Harry Piel, the icon of Ukrainain students

Abstract

The article is devoted to personality popular in the 1920– 1950th actor Harry Piel, who starred in the adventure films with many stunts. As confirmed by numerous facts presented in this article and based of the media in this time (for example, essays and articles in papers, magazines, the poet-futurist Alexey Kruchenykh, the writer-patriot Ulas Samchuk and the publicist-communist Yaroslav Galan also wrote about him) he was a role model for Soviet (also Ukrainian) students, including those who came from Donbass region. However, his films were of mediocre films, none on which became a blockbuster. His works is an example of mass petit-bourgeoisie culture of the era of the silent movies. Although many actors in a similar stock character roles (like Douglas Fairbanks, with whom Harry Piel was often compared) surpassed him in skill. This article attempts to explore the phenomenon of his screen success. Having understood it, we will understand the mental level of our ancestors who were looking for salvation from Soviet reality in these films. This article is a continuation our other articles dedicated to the stars of silent films (Anna Sten, Rudolpho Valentino, Vera Kholodnaya, Alla Nazimova etc) and their connection with Ukrainian realities. In this case, it is not the artistic qualities in Harry Piel’s films that are emphasized, but the sociological, psychological tendencies that can be traced in their example. Harry Piel is not just the only one of the forerunners of popular celebrity culture (or culture of “One-Dimencional Man” as described by German-American philosopher Herbert Marcuse), but he is the most strange and paradoxical of them, because there was nothing unusual about it. He is the monster of screen mediocrity. That is why he should remain in the history of movie-art.