Medvedkin, Aleksandr Ivanovich

Born Feb. 24 (Mar. 8), 1900, in Penza. Soviet film director and scriptwriter. People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1969). Member of the CPSU (1920).

Medvedkin was a political worker in the Red Army. In 1927 he began work at the Gosvoenkino Studio, first as a screenwriter and assistant director and later as a director. In 1932 he was in charge of a train that was used to make motion pictures. Medvedkin directed satirical, topical short film comedies, including A Billet (1930), Stop, Thief! (1930), Fruits and Vegetables (1931), Some Fool You Are, Boy (1931), About a White Bull-calf (1931), and Titus (1932). Medvedkin also directed the full-length motion pictures Happiness (1935), The Wonder-worker (1937), and Liberated Earth (1946). During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 he was in charge of groups of cameramen at the front.

Since 1948, Medvedkin has worked at the Central Studio of Documentary Films. His documentary film-satires, dedicated to the struggle against warmongers and to exposing the inhumanity of the capitalist system, have been very successful. These films include Reason Against Madness (1960), The Law of Baseness (1961), Friendship With a Break-in (1966), Ghost of a Private First-class (1967), and Night Over China (1972). Medvedkin is noted for his attempts to develop new creative methods and for his vivid originality. He has been awarded the Order of Lenin, three other orders, and a number of medals.