Trivia

In 1966, he signed a letter of twenty-five figures of Soviet science, literature and art to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU L.I. Brezhnev against the rehabilitation of I.V. Stalin.

He was winner of five Stalin Prizes (1941, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1951) and the Vasiliev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR (1966).

In 1937 he finished the film " Thirteen " about border guards in the Central Asian desert. It was a remake of the American film The Lost Patrol by John Ford and the first Soviet western .

In 1950 he was awarded 'People's Artist of the USSR'.

Romm was holder of two Orders of Lenin (1938, 1967).

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 957-959. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.

Chairman of the film Union when Sergei Eisenstein cast him to play virgin Queen Elizabeth in "Ivan the Terrible Part III." Some scenes were shot, and a couple still survive despite a majority of the film being destroyed. However, before filming could be completed, an order arrived from Moscow from Minister Bolshokov: "The Chairman of the Film Union will not play a female role.".

His cinematographer Boris Volchek (Lenin in October (1937), aka Lenin in October) later taught the Parajanov: The Last Spring (1992) helmer Mikhail Vartanov at the legendary Russian film school VGIK.

In 1931, the director Alexander Macheret invited him as an assistant to the film "Deeds and People", and in 1933 he was entrusted with the first independent work - the silent film " Dumb " by Maupassant. In this film adaptation, filmed in just two small sets and notable for its precise casting and bitter irony, the aspiring director demonstrated a skillful translation of a literary basis into the language of cinema.

Mikhail Romm died on November 1 , 1971 in Moscow at the age of 71 while working on the documentary film The World Today. He sat at his desk at home and, as usual, laid out cards on which frames from the new tape were indicated. When his wife looked into the office Elena Kuzmina , he said: "Today I feel unwell. I'll probably lie down." His wife helped him lie down on the couch. In a few moments he died [21] . His next work was subsequently completed by Elem Klimov , Marlen Khutsiev and German Lavrov and released under the title " And yet I believe ... ".

On May 23, 1940, he was awarded the title of Honored Art Worker, and on March 15, 1941, he was awarded the Stalin Prize of the 1st degree.

He received in 1937 an offer to shoot the first feature sound film about Lenin. While working on the director's script, he lived in the apartment of Albert Slivkin, assistant head of the Main Directorate of the Film and Photo Industry , and witnessed his arrest. The film was released under the title " Lenin in October " and was a great success.

Together with Yuli Raizman, he led the Third Creative Association of the Mosfilm film studio.

He was a Soviet theater and film director, screenwriter, teacher and publicist.

Since 1938 he was a teacher, and since 1948 he directed the acting and directing workshop of VGIK ( since 1962 in the status of a professor). . Many of his students became famous directors: Vladimir Menshov , Tengiz Abuladze , Rezo Chkheidze , Grigory Chukhrai , Vasily Shukshin , Alexander Mitta , Andrei Tarkovsky , Igor Dobrolyubov , Nikita Mikhalkov , Sergei Solovyov , Andrei Konchalovsky , Andrei Smirnov , Rezo Esadze , Alexander Pavlovsky , Mikhail Ilyenko ,Samvel Gasparov and Dinara Asanova.

In 1938 Romm was awarded the Order of Lenin for his film Lenin in October (1937). This was during the bloodiest phase of Stalin's political purges. When he heard the news, Romm ran up the stairs to his apartment shouting, "They gave me the Order of Lenin! They won't shoot me now!".