10 Days that shook the world, BBC 4

[Stanley Stewart]

A rare screening of October,10 Days That Shook The World, (1928)
on BBC 4, Sunday, 5 Nov, 20.00- 21.40hrs. I already have a copy of
The Battleship Potemkin, (1925) on HD - a superior film IMV - but
look forward to transferring both titles to DVD as ideal companions.

A transmission of the Maxim Gorky trilogy in due course would also
be welcome although I already have a commercial set on my shelves.
Instant memories of trips to the Academy, Oxford St, or the Everyman,
Hampstead, when I settled in London in the late 50s.
Wonderful discoveries.

[DracoM]

Ah, yes, the Academy in Oxford St!! Shaped my whole cinematic life back in the day! What a place that was!

[Ferretfancy]

I think that the version of October being shown tonight is an earlier print, possibly one made for German showings. The version shown at the Barbican a couple of weeks ago ran for two hours with Meisel's original score played by the LSO. I'm not sure what the music track will be with tonights' showing.

I still miss cinemas like the Academy, and also the Coronet at Notting Hill Gate, discovering films by Visconti, de Sica and Jean Renoir. Let's not forget the old NFT, which showed more historic films than it does today.

[Stanley Stewart]

Indeed, Draco, happy, happy memories of George Hoellering, (1897-1980),
Austrian director and producer, who shrewdly managed the Academy for so
many years, followed by his son. When he was around in the foyer, he was
always accessible to curious youngsters and eager to promote his forthcoming
Ingmar Bergman summer seasons, or the treat of a Russian Hamlet, Innokenti Smoktunovsky,
in 1964 - 3/6d for the first few rows of a seat in the Stalls!

[Ferretfancy]

Indeed, Draco, happy, happy memories of George Hoellering, (1897-1980),
Austrian director and producer, who shrewdly managed the Academy for so
many years, followed by his son. When he was around in the foyer, he was
always accessible to curious youngsters and eager to promote his forthcoming
Ingmar Bergman summer seasons, or the treat of a Russian Hamlet, Innokenti Smoktunovsky,
in 1964 - 3/6d for the first few rows of a seat in the Stalls!

Do you remember that when George Hoellering was short of a booking for the Academy he always programmed Hortobagy, a film about Hungarian wild horses. Similarly, whenever the NFT back then had a gap in the schedules they always put on Top Hat. Somebody in the projection box was very fond of El Salon Mexico which was nearly always played while we were waiting!

[Stanley Stewart]

Do you remember that when George Hoellering was short of a booking for the Academy he always programmed Hortobagy, a film about Hungarian wild horses. Similarly, whenever the NFT back then had a gap in the schedules they always put on Top Hat. Somebody in the projection box was very fond of El Salon Mexico which was nearly always played while we were waiting!

Hortobagy, indeed, Ff! - a regular topic, along with Murder in the Cathedral,1952ish. I wonder whether Mr Hoellering managed to schedule Hortobagy - a 25mins documentary if my memory is accurate - at the Mayfair cinema which he also managed for
several years? And TOP HAT was always a favourite substitute when a dud booking hit the
circuits. I recall arriving at a cinema to see Beat the Devil, a Bogey caper which flopped all over the country only to be told that Beat the Devil had attracted a few dozen viewers
in the first couple of days...continuous performance, too.

[Serial_Apologist]

Back to topic, in case this was not mentioned, the actual capture of the Winter Palace was not quite the human tsunami portrayed in Eisenstein's fillum. Apocryphally the first lot of invaders raided the wine cellars and got thoroughly sloshed. The problem with revolutions...

I shall however be watching the "Engels remix", coming up shortly, same channel.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Back to topic, in case this was not mentioned, the actual capture of the Winter Palace was not quite the human tsunami portrayed in Eisenstein's fillum. Apocryphally the first lot of invaders raided the wine cellars and got thoroughly sloshed. The problem with revolutions...

As historically accurate as Shakey's Richard III, or Gance's Napoleon, then?

Terrific film, though: the creative use of camera work, the performances - and the hilarious imagery (Kerensky entering the Tsar's cut with the automaton of the peacock turning its posterior to the camera - the Menshevics harping on ... with harps! ).. Wonderful stuff.

[Serial_Apologist]

As historically accurate as Shakey's Richard III, or Gance's Napoleon, then?

Terrific film, though: the creative use of camera work, the performances - and the hilarious imagery (Kerensky entering the Tsar's cut with the automaton of the peacock turning its posterior to the camera - the Menshevics harping on ... with harps! ).. Wonderful stuff.

When you think what he might have produced with today's technology - or could he??

By the say, the Engels documentary that followed was just a bit of fluff, but fun for all that.

[Stanley Stewart]

A truly mind-blowing experience and I'm still mystified by the mastery of the cross-cutting throughout. Must look further to see whether there is a log of pre-production meetings,
cutting room editorial conferences etc. My first priority is to do an overnight transfer of
The Battleship Potemkin and 10 days...from HD to DVD. Both features in pristine prints!

[DracoM]

Yes, the Academy was where I was first mesmerised and awed by Bergman and much of the rich Russian cinema heritage, and the incomparable Andreij Wajda.

[richardfinegold]

This thread stirred recollections of the movie Reds, Warren Beatty’s magnum opus with an all star cast. I didn’t see it when came out in the late 1970s. It was critically panned and even in my late teens the thought of sitting through a 3&1/2 hour movie didn’t appeal. I did read 10 Days That Shook The World at the time. The centenary has stirred some interest and watching it home at leisure changes things as well.
There is a lot to praise—terrific acting by Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson—Warren Beatty is playing Warren Beatty—epic scenes are sweeping, the score is good, etc. it just doesn’t add up to the sum of it’s parts. There are long arid stretches, and the cringe worthy dialog no doubt composed by Beatty, who is listed as the chief screenwriter. At times he seems to be regurgitating history booktext verbatim.