DOI 10.51255/2311–603X_2025_3_262

A. N. Chistikov. Orders of the Film Repertoire Control Department as a Historical Source //
Petersburg Historical Journal, no 3, 2025, pp. 262–271

Abstract:

The article is devoted to the analysis of the orders of the Department for the Control of film
Repertoire of the Main Directorate of Cinematography and Film Distribution as a historical source. These materials have not yet been subjected to a source assessment. The orders for 1954–1955 are used for the study. In the history of the country, these were the first years of the activity of the new political leadership, which led to noticeable changes in the domestic and foreign policy of the state. In the history of cinema, the period of low-quality has come to an end. The orders included an assessment of the movies’ readiness for rental or for continued display. According to the results of such an examination, they were divided into four groups:
1) allow, 2) extend, 3) remove, and 4) make corrections. The analysis of the orders leads the author to the conclusion that their use by historians will contribute to a more in-depth study of the history of Soviet cinema and film distribution, as well as state policy in the field of leisure. In some cases, orders can be considered as one of the tools for recording changes in the domestic and foreign policy of the Soviet country in the mid‑1950s and forming a new public opinion of Soviet viewers.

Key words: USSR, “thaw”, leisure, cinematography, film distribution, Soviet feature films, foreign feature films, historical source.

Author:

Chistikov, Alexander Nikolaevich — Dr. of Sci. in History, Leading Researcher, Acting Head of
Department of the History of Russia of the Twentieth Century of the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg, Russia).
E-mail: tchistikov@yandex.ru
ORCID: 0000-0002-1223-0546

References:

Fomin, V. I. Istoriya rossiiskoi kinematografii (1941–1968 gg.). [The History of Russian cinematography (1941–1968). In Russ.]. Moscow, Kanon+, 2019. 735 p.

Ivanov, S. N. Khamza Khakim-zade Niyazi [Hamza Hakim-zadeh Niyazi. In Russ.]. In Khamza Khakimzade Niyazi. Izbrannye proizvedeniya. Leningrad, Sovetskii pisatel’, 1970. P. 5–42.

Kosinova, M. I. Prokatno-vozvratnyi mekhanizm sovetskoi kinematografii v period “zastoya” [The
Rolling-Return Mechanism of Soviet Cinematography During the Period of “Stagnation”. In Russ.]. In Servis Plus. 2016. Vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 64–73.

Rupasov, A. I., Samuelson, L. Sovetsko-shvedskie otnosheniya: vtoraya polovina 1940-kh — nachalo 1960-kh gg. [Soviet-Swedish Relations: the Second Half of the 1940s — Early 1960s. In Russ.]. Moscow, ROSSPEN, 2014. 268 p.

Tanis, K. A. Trofeinoe kino v SSSR v 1940–1950-e gg.: k istorii formirovaniya fenomena [Trophy Cinema in the USSR in the 1940s and 1950s: Towards the History of the Phenomenon’s Formation. In Russ.]. In Kul’tura i iskusstvo. 2017. No. 12, pp. 85–91.

Tanis, K. A. Trofeinye fil’my v SSSR v 1940–1950-e gody: k praktikam kinoprokata [Trophy Films in the USSR in the 1940s and 1950s: Towards the Practices of Film Distribution. In Russ.]. In Artikul’t. 2019. No. 34, pp. 79–88.

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