''Tsar to Lenin'' is a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

and cinematic record of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, produced by Herman Axelbank. It premiered on March 6, 1937, at the Filmarte Theatre on Fifty-Eighth Street in New York City. Pioneer American radical

Max Eastman Max Forrester Eastman (January 4, 1883 – March 25, 1969) was an American writer on literature, philosophy, and society, a poet, and a prominent political activist. Moving to New York City for graduate school, Eastman became involved with radica ...

(1883-1969) narrates the film. Because of its pro-

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

position, the film was suppressed by the

Stalinists Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism inc ...

of the American Communist Party and was only widely available in a shortened format in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

until its re-release in 2012 by the Socialist Equality Party (US), who state that its predecessor, the Workers League, purchased the film from Axelbank in 1978 and organized showings of the film in the intervening period.

Cast

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early November 1917 ( N.S.). After th ...

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

Production

The footage was collected by Herman Axelbank, starting in 1920. The scenes of the film were gathered from more than 100 different cameras over the course of the next thirteen years. Those behind the camera include the Tsar's royal photographer, the Tsar himself, Soviet photographers, military staff photographers of Germany, Great Britain, Japan and the United States, and others. The narration is provided by the American radical

, who was originally slated to write captions to explain the scenes and help raise money to finance the project.Eastman, Max. Love and Revolution: My Journey through an Epoch. New York: Random House, 1964. Eastman was chosen by Axelbank because of Eastman's close political relations with many leaders of the Bolshevik party, chiefly with

. He also was among the first to provide an account of the political struggle between Trotsky and

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

to the international arena. Eastman also provided Axelbank with additional footage, which included the Tsar swimming with his courtiers, nude. Eastman's narration for this sequence is, "This is the first time the world has seen a king as he really is!” The film premiered at the Filmarte Theater in New York City on March 6, 1937.

Controversy

The ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' gave a favorable review of the film, where they said it was done "extremely well".Nugent, Frank S. "Tsar to Lenin, a Documentary Film. Edited and Compiled by Max Eastman, Collected and Produced by Herman Axelbank." Rev. of Tsar to Lenin. New York Post 9 Mar. 1937 Supporters of Stalin in the US denounced the film. The documentary, which appeared at the height of the Moscow Trials, showed the chief defendant, Trotsky, in an extremely favorable light. Eastman said at the time, :"Trotsky had led the October insurrection and organized the Red army—the films said so—but Stalin was now in total power. ''Tsar to Lenin'' never got the distance of a few dollars beyond the Filmarte Theatre." Five days after the outpouring of praise, a big-headlined article appeared in the ''Daily Worker'', the daily newspaper of the Communist Party, came out decrying Eastman. It said, :"Max Eastman, chief apologist for the Trotsky band of traitors to the Soviet Socialist land, has assembled news-reels and documentary clips. This man is an expert in distortion, chicanery, trickery, innuendo, and outright lies … ''Tzar to Lenin'' must be boycotted … Protest to the management of the Filmarte Theatre … Make it clear to other theatres that ''Tzar to Lenin'' is unadulterated Trotskyist propaganda, and as such cannot be tolerated by the friends of freedom. …Boycott ''Tzar to Lenin''!” The Filmarte Theater, and others, were then told that they would not be allowed to show other films such as

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein; (11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter, film editor and film theorist. Considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, he was a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is no ...

's '' October: Ten Days That Shook the World'', effectively ending the first run of ''Tsar to Lenin''.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Tsar to Lenin
Documentary films about revolutions Russian Revolution films American black-and-white films 1937 documentary films 1937 films American documentary films 1930s American films