The Russian Question
About The Russian Question
In New York in 1946, newspaper owners MacPherson and Gould send correspondent Harry Smith to the Soviet Union for copy that will say the Russians want war. Smith returns and writes what he saw instead. MacPherson, who has already advertised the book, turns on him. Smith loses the house and the job, and his wife leaves. Unable to publish, he speaks about the country at meetings.
Cast & crew
More about The Russian Question
Mikhail Romm directed and co-wrote the script with Konstantin Simonov from Simonov's play. The story stays in America; the Soviet Union is shown only in a short run of shots. Russian Wikipedia gives the release as 8 March 1948.
Themes
Background
Simonov's play and Romm's film treat the early Cold War press campaign from the American side of the desk.
Making
Romm shot the picture at Mosfilm with Boris Volchek as cinematographer and set the action in a New York newsroom rather than in Moscow streets.
Look
Boris Volchek photographed the American interiors; the Soviet trip is only a brief cluster of shots.
Music
Aram Khachaturian wrote the score.
Preservation
A full copy circulates, including the file on Wikimedia Commons titled as the 1947 production.
Notes
- Vsevolod Aksyonov plays Harry Smith.
- Yelena Kuzmina, Mikhail Astangov, Mikhail Nazvanov, Boris Tenin, and Mariya Barabanova are in the cast.
- The Russian title is Русский вопрос.
- Wikidata lists the running time as 91 minutes; Russian Wikipedia lists 88 minutes, close to a circulating copy of 88 minutes and 24 seconds.
Awards
- Stalin Prize, first class (1948), to Mikhail Romm, Boris Volchek, Vsevolod Aksyonov, Mikhail Astangov, Yelena Kuzmina, Mikhail Nazvanov, and Boris Tenin
Scenes
- MacPherson reads the manuscript he has already advertised and turns on Smith.
- Smith, unpublished and out of work, speaks at a meeting.
Influenced by
- Konstantin Simonov's play The Russian Question
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (1947. Русский вопрос.webm)
