The strange adventures of Mr. West in the land of the Bolsheviks

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Movie
German title The strange adventures of Mr. West in the land of the Bolsheviks
Original title Необычайные приключения мистера Веста в стране большевиков
(Neobitschainije prikljutschenija Mistera Westa w stranje Bolschewikow)
Country of production Soviet Union
original language Russian
Publishing year 1924
length 60 (ZDF version 1967) 68 (ARTE version 2008) minutes
Rod
Director Lew Kuleschow
script Nikolai Assejew
Lev Kuleschow
production Goskino , Moscow
music Hans Koncelmann
Yele Haensch
(both only the German version from 1967)
Benedict Mason (1984, inserted in the ARTE version)
camera Alexander Lewitzky
cut Alexander Lewitzky
occupation

The Strange Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks is a Soviet silent film satire from 1924 by Lew Kuleschow . The main role is played by Porfiri Podobed , who has been completely adapted in appearance and gesture to his American role model Harold Lloyd , while the later director Boris Barnet gives a sporty performance as his companion and “protector” Jeddy.

action

Brecksville, a small town somewhere in the United States. John West is the supposed prototype of a clichéd American. As a businessman and chairman of the YMCA , he believes in the uniqueness and exemplary character of the American way of life and sees the Soviet Union as a land full of fur-clad savages and uncivilized barbarians. At least that is how his image of Russia was shaped by American newspapers and magazines, where the men in the pictures sometimes wear a Stalin beard or are sometimes armed with hammer and sickle. A letter from a certain TP Gallagher, obviously a good friend of West, also warns of the “barbaric” locals - all wild. Influenced by such prejudices, John S. West set off on a trip to the USSR a month later, not without making sure that he was safe: Since his wife Madge is very concerned about his integrity, his loyal servant and friend, the shooting-happy cowboy Jeddy, accompanies him , as personal bodyguard.

As soon as he arrives, Mr. West, who immediately waves the miniature version of the Stars and Stripes and thus reveals himself as an easily duped foreigner, becomes the victim of a petty crook. While West is fiddling with his sock holder, he leaves his briefcase on the car with the license plate 999 unobserved and is robbed by a boy, Senka Swistsch, a member of a gang of thugs. West's buddy Jeddy, guarded by a silly and towering Stetson , loads his Colt and assures Mr. West that from now on he has nothing to fear from the barbarians. After Senka presented the captured briefcase to his gang leader Schban, he suspected that fat (= American) booty must have reached the city.

Meanwhile, Mr. West and Jeddy, who has sat on the roof of the taxi, drive into town. When a small suitcase, which Jeddy has placed on the roof behind him, falls down, he jumps out onto the street to collect the good piece again. He runs after the west car to an intersection. Another car approaches and drives down the opposite street. Jeddy's head is spinning. Wasn't Mr. West's car number 999, or was it 666? Clumsy Jeddy messes everything up and now runs after the wrong car. Then he also hijacks a horse-drawn sleigh, not without first having fetched the sleigh driver from the vehicle with his lasso. To gain respect, Jeddy also shoots wildly with his Colt. Followed by passers-by, Jeddy rushes off in the horse-drawn sleigh.

Meanwhile in Schban's robber headquarters. The members enjoy themselves as they examine the contents of Mr. West's briefcase. He is carrying Stars and Stripes socks and a newspaper that depicts the Bolsheviks like savages. Schban sneered: "We'll pump the dollars out of him!" Meanwhile, Jeddy chases through the snow-covered Moscow with his sledge, followed by several police officers on motorbikes. When he passed the car with the no. 666, he jumps up with his Colt drawn out, but found that neither Mr. West nor his suitcase were present. It still doesn't dawn on him, but rather believes that the Bolsheviks stole both his protégé and his belongings. Thereupon he jumps from this car at full speed onto the back seat of one driving parallel to it and thus escapes his pursuers. They stop at 666 and wonder why this crazy American must have vanished into thin air. Soon he'll be identified again and Jeddy escapes over the rooftops of Moscow one more time. In the best Buster-Keaton manner, he shimmy over a power cable to the other side of the street until it snaps and he flies in a high arc through a window into the room of a pretty young lady and lands at her feet: It's the lovely one American Ellie who lives and works here in Moscow. In a subsequent fight with two rushing Russians who want to throw the unauthorized person out, not only does a valuable vase with the handle break, but Jeddy also throws Ellie over his shoulder. Then both look at each other with a broad grin. Apparently you know each other!

Mr. West has meanwhile arrived at an American office where he feels safe as long as his loyal friend Jeddy is missing. Meanwhile, Schban's gang of four opens up to "pluck" Mr. West. The head of the leader already has a plan. In a dress that is grotesque for a Soviet citizen - in a fine suit, gaiters on his feet and a top hat on his head - he goes to Mr. West and takes out his briefcase from a newspaper box, which he hands over with a broad grin. Over a good cigar, Schban tells the gullible Mr. West a real robber's pistol. He believes the outrageous story and soon sees the slimy briefcase "finder" as a friend who is most likely to know how to protect him from sinister figures played by Schban's gang members. Meanwhile, Ellie tries to free Jeddy, who has been taken into custody by the police in their rooms. Meanwhile, Schban goes on a "city tour" with his unsuspecting American victim. He drives past a dilapidated ruin and claims that this is the sad remnant of Moscow University under Soviet leadership. The opposite snowfield is designated by Schban as the place where the Bolshoi Theater once stood. Mr. West is appalled. Everything is much worse than expected!

In the meantime, Schban allies himself with a second gang, which, in order to give Mr. West a real scare, is supposed to lead him to believe in further atrocities by the Soviet power. First of all, its members disguise themselves just like the cliché Bolsheviks depicted in the US newspapers and one night cavort like ghost train figures in front of the fearful American's bedroom window. When they break into his bedchamber, a scuffle breaks out in which the American beats up the disguised Russian barbarians. Still, he is eventually overwhelmed. Wrapped in a dark cloth, it is tied well. Right next door, the 'Countess von Sachs', also a member of the gang, can also be tied up in order to be considered the alleged second victim of the robber gang. The robbers now fake a "Bolshevik court session" in which the "Countess" and Mr. West are accused, and an executioner behind them with a huge executioner's ax is faxing. The death sentence is pronounced promptly. But Mr. West doesn't want to lose his head! Rescue approaches through a cashier that is passed through the bars. If Mr. West pays $ 1,000, they'll want to drag him out through the chimney. He pays out of necessity. Smeared with soot, you pull him out of the chimney into "freedom".

Meanwhile, the American office is very concerned about the disappearance of Mr. West, and so the police are notified. When West is about to get the last of his remaining money at the crook's headquarters, the Soviet police, accompanied by Jeddy and Ellie, storm in and free him from the hands of the criminals. The crooks come behind Swedish curtains and the briefcase thief Senka, transferred to the children's home, crumbles English vocabulary and has fun with Jeddy's cowboy hat, which he puts on his work table. Ellie has lost his heart, and while the two are turtling, the amiable and charming Bolshevik, who has freed Mr. West with his people, shows the real Moscow on a real city tour. He is deeply impressed by the modern Soviet Union. After all, he even attended a major military parade and telegraphed his wife to burn the old magazines and hang a picture of Lenin in his study . West ends his long-distance letter with the slogan: "Long live the Bolsheviks". On his way to the telegraph office, pictures of the modern, industrialized and effective USSR are shown in propaganda sequence.

Production notes

The strange adventures of Mr. West in the land of the Bolsheviks originated in the winter of 1923/1924 and was premiered on April 27, 1924 in the Soviet Union. In the Federal Republic of Germany it was first broadcast on December 29, 1967 on ZDF . The film is heavily influenced by the American slapstick cinema of Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton .

Vsevolod Pudowkin , who achieved world fame as a film director from 1925, played a leading role in this film with the gang leader Schban. In The Strange Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks , he also created the film structures. Pudovkin later said of his collaboration with Kuleschow: "He was the first to speak of the ABC of the film."

At its premiere in the Soviet Union, the film aroused strong protests by the CPSU , which accused Kuleschow of over-the-top satire "formalism".

Reviews

Reclam's film guide wrote: “An amusing film that is entertaining in an intelligent way and with specific cinematic means. Kuleschow mocks foreign clichés of Bolshevism by confronting them with the equally exaggerated image of a "Yankee" who even wears the "Stars and Stripes" of the American flag as a sock pattern. Kuleschow formally imitates, varies and parodies the stylistic devices of the American adventure film. "

In Kay Weniger's Das Großer Personenlexikon des Films , Kuleschow's biography reads the following: “His most famous film,“ The Strange Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks ”is considered a masterpiece of early Soviet film art. With a great sense of humor and skillful use of a specific film language, which was considered revolutionary at the time, Kuleschow satirized the stereotype of Bolshevism in capitalist countries (especially in the USA), but in turn drew a comic strip-like image of the 'typical Yankee' (and left as if by the way, at the same time celebrate the alleged 'humanistic spirit' of communism). "

Jerzy Toeplitz judged in his first volume of “The History of Film”: “The film (…) was a satirical polemic against the widespread views of the Soviet Union in the capitalist press. At the same time, Kuleschow created a parody of American westerns and, in certain scenes, of American comedy. The film was played and staged with flying colors and caused salmon volleys among the audience. "

In the Lexicon of International Films you can read: Grotesque silent film, which ironically glosses over the wrong opinions of the West about the USSR. The finale of the gag-rich production, however, is overdone like an editorial. Worth seeing as a film historical document.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ the lengths vary a lot from country to country: the shown Soviet Russian. Version has only 56 minutes, the French. 75 and the engl. 94
  2. ↑ cit. n. Reclams film guide, by Dieter Krusche, collaboration: Jürgen Labenski. P. 96. Stuttgart 1973.
  3. ↑ The strange adventures of Mr. West in the land of the Bolsheviks in arte.tv ( Memento of the original of May 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.arte.tv
  4. ↑ ibid.
  5. ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 4: H - L. Botho Höfer - Richard Lester. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 510.
  6. ↑ Jerzy Toeplitz: History of the film, Volume 1 1895-1928. East Berlin 1972. p. 203.
  7. ↑ Klaus Brüne (Red.): Lexicon of International Films, Volume 7, P. 3403. Reinbek near Hamburg 1987.

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