Filmed by an unknown American tourist, this silent home movie shows a visit to Soviet Russia “after twenty years”. Presumably this means 20 years after the Revolution, or 1938. The film is notable because it presents a propaganda free look at life in the USSR just a few years before the outbreak of WWII, and during some of the worst purges in Soviet history.
At :28 views of Kiev are seen including the old monastery at 1:01. At 2:08 Sports Day Parade is shown in the city with many floats including one at 2:35 showing Stalin. Men and women march by in athletic uniforms. At 3:48 a peculiar float rides by adorned with images of party officials. At 4:00 the Kiev stadium is shown for the Athletic Day events.
At 5:45 an outdoor concert rehearsal is seen and at 6:30 a farming collective is shown. At 6:53 what might be beehives are seen. At 7:00 private plots of land are shown as well as houses. At 7:30 a mother or babushka poses with an infant. Kids are seen at 7:40, their heads covered with scarves. At 8:10 cattle are shown roaming on the farm. At 8:30 old and new methods of farming are seen with a modern harvester at 8:55. At 9:47 a Pioneer Palace is shown at Kharkov and at 9:55 a Ford bus carrying kids to a Pioneer Camp. The Young Pioneer camp (Russian: Пионерский лагерь) was the name for the vacation or summer camp of Young Pioneers. In the 20th century these camps existed in many socialist countries, particularly in the Soviet Union. The Young Pioneer camps of the Soviet Union were the place of vacation for children from the Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union during summer and winter holidays.
At 10:46 a sanatorium or fresh air camp is shown.
At 11:20 a modern hospital at Kharkov is seen including a patient undergoing a procedure and staff.
At 11:53 an illuminated map of Spain, which was at that time undergoing a civil war, is seen on the wall of a building.
At 12:15 Gorki Park, Moscow is shown with its entrance bedecked with an image of Stalin. At 12:30 the entrance to the zoo is seen. At 12:50 a parachute tower and amateur acrobatics are shown. The tower was built in the early 1930s and was the most expensive rides in the park (1 Ruble as opposed to 10 Kopecks to enter the park). It was 35 meters high and the jump was imitated using a special rope system, slowing down the fall. But still, it was thrilling. The tower was used in WWII as a watchtower and eventually removed in the 1950s as it had started to disintegrate.
At 13:30 a high wire type acrobatic act is shown in the park.
At 14:15 the film shows airplanes on display at some kind of special exhibit.
At 14:42 a wild amusement ride is shown with a man “flying” on a pendulum of some sort. At 15:20 the boulevard along Gorky Park is shown.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
