Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema

831 Pages·2008·2.37 MB·English

by  Peter Rollberg

Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts
Jon Woronoff, Series Editor
1. Science Fiction Literature, by Brian Stableford, 2004.
2. Hong Kong Cinema, by Lisa Odham Stokes, 2007.
3. American Radio Soap Operas, by Jim Cox, 2005.
4. Japanese Traditional Theatre, by Samuel L. Leiter, 2006.
5. Fantasy Literature, by Brian Stableford, 2005.
6. Australian and New Zealand Cinema, by Albert Moran and
Errol Vieth, 2006.
7. African-American Television, by Kathleen Fearn-Banks, 2006.
8. Lesbian Literature, by Meredith Miller, 2006.
9. Scandinavian Literature and Theater, by Jan Sjåvik, 2006.
10. British Radio, by Seán Street, 2006.
11. German Theater, by William Grange, 2006.
12. African American Cinema, by S. Torriano Berry and
Venise Berry, 2006.
13. Sacred Music, by Joseph P. Swain, 2006.
14. Russian Theater, by Laurence Senelick, 2007.
15. French Cinema, by Dayna Oscherwitz and MaryEllen Higgins,
2007.
16. Postmodernist Literature and Theater, by Fran Mason, 2007.
17. Irish Cinema, by Roderick Flynn and Pat Brereton, 2007.
18. Australian Radio and Television, by Albert Moran and
Chris Keating, 2007.
19. Polish Cinema, by Marek Haltof, 2007.
20. Old-Time Radio, by Robert C. Reinehr and Jon D. Swartz, 2008.
21. Renaissance Art, by Lilian H. Zirpolo, 2008.
22. Broadway Musical, by William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird,
2008.
23. American Theater: Modernism, by James Fisher and
Felicia Hardison Londré, 2008.
24. German Cinema, by Robert C. Reimer and Carol J. Reimer, 2008.
25. Horror Cinema, by Peter Hutchings, 2008.
26. Westerns in Cinema, by Paul Varner, 2008.
27. Chinese Theater, by Tan Ye, 2008.
28. Italian Cinema, by Gino Moliterno, 2008.
29. Architecture, by Allison Lee Palmer, 2008.
30. Russian and Soviet Cinema, by Peter Rollberg, 2009.

Historical Dictionary
of Russian and
Soviet Cinema
Peter Rollberg
Historical Dictionaries of
Literature and the Arts, No. 30
The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
2009
SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.scarecrowpress.com
Estover Road
Plymouth PL6 7PY
United Kingdom
Copyright © 2009 by Peter Rollberg
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rollberg, P.
Historical dictionary of Russian and Soviet cinema / Peter Rollberg.
p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of literature and the arts ; no. 30)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-6072-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8108-6072-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
eISBN-13: 978-0-8108-6268-5
eISBN-10: 0-8108-6268-9
1. Motion pictures–Soviet Union–Biography–Dictionaries. 2. Motion pictures–
Russia–Biography–Dictionaries. 3. Motion pictures–Soviet Union–Dictionaries.
4. Motion pictures–Russia–Dictionaries. I. Title.
PN1998.2.R578 2008
791.430947'03–dc22 2008022529
(cid:2) ™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
To Vladimir Borisovich Berenshtein,
filmmaker and mentor,
and to Anastasia Platonovna Zueva,
actress and friend

Contents
Editor’s Foreword Jon Woronoff ix
Preface xi
Reader’s Note xvii
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms xix
Chronology xxiii
Introduction 1
THE DICTIONARY 21
Bibliography 767
About the Author 793
vii

Editor’s Foreword
This is a rather special volume in the cinema subseries because it deals,
partly, with the same place under different names and regimes: namely,
Russia both before and after Communism, as well as with the broader
realm of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the
Communist era, which means it also includes a large circle of other
national cinemas. There is a notable lack of continuity regarding the
geographical spread, but that is nothing compared to the lack of conti-
nuity regarding the regimes under which the cinema industry evolved:
tsarism, Communism, and the present state, however it may be defined.
These three regimes have precious little in common, aside from one
thing—namely, adversity. There was initially scant interest and support
in tsarist Russia for cinema to flourish, and then far too much interfer-
ence in the Soviet Union, which is hardly compensated by the present
lack of concern. Yet, amazingly enough, despite all the constraints and
hardships, Russian/Soviet/Russian cinema has produced some remark-
able actors, directors, cameramen, and composers. And it has given the
world some utterly unforgettable films.
The unique challenge of this Historical Dictionary of Russian and
Soviet Cinema is thus to present a comprehensible overview of more
than a century of cinema and yet to show the specifics of each period
and place, and how they affected the work of sometimes the very same
filmmakers who knew how to adapt as well as the work of some who
could not have emerged in any other context. This is done most easily in
the chronology, which traces the frequently chaotic and often stultifying
events. The introduction helps us to understand any similarities and dif-
ferences and to make sense of the whole thing. But it is the dictionary
section with its many telling details that allows us to develop a better
feel for the many directors, performers, and cinematographers—those
favored by the regime and those discarded (or worse), the production
ix