In ‘Our Soviet Americanism’: Jolly Fellows, Music, and Early Soviet Cultural Ideology, Peter Kupfer, among other things, contends that the transformation of soviet cinema through its inclusion and maintenance was directly facilitated by the sovietization of traditional American slapstick comedies and actors of the 1920s. Hugely popular most everywhere, director Grigory Aleksandrov and composer Isaak Dunayevsky, sought to produce a soviet brand of musical comedy that incorporated the successful features of American cinema.
Kupfer’s article: https://na01.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/view/action/uresolver.do?operation=resolveService&package_service_id=97485181630001841&institutionId=1841&customerId=1840
More specifically, Aleksandrov and Dunayevsky sought to inspire and cheer up soviet masses that were being subjected to the otherwise ruthlessness of Stalin’s modernization schemes of the 1930s. Their product was the 1934 blockbuster, Jolly Fellows, starring Aleksandrov’s wife in a lead role. Having assisted famous soviet director Sergey Einstein for quite some time, Aleksandrov traveled with him and picked up the effective cinema modernizing tools that were otherwise foreign to soviet Cinema. Einstein himself had studied Hollywood and extracted what he felt were the necessary components to craft his films for the soviet masses. Nevertheless, he also stood out as promoting a formal model for ideological soviet cinema through his use of montage. Perhaps his most famous film, Battleship Potemkin (1925), stands out for its propagandizing relationship with the individual viewer, as he was instructed by the state to make such a film. It also differed from America cinema at the time by being less sensational and lacking gags.
See the film here (but play without sound like it was intended!): https://youtu.be/7TgWoSHUn8c
By stark contrast, Jolly Fellows, passionately promotes its comedic cinematic roots over ideology. Aleksandrov’s attention to American slapstick comedy, the burgeoning jazz movement, and belief that his duty was to have the masses singing along allowed him to produce a (mostly) irresistible work of art that would be effective in modernizing soviet cinema, and thus the nation as a whole. That is to say, the overt use of unrealistic comedic gags, faster movement on screen, inspiring messages, and sound throughout were essential in distancing Aleksandrov’s modern work, from that of more primitive soviet cinema, per his longtime mentor.
See the film here (with sound!): https://youtu.be/chDRXQ77IgA
Millions watched and rewatched Jolly Fellows, as it became too big too fail. The masses were hypnotized by the cheerful sounds of the songs presented to them by the composer Dunayevsky. They sang in and out of the theater, relating to the characters on screen, and being enlightened by such inspiring tones like that of March of the Jolly Fellows. Children to amatuer composers wrote incessantly to Dunayevsky, asking him to formally publish his music for the masses and thus further enlighten them. This was after he had published the texts for his compositions publicly. He was happy to oblige, and is considered to have inspired a generation.
Listen to lovely composition here: https://youtu.be/SERoON1BOaI
The press could not even impede the drive of such a new genre. Notable publishers became split on perceptions to the film. Some publishers defended the film on behalf of the state, as many notable officials loved the film and approved it for dissemination to the masses (such a Stalin who wanted more films like Jolly Fellows to be produced). Other publishers saw the film a lacking in soviet ideological substance and was too American to be endorsed to the masses. The public’s opinion won over though, especially since it was in line with Stalin who approved the film’s participation in Venice’s second film festival, choosing not to follow the denial from the Organizational Office (OB) of the Film Commission.
As a result, it is my firm belief that not only should the Soviet Union continue to promote Soviet musical comedy, but should venture to incorporate more effective cinematic tools from around the world as cinema progresses. Soviet cinema will continue to modernize so long as it follows under this formula, and thus so will the state.
