Patricola Discovered "Black Bottom" Dance Is to Make His First American Picture for Paramount Here Sergei M. Eisenstein. who has developed the dynamic school of motion pictures while producing in Russia such silent films as "Potemkin," "Ten Days That Shock the World" and "Old and New," has arrived in this country under contract to Paramount Publix Corporation to make one talking picture a year for several years. He arrived in company with Jesse L. Lasky, first vice-president in charge of production, and will depart in a couple of weeks to Hollywood, where his first film under the new contract will be made. Eisenstein was born in Riga, Russia, in 1898. His father, a civil engineer, sent him to school to prepare at an early age for a career similar to the paternal one. Following the regular course at technical school he entered the Institute of Civil Engineers in Leningrad. Here he concentrated on mathematics and on architecture, in which an aptitude for drawing which he had been developing asserted itself. Another interest asserted itself, which had been growing in fascination for jim and which could now be givtu free rein, away from parental influence. This was a devotion to the circus and the experimental little theatre. They were diversions which he never considered seriously at the time. But in 1916, when he became interested in the Renaissance, and took to studying the life of Leonardo da Vinci, he began to apply his architectural training to designs for the theatre. At the same time he encountered Freud's book, "Concerning the Childhood Reminiscences of da Vinci," which led him to a study of the great psycho-analyst. The materialistic portion of Freud's teaching has had a great influence on Eisenstein's work. In 1918 he joined the engineering corps of the army, and saw service for a year, building fortresses. He continued his aesthetic self-education while in the service, and in 1920 he began work as an artist with one of the theatrical companies connected with the army, and painted pictures, scenes and train carriages, besides organizing club performances. Meantime he became interested in the Japanese theatre and studied the language. Demobilized in 1920, he entered the academy of the General Staff, in Moscow, working in the Japanese section, and at the same time took up the duties of manager of the art decorative section of the first workers' theatre, the Proletkult. Here he dramatized and staged Jack London's story, "The Mexican," winning favorable notice. Meanwhile he left the academy. SECBETJBU DE CIJBBB1 T MABUU la. 1EFATURA DE OPERACIONES MILITARES . Y DC U eUWtWCIOH DE IA PUUA AL C. EHHIQUE J. VALIEJO, GEREHTE DE "MEXICO CINES". 3, A. C i u d a d. SECRETARIA GENERAL A year later he joined Meyerhold, leader of the advanced theatre in Russia, working on new methods of staging as assistant director. Meyerhold did not appeal to Eisenstein as radical enough in matters of the theatre, and they parted company. Returning to the theatre of the Proletkult, he took the comedy of the classic writer, Ostrovsky, "It is a Good Horse that Never Stumbles," and produced it as a circus farce, winning further success by his originality of treatment. He also did this in 1923 as his first independent picture. After presenting "Listen, Moscow," he undertook a new departure in production, carrying the theatre into industry by producing "Gas Masks." This was an outgrowth of his interest in the reflexological school of Prof. Ivan Pavlov, which led him to stress the psychological aspects of drama. In "Gas Masks," laid in a gas factory, Eisenstein endeavored to remove the artificial aspects inherent in the theatre and recreate the play as a fusion between artist and public by recreating the life of the factory. While doing this he realized that he wanted to be closer to life — to growing things, to the masses in the streets. He recognized that in order to go further he would have to leave the theatre entirely. Study of the cinema convinced him that only in the medium of the film was complete detachment from artificiality possible. In 1924 he made "The Strike," the first example of his "mass" method, in which he struck out decisively from the film technique of the period, using the mass, instead of a single individual, as his hero. In 1925 he developed this treatment further with "Potemkin," filmed in Odessa during three months and originally designed as a part of a general film dealing with the entire 1905 Revolution. Following this he began work on "Old and New," but suspended this to do the picturization of John Reed's book, "Ten Days That Shook the World." Following this he finished "Old and New," depicting the industrialization of a Russian village. In addition to these activities he has been teaching the theory and practice of motion picture directing at the State Technical Institute of the Cinema in Moscow, and has been head of the Cinema Division of the Psycho-Physical Laboratories organized to study the reactions of the spectator. Besides this, he has been preparing a number of books on the screen and interesting himself in sound movies, in which he believes lies the future of films. "I have always endeavored," he says, "to discover and introduce new forms and methods of cinematography, and I am now attempting to compose a combination of the silent film, the chronicle and the absolute film. My future work will be directed along these new methods." Back in 1926, Via a Little Colored Lad Who Aided Him The man who discovered the "Black Bottom" and who brought the "Charleston" to the stage, Tom Patricola, vaudeville star, and for six years with George White's "Scandals," is appearing with Ruth Chatterton and Clive Brook in their current Paramount co-starring picture, "The Better Wife." Patricola discovered the "Black Bottom" in 1926 in St. Louis through a negro boy who was his dresser. "Vic, my dresser, was quite a boy to step around nights," Patricola says. "One day he showed me a few steps he had picked up at a party with friends. I learned them and kept them in mind. Later, in New York, I showed them to George White. I had no idea of using them on the stage and simply showed them to White because they were so unique. A few months later White called me in his office and said, "I want to show you the dance you'll do in our next production.' What he showed me was the 'Black Bottom.' He had remembered the steps and made them into a complete routine." Patricola introduced the "Charleston" in 1925 in White's "Scandals" and the "Black Bottom" the following season. Patricola was born in New Orleans, the son of Louis Patricola, one of the best known players in vaudeville. When he was a year old his mother took him to Italy where he remained until he was ten. Returning to this country his father began teaching him music, the mandolin, violin, guitar, and singing. A few months later he joined his father's act which already included his sister, who is still starring in vaudeville and is known simply as Miss' Patricola. The Patricola family continued as an act until the death of the father and the marriage of the sister. In 1923 Patricola started six years of appearances in the "Scandals" as comedian, eccentric dancer and mandolin player. He came to Hollywood last year and has appeared in five pictures. WRIGHT-0 Public Stenographers Hollywood Pantages Theatre Building — 2nd Floor Phone HE. 6812