Circus

Grigori Aleksandrov's 1936 Soviet film follows a woman working in a circus in America. When it emerges that she has a mixed-race child she meets racist pressure and has to leave the country; in the Soviet Union she is accepted. The film is built as a musical and the production numbers are on a scale to rival Hollywood of the period. Lyubov Orlova leads and her songs entered Soviet popular culture. The political function is open. Racism in America was a real phenomenon, but the film constructs it as a contrast demonstrating the superiority of the Soviet system and never touches the repression in its own country. As a state-backed production that frame was set from the outset. Who it's for: those curious about Soviet musicals and thirties cinema. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a neutral account; the film was openly made as propaganda.