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"THUNDER OVER MEXICO"
LIES!
Mexico is NOT a natural paradise where happy people live in peace in plenty!
Mexico is NOT the idyllic picture of "beauty and charm" as it has been described by the sponsors of this film!
Mexico is NOT merely the colorful land of the exotic magueys and majestic Mayan temples. In Mexico the masses are oppressed, exploited and degraded by a military dictatorship whose record of cold-blooded murders and ruthless repression ranks with that of Machado, deposed Cuban tyrant.
The startling beauty of the Mexican land is undeniable, and the Soviet cameraman Edourd Tisse, has succeeded in capturing that beauty in every single and unforgettable foot of this film.
But the Mexican peasants are being driven off this picturesque land by force of arms! Murder bands calling themselves "Liga de Defensa Social," hired by the Wall Street-controlled Calless-Rodriguez government of landowners, plunder and exterminate the peons wherever they offer resistance to forcible eviction from the land.
About these deeds there is nothing either particularly "charming" or "beautiful." No more so than the assassination of labor leaders and suppression of the trade unions. No more so than the wholesale exile of hundreds of intellectuals, workers and peasants to the dreaded "Mexican Devil's Island," Islas Marias.
"THUNDER OVER MEXICO" hails the perpetrators of these deeds and glorifies their existence! HOW? By singing the praises of what it calls "The New Mexico." By showing the peasantry uplifted and "civilized" by the present regime. By asking us to believe that this mythical "New Mexico" is primarily concerned with the welfare of the Mexican people!
That is why we say that "THUNDER OVER MEXICO" lies! That is why we say that to credit this film to Sergei Eisenstein, Soviet director, is adding insult to injury!
No barrage of ballyhoo and publicity can convince us that a director responsible for the greatest films ever made dealing with the struggle of the Soviet masses for emancipation from Czarist oppression and tyranny (POTEMKIN, OCTOBER, STRIKE, OLD AND NEW), could have turned out the monstrous distortion of reality that is the present version of what was once entitled QUE VIVA MEXICO! "THUNDER OVER MEXICO" was not edited by Eisenstein but by Hollywood "montage masters" who completely distorted Eisenstein's original conception of a film that was intended to satirize rather than glorify the present reactionary Mexican regime.
We call upon all movie-goers to demand the withdrawal of this film and the restitution of the original negative to Eisenstein. LET YOUR PROTEST BE HEARD WHEREVER THE FILM IS EXHIBITED. SEND YOUR PROTEST TO STOP THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FILM!
The releasers of "THUNDER OVER MEXICO" in their advance publicity express the pious hope that their film might be appreciated by they call the "gum-chewing" movie-going audience.
We call upon you, the "gum-chewing" audience to show your appreciation of "THUNDER OF MEXICO" by forcing the film off the screen!
Send protests immediately to SOL LESSER, distributor, Radio City Bldg., NYC
Send protests to ARTHUR MAYER, Mgr., Rialto Theatre, Times Square, NYC
WORKERS FILM AND PHOTO LEAGUE, 220 East 14th Street.
ANTI-IMPERIALIST LEAGUE OF AMERICA, 90 East 10th Street.
P. S. We wish to make it clear that we are in no wise connected with groups or individuals who have been campaigning against "THUNDER OVER MEXICO" on the basis of rumors, personalities gossip.
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1933
reproduction of a Handbill protesting the mutilation of QUE VIVA MEXICO!. The "gum-chewing" reference is in reaction to Upton Sinclair's statement that he wanted to present a film wo which the "gum-chewing audience" could respond.
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