La Tierra (Earth)

Barcelona: Union de Quiosqueros, 1931. First Edition. First edition, n. d. (1931); 6 3/4 x 4 3/4; pp. [3], 6-28, [4]; stapled, pictorial wraps, printed in black, white, and red; illustrated with four half-tones; a bit of wear to corners and spine; very good condition.A wonderful and quite-rare photoplay for this Russian, Proletariat, silent movie, it was published for its release in Barcelona in November of 1931, a year after it was first shown in Russia. The illustrated synopsis, with simple dialogue, appeared in the weekly publication "La Pelicula Nueva," Vol. I, No. 4, although in this case the entire issue was devoted to this one film, whose plot revolved around collectivization. After its appearance, the creator - screen writer, producer, and director Oleksandr Dovzhenko (1894 - 1956) - was forced by the Soviet Gocernment to severely re-edit it. Praised as one of the best silent movies ever made, it was voted one of the twelve greatest films of all time by a panel of over a 100 film historians at the 1958 Brussels World Fair and named one of the top ten greatest films of all time by the International Film Critics Symposium. This publication was especially timely, here issued during the Second Spanish Republic, when agricultural reform and the topic of agricultural cooperatives were major political and economic topics.