2020 Paley Archive Elements 3840x1536 Banner2

NBC WHITE PAPER: THE DEATH OF STALIN (TV)

Summary

One in this series of irregularly scheduled documentaries. Part one of this four-part documentary examining communism. Part one analyzes the struggle for power among the Soviet leadership upon the death of Joseph Stalin. Highlights include the following: at the height of his power, in 1952, Stalin (with Georgi Malenkov, Lavrenti P. Beria, and Vyacheslav Molotov) is shown reviewing a parade in Red Square; on Oct. 5, 1952, the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union meets to discuss stricter internal control and tougher foreign policy, with speeches by Molotov, Malenkov, Stalin, and Khrushchev; Stalin at the Bolshoi; anti-Semitic propaganda in Russian papers and purges occur in a dozen cities; on Jan. 13, 1953, prominent doctors are imprisoned and "Pravda" announces the "doctors' plot" charging doctors (some Jewish) with plotting against Soviet leadership; on Feb. 7, 1953, Indian ambassador K.P.S. Menon meets with Stalin, who cryptically discusses the plots against himself; on Feb. 19, Stalin makes his last public appearance; Philippe Ben recounts a story about Beria's reaction to Stalin's pretending to fall dead; on March 4, 1953, "Pravda" announces that Stalin has suffered a brain hemorrhage, and Malenkov, Molotov, and Beria take over the government; on March 5, 1953, Stalin dies and the next morning the news agency TASS announces his death; John Foster Dulles on Stalin's death; Stalin's funeral and burial in Lenin's tomb; Beria makes a bid for power and purges supporters of Malenkov and Molotov; Presidium plots to get rid of Beria; on June 16, 1953, East Berlin revolts against the Communists, and on June 17, Soviet tanks put down the revolt; June 26, all Soviet leaders, except Beria, are present at the Bolshoi's "Swan Lake"; Georges Brutelle, Joseph C. Harsch, and others, on Beria's death; the official report records Beria's trial on Dec. 23, 1953, and execution on Dec. 24; Oct. 1961, at the 22nd Party Congress, an old woman demands Stalin's removal from Lenin's tomb; and a look toward Khrushchev's rise to power. Includes commercials.

Details

  • NETWORK: NBC
  • DATE: January 27, 1963 Sunday 10:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:58:38
  • COLOR/B&W: B&W
  • CATALOG ID: T80:0281
  • GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Ballet; Communism - 1952; Communism - 1953; Communist Party - U S S R; U S S R - Economic conditions; U S S R - Foreign relations; U S S R - Politics and government; Berlin, riot - June 1953; Propaganda - U S S R
  • SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1960-1980
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Irving Gitlin … Executive Producer
  • Fred Freed … Producer, Writer
  • Len Giovannitti … Associate Producer, Director
  • Chet Huntley … Narrator
  • Philippe Ben
  • Lavrenti P. Beria
  • Bolshoi Ballet
  • Georges Brutelle
  • John Foster Dulles
  • Joseph C. Harsch
  • Nikita S. Khrushchev
  • Vladimir Lenin
  • Georgi Malenkov
  • K.P.S. Menon
  • Molotov (Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Skriabin)
  • Joseph Stalin