MOTHER. I think we should. It’s a long time since I was at the theatre ...

2. CINEMA

a)      Realist Tradition

The Eisenstein tradition is acknowledged the world over as one of the greatest in film making. It is actually felt in almost all the works of present-day film producers, many of whom studied under Eisenstein.

Producers like Gerasimov, Alexandrov, Yutkevich, Pyryev and others are the custodians of this tradition of realism.

The first prize-winning film at the first Moscow festival, “And Quiet Flows the Don”, based on Mikhail Sholokhov’s famous novel, is a striking example of this tradition.

It was produced by S. Gerasimov, who was awarded the festival’s first prize for personal work.

The Soviet producers in selecting their stars for a film make it a point of looking for people who are really like their literary prototypes, not only in external appearance, but inwardly, spiritually.

In choosing the actors for “And Quiet Flows the Don” great importance was attached to the ability to abandon theatrical convention and to act in, what cinema people call, the actual setting — to live on horseback, to master the cossack’s way of speaking, mannerisms, his humour.

Almost all the work on the film was done in the Don country in the actual setting described in the novel, with the cooperation of the local Cossacks, and the result has been to bring the very breath of the Cossack country to the screen, with the breathtaking beauty of the open-air scenes and the sunsests on the steppes.

The film “The Idiot”, which is a screen version of Dostoevsky’s novel under the same title, may serve as another example of this tradition of realism.

All his life Dostoevsky felt a keen concern at the fate of men humiliated by the power of money, and this feeling emerges in all his works, including the novel “The Idiot”. That is why Pyryev, the producer of the film, in his approach to the novel took up as the principal theme the task of disclosing the shameful power of money over the human soul. Thus the story and the idea of the novel have been correctly interpreted and the leading characters represented without distortion.

b)      Going to the Cinema

K. Have you been to a cinema lately?

M. Well, let me think. Oh, yes, I saw “      ”      weeks ago.

К. I haven’t seen it. Is it any good?

M. I really couldn’t say it was up to much. The plot is so much tangled up that I couldn’t make out who’s who in the picture.

K. Wouldn’t you like to see something now?

M. I’d love to, but a really nice picture. Is there anything decent on anywhere?

К. I was told that “      ”      is a very nice film.

M. Is it of our production?

K. No, it’s an English talkie dubbed in Russian.

M. It’s a pity that it is dubbed. I like to hear the English language, you know. Just for the sake of practice.

K. So do I. Would you care to see that film?

M. All right. Where is it going on?

K. They have it at the Hermitage. Would you like to go there?

M. I should indeed.

(At the cinema.)

M. Now, would you believe it! We’ll have to queue for the tickets.

K. I’ll jump it.

M. In no case. You forget that you are with a lady, and besides, isn’t it a shame to ... jump a queue?

К. I beg your pardon. I was anxious to get tickets for the next show, you know.

M. Why, wouldn’t we be able to get them?

K. Not for the next. They are letting out now.

M. All the better. We might go for a walk then.

K. That’s a good idea. We’ll have almost two hours on our hands.

M. It’s your turn now, isn’t it?

K. Well, here are the tickets, Row 10, Seats 11 and 12.

M. These are good seats. I hate sitting far from the screen.

K. So do I. Well? What about -.

M. Yes, let’s go.

3. AT A CONCERT

ANN. What good seats we have got! We are lucky, aren’t we?

MARY. We are, indeed. What are the highlights of tonight’s programme, do you know?

ANN. Well, it’s a mixed programme, but the crowning interest of the concert will be in the second part.

MARY. Say, Ann, there goes the usher. Get a programme from him, will you?

ANN. Well, here it is. Let’s see what is on. Now, didn’t I tell you?

MARY. Tell me what?

ANN. That the most interesting part of the concert will be the second.

MARY. You did say something to that effect, but could you let me have a peep at the programme?

ANN. Why, yes! The second part will be a violin recital, see?

MARY. I do. How fortunate we are. We are going to hear Eugenie

N. play.

ANN. That’ll be great. I like to hear him play.

MARY. So do I. The violin sings and soars when he plays.

ANN. Yes, his technique is indeed brilliant. I saw him once on the screen.

MARY. And I happened to hear him on the air some time ago.

ANN. Who’s the accompanist?

MARY. A certain George M. I don’t know him, do you?

ANN. Neither do I. What comes first on the programme?

MARY. Ssh! They’re about to begin.

4. RADIO

G. Why! I thought you were at the football match, Tom.

T. No luck. Couldn’t get a ticket. And you?

G. Well, I was to go on commission, you see, and then it was postponed. But what about coming over to me?

T. And getting it on the wireless?

G. Yes.

T. That’s a good idea. We’ll be in time for it, I suppose.

G. Oh yes, I live close by. I’ve got a new set, don’t you know?

T. No, I didn’t know. A good one?

G. Yes. An all-wave set with push-button control. You will see it presently.

T. With a recorder?

G. Yes. It works on miniature valves.

T. Does it? It should be a good one then.

G. It is. Well, here we are. Come in.

T. Anybody at home?

G. No. All have gone out. This way, Tom.

T. Oh, it’s a beauty, it is. A 13 valve set, isn’t it?

G. Yes, and how do you like the shape of the plastic cover? Isn’t it nice?

T. It is.

G. I intend to install a remote-control extension¹.

T. What for?

G. Why! You can switch the set on and even tune in from any of the rooms.

T. Really! I’ve never heard of that before.

G. Well now, let’s switch it on. It has a magic eye tuning², see?

T. Yes. It cost you a pretty penny, didn’t it?

G. It did. I’d been saving up money for quite a time. It was my dream to have one like this, you know.

T. Yes.

G. Well, I’ve tuned in. Here’s the announcer speaking.

T. I can hear him as plain as ever.

Vocabulary Notes

¹ remote-control extension — ди- ² magic eye tuning — настройка станционное управление      по электронному индикатору

5. DANCING

G. I say, Fred, do you want a ticket for a dance? I mean, two tickets?

F. How did you come to get them? I didn’t know that you were a dancer.

G. My sister gave me them. She’ll be engaged this evening — an appointment, I suppose.

F. And why don’t you want to go?

G. Well, I don’t mind walking or running or climbing, but I’m the world’s worst dancer.

F. I don’t think you can be worse than I am.

G. Oh, yes, I am. Why, a girl once asked me if I danced. I never spoke to her again.

F. Why not? It was quite a polite question.

G. Yes, but I was dancing with her when she asked me. Can you beat that?

F. I can. Well, I was dancing with a girl once and I asked her if she had ever danced with a worse dancer.

G. And what did she answer?

F. She didn’t say a word.

G. Well?

F. So I repeated the question.

G. And -.

F. And you know what she said?

G. How can I know?

F. She said, “I heard you the first time. I was trying to think.” How do you like it?

G. Well, I am under the impression that we are the most “wonderful” dancers in the world, aren’t we?