[SoCal Pubbie]

They've been running Eisenstein movies lately I think on American Movie Classics. Anyway, very influential Russian director. The scene in The Untouchables where the baby carriage goes down the stairs in the train station in Chicago is a rip off of the Odessa steps sequence in Battleship Potemkin.

I once read that one of the big things about Ole' Sergei is that unlike the usual sequence of establishing shot, mid shot, reaction, etc. his scenes were a series of varied shots designed to create a rhythm and tension by their framing and juxtaposition. He had the backing of the Soviet government so budgets weren't a big deal and there were often thousands of extras in his films.

http://waynesweb.ualr.edu/Expressionism/Eisenstein.htm

[Dawgreg]

I remember that scene in The Untouchables......hmmm, wonder if "The Kiss of Death" was a catalyst for his style. I couldn't believe Richard Widmark ACTUALLY pushed Mildred Dunnock down that flight of stairs! And she was in a wheelchair, fcol! *~*

[bannie]

In Einstein's era, there was no accepted format. Everything was new, and there was not yet an established language for reading a film.