Cinematheque: Red Hollywood, The Musicals of Grigori Alexandrov and Lubov Orlova

An American star takes refuge in a European circus in the wake of a mysterious scandal. After she falls for a Soviet gymnast, the circus manager tries to blackmail her but is thwarted by an outpouring of love and tolerance from Stalin’s people. Featuring Busby Berkeley-style choreography, death-defying stunts, an evil Chaplin, and perhaps the strangest racial politics you will ever see in a big-budget 1930s production. Tsirk, Russia, 1936, 35mm, b/w, 94 min., subtitled.