Jay Leyda
Encyclopedia
Jay Leyda was an American avant-garde filmmaker and film historian, noted for his work on U.S
, Soviet
and Chinese Cinema
. His The Melville Log (1951) was a day to day compilation of documents which he had painstakingly collected on the life of Herman Melville
. He was a member of the Workers Film and Photo League
in the early 1930s. He participated in the filming of Sergei Eisenstein
's lost film Bezhin Meadow
(1935–37). In the 1940s he translated Eisenstein's writings.
He was awarded the Eastman Kodak
Gold Medal Award in 1984.
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
, Soviet
Cinema of the Soviet Union
The cinema of the Soviet Union, not to be confused with "Cinema of Russia" despite Russian language films being predominant in both genres, includes several film contributions of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history,...
and Chinese Cinema
Cinema of China
The Chinese-language cinema has three distinct historical threads: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. Since 1949 the cinema of mainland China has operated under restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television and...
. His The Melville Log (1951) was a day to day compilation of documents which he had painstakingly collected on the life of Herman Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
. He was a member of the Workers Film and Photo League
Workers Film and Photo League
The Workers Film and Photo League was an organization of filmmakers in the United States initially affiliated with the Workers International Relief...
in the early 1930s. He participated in the filming of Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
's lost film Bezhin Meadow
Bezhin Meadow
Bezhin Meadow is a 1937 Soviet film famous for having been suppressed and believed destroyed before its completion. Directed by Sergei Eisenstein, it tells the story of a young farm boy whose father attempts to betray the government for political reasons by sabotaging the year's harvest and the...
(1935–37). In the 1940s he translated Eisenstein's writings.
He was awarded the Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak Company is a multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company headquarted in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded by George Eastman in 1892....
Gold Medal Award in 1984.
Selected filmography
- A Bronx MorningA Bronx MorningA Bronx Morning is a 1931 avant-garde film by American filmmaker Jay Leyda .Described as "city symphony", the eleven-minute European style film recorded a Bronx street in New York City before it is crowded with traffic...
(1931) (11 minutes, black and white, silent), in the collection of the Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
. - People of the CumberlandPeople of the CumberlandPeople of the Cumberland is a 1937 short film directed by Sidney Meyers and Jay Leyda and produced by Frontier Films. The film is designed to support the U.S...
(1937) (21 minutes, black and white, sound), co-directed by Sidney MeyersSidney MeyersSidney Meyers was an American film director and editor.Sidney Meyers is best known for two documentary films: The Quiet One, which he wrote and directed, and for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay; and British Academy of Film and Television Arts winner The Savage Eye,...
, also in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. The film was a Frontier Film Group production. Also working on the film were Elia KazanElia KazanElia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
, Ralph SteinerRalph SteinerRalph Steiner was an American photographer, pioneer documentarian and a key figure among avant-garde filmmakers in the 1930s.-Biography:...
, Erskine CaldwellErskine CaldwellErskine Preston Caldwell was an American author. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native South like the novels Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre won him critical acclaim, but they also made him controversial among fellow Southerners of the time who felt he was...
, Alex NorthAlex NorthAlex North was an American composer who wrote the first jazz-based film score and one of the first modernist scores written in Hollywood ....
, Earl RobinsonEarl RobinsonEarl Hawley Robinson was a singer-songwriter and composer from Seattle, Washington. Robinson is probably as well remembered for his left-leaning political views as he is for his music, including the songs "Joe Hill", "Black and White", and the cantata "Ballad for Americans"...
and Helen van DongenHelen van DongenHelen van Dongen was a pioneering editor of documentary films who was active from about 1925-1950. She collaborated with filmmaker Joris Ivens from 1925 to 1940, made several independent documentaries, and edited two of Robert Flaherty's films before retiring from filmmaking in her 40s.-Life and...
.
Selected bibliography
- Spark, Clare. Hunting Captain Ahab: Psychological Warfare and the Melville Revival. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2001. Paperback revised edition 2006. Includes Leyda's role in the "Melville Revival."
External links
- Jay Leyda Papers, 1925-1956, at the UCLA Library; Collection Guide at the Online Archive of California
- Jay and Si-lan Chen Leyda Papers 1913-1987, Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University Collection Guide