Soviet Propaganda on American Screens, 1926-1940: An Amkino Pictures Filmography

Although Soviet propaganda films have been widely studied, much less attention has been given to the films the USSR exported to the United States before World War II. This volume focuses on Amkino Pictures, a New York-based company controlled by Moscow that distributed nearly 200 Soviet features in addition to dozens of cartoons, documentaries and newsreels between 1926 and 1940. Amkino became a central conduit for Soviet messaging in the U.S., with the majority of their releases serving an ideological purpose: to promote Soviet interests and shape American perceptions. This filmography details every Amkino-released feature exhibited in the United States. Entries include cast and credits, plot summaries, critical commentary and excerpts from contemporary trade and newspaper reviews. Featured directors include Sergei M. Eisenstein (Battleship Potemkin, Ten Days That Shook the World, Alexander Nevsky), Vsevolod Pudokvin (Storm Over Asia, Mother, Mothers and Sons) and Aleksandr Dovzhenko (Soil, Frontier, Shors), representing a wide range of genres from aviation and biography to comedy, fantasy, and drama. Read more