JAZZMAN FROM THE GULAG (TV) {ENGLISH VERSION}
Summary
This documentary follows the life of German-born jazz trumpeter Eddy Rosner, dubbed "the White Armstrong" by his American colleague Louis Armstrong. The program employs a variety of voices, including a letter in Rosner's voice, narrative commentary, and interviews with family members and friends. The story begins with the young Rosner's aspirations to success as a jazz musician, although in Germany in 1939 prospects were not good for a Jew who played "Negro music." Rosner's letter recalls his early career and some of his musical innovations. He then describes his orchestra's successful tours of Europe between 1928 and 1934, followed by the flight to Poland of his wife Ruth Kaminska and their daughter, Erika, and the beginnings of World War II. Erika Rosner-Kovalick comments on her father's life, and Rosner's move to the Soviet Union during the war is described. The trumpeter toured the country extensively and received a postwar invitation from Stalin to give a concert in Gorky Park. The program goes on to depict the disaster that befell Rosner when an article titled "Vulgarity on the Stage" by Elena Grosheva was published in a Soviet periodical. Vladimir Vinogradov describes the essay, explaining that it scorned Rosner as a "circus trumpeter" and a purveyor of vulgarity. As a consequence, the film explains, the secret police placed Rosner under arrest in 1946, charging him with treason and "possible espionage," among other things. After months of relentless interrogation and even torture, Rosner took a friend's advice, confessing falsely to guilt. He was imprisoned at the Gulag but was able to continue performing. While in prison, he had an affair with a woman named Marina Boiko, who bore him a child. In an interview, Boiko recalls Rosner's talent and suffering when she knew him. At Stalin's death in 1953, the film explains, Rosner gained his freedom. His wife Ruth had left him, taking their daughter, and all he had left was his music, viewers learn. Unable to obtain an exit visa from his adopted country, he threw himself into composition and concerts, eventually becoming one of the best known Soviet performers of popular music. With the help of United States president Richard Nixon, Rosner was finally allowed to return to Berlin. He died in August 1976, just before the German government agreed to grant him a pension as part of a policy of compensation for victims of fascism.
Details
- NETWORK: FR3 (France)
- DATE: November 30, 1998
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:28
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: T:61500
- GENRE: Arts documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: International Collection - France; Jazz; Musicians; Soviet Union - Intellectual life; Soviet Union - Social conditions; Trumpet players - Germany; Trumpet players - Soviet Union; World War II
- SERIES RUN: FR3 (France) - TV
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Helene LeCoeur … Producer
- Pierre-Henry Salfati … Writer, Director
- Natalia Sazanova … Writer
- Jacques Spohr … Researcher
- Victor Botcharov … Researcher
- Marie-Nicole Feret … Researcher
- Geoffrey Bateman … Cast
- Anatoli Martchenko … Cast, Eddy Rosner
- Albert Melkanov … Cast, Stalin
- Louis Armstrong
- Marina Boiko
- Elena Grosheva
- Ruth Kaminska
- Richard M. Nixon
- Eddy Rosner
- Erika Rosner-Kovalick
- Joseph Stalin
- Vladimir Vinogradov