Word: pudovkin
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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This problem noted by Shaw is one of the bases of Pudovkin's discussion of acting for films, in Film Technique and Film Acting. Translated and edited by Ivor Montagu, the volume reprints the two classic works of the great Russian director. (I am baffled and irritated by Grove's billing of this as an "Evergreen Original": precisely this volume was published two years ago in London; Pudovkin on technique was first published in England many years ago. It is all the more surprising to see this misrepresentation as Grove is a reputable publisher.) To return to Shaw's observation...
...Pudovkin's remarks about acting go into a problem of the screen actor which does not trouble the stage actor, to the same extent, one which the Method can help to solve. Development of the unity of a role is extremely difficult when the role, as seen by the final spectator, consists of an edited sequence of camera shots. The elements of the role may have been shot over a period of weeks or months; dialogues may have been filmed with the actor's opposite absent; a single speech may consist of sections from several day's filming; the actor...
...technique, Pudovkin's work is one of that small group of books which made clear years ago the principles of the art of cinema. Rene Clair said that "Nothing essential has been added to the art of the motion picture since Griffith": it is equally true that little important has been added to film theory since Pudovkin, and Eisenstein's Film Form and The Film Sense. (Raymond Spottiswoode's books might be included if they were not derivative from Pudovkin and Eisenstein.) I have little to say about it, except to recommend it. It is essential reading for anyone interested...