This Is Russia

Many contemporary sources refer to the film as This Is Russia!, adding an exclamation point to the title. According to an August 1957 Los Angeles Times news item, Universal acquired Sid Feder's film, shot over a period of seven months during five trips to Russia, and planned for it to be released at a running time of 90 minutes. The final film, however, ran for 67 minutes. As reported by press notes and a January 16, 1958 Los Angeles Mirror article, on his trip Feder tricked his ever-present official Soviet Intourist guides, who limited what he was allowed to photograph, by using a right-angle viewfinder that appeared to be shooting in a different direction. In this way he was able to gather images of urban poverty and civic unrest. The article adds that because Feder, a producer, was not allowed to bring any crew with him, he personally carried 160 pounds of camera equipment over 20,000 miles and shot all of the footage himself.
       Press notes also state that Feder was repeatedly arrested during his travels, for infractions of Russian law. A August 22, 1957 BHC article notes that Russian officials confiscated or exposed some of his film. Several reviews state that some of the information in the film is historically inaccurate or, as the Daily Variety reviewer remarks, "dubious," including the scene the narrator refers to as a fight between police and students, but which appears to be a crowd clustered around a streetcar. Contemporary reviewers differed in opinion about the tone of the film, which New York Times describes as one of "suspicion and alarm," while Motion Picture Herald stated that the film contained "a minimum of propaganda slanting." The Hollywood Reporter reviewer remarked, "Without in any way admiring the Communist nation, This Is Russia! does point out its tremendous drive to catch up and surpass the West."