Film Comment:
From Russia to Hollywood: The 100-Year Odyssey of Chekhov and Shdanoff
Stanislavsky thought of Michael Chekhov as his most brilliant student. Even today, 55 years after his death, Chekhov is celebrated as one of the 20th century's best men of the theater.
In 1920, Chekhov emigrated to Germany, where he started an acting school and met George Shdanoff, who became his business partner. They took the school with them when they emigrated to America in the 1930's. As a team they became highly influential in the world of acting although their method was not as famous as Lee Strasberg's 'method acting', which also came out of the Stanislavsky school. However for artists like Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Depp, Chekhov's technique (as described in his book “On the Technique of Acting”) has proven an important source of inspiration.
In the film, some of Chekhov's and Shdanoff's students talk about their experiences. Prime examples of Chekhov's technique are shown in film sequences that have since become famous.
Credits
Original Title: From Russia to Hollywood: The 100-Year Odyssey of Chekhov and Shdanoff
Language:
English original version
Country of Origin: USA
Year : 2002
Duration: 96 Min.
color, b/w
Director: Frederick Keeve
Script: Frederick Keeve
Camera: Peter Bonilla, R.G. Wilson
Editing: Tee Bosustow, Robert Gordon
Sound: Margaret Duke
Music: Frederick Keeve
Starring/Featuring: John Berry, Dorothy Dean Bridges, Lloyd Bridges, Brandon Brooks, Leslie Caron, Jeff Corey, Lisa Dalton, Sharon Gless, Hurd Hatfield, Jack Larson, Isabel Leigh, Patricia Neal, Jack Palance, Anthony Quinn, Ford Rainey, Paul Rogers, Javier Ronceros, Richard Schickel, George Shdanoff, Craig Sheffer, Mark Sheppard, William Morgan Sheppard, Robert Stack, Beatrice Straight
Production: Aslan Productions, City Block Productions, Keeve Productions, Peter Spirer, Chuck Block, Frederick Keeve, Lisa Dalton, Sue MIschel
narrated by: Gregory Peck, Mala Powers
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About the Film
Michael Chekhov and George Shdanoff
left Russia and traveled first to Germany, then England, and finally to America. Once in Hollywood, they became one of the most influential and successful actor training teams in America. Chekhov was an esteemed actor in America, even though he refused to act in film for two decades; he was a man of the stage. Although he appeared in only a few film roles, he received an Oscar nomination for playing Ingrid Bergman's psychoanalyst in Hitchcock's “Spellbound”.
Oscar winner Anthony Quinn, a famous student of Chekhov and Shdanoff
As teachers, Chekhov and Shdanoff influenced the careers of many of Hollywood's greats including Leslie Caron, Gregory Peck, Rex Harrison, Grace Kelly and Clint Eastwood. They also inspired such well-known actors as Ingrid Bergman, Lloyd Bridges, Yul Brynner, Gary Cooper, James Dean,Sterling Hayden, Jennifer Jones, Gene Kelly, Grace Kelly,Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Jack Palance, Tyrone Power and Anthony Quinn.
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