 During
this period, the Parkinsons and Ivens became very close.
Indeed, they called him “Dutchy.” After the
shooting was over, Ivens arranged for Bill and two of his
sons to come to New York City. Then in late 1939, Ivens
sent the Parkinsons a kitchen appliance - a mastermixer
- as a Christmas present. In response (as Ivens took pains
to note in his memoirs), Hazel replied that “I find
it very difficult to express our appreciation in words”
and that “we sincerely hope you will come back sometime
and help us eat some of the things I intend to prepare with
it.”
The following year, Power and the Land
premiered in nearby St. Clairsville, with Ivens and the
Parkinsons in attendance.
This text was prepared by
Dr. Ephraim K. Smith. He would like to acknowledge the assistance
of Mr. Andre Stufkens, Executive Director, European Foundation
Joris Ivens in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. For additional
information see Joris Ivens, The Camera and I (New York,
1969); Andre Stufkens, ed., Cinema Without Borders: The
Films of Joris Ivens (Nijmegen, the Netherlands, 2002);
Hans Shoots, Living Dangerously: A Biography of Joris Ivens
(Amsterdam, 2000); Kees Bakker, Joris Ivens and the Documentary
Context (Amsterdam, 1999); and Robert L. Snyder, Pare Lorentz
and the Documentary Film (Norman, Oklahoma, 1968). For additional
information on Ivens including historical photographs and
excerpts from his early films, see the wonderful web site
of the European Foundation Joris Ivens (Nijmegen, the Netherlands)
at info@ivens.nl. This
is really worth an extended visit!
Dr. Smith would like to thank Raymond Teichman,
Supervisory Archivist, and Virginia Lewick of the Franklin
D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York for locating
the correspondence in 1936 between Ivens and the TVA. The
relevant correspondence is Sidney Bernstein to Joris Ivens,
March 16, 1936; Joris Ivens to Herbert S. Marks, April 11,
1936; Herbert S. Marks to Joris Ivens, April 20, 1936; George
Slover to Joris Ivens, April 20, 1936; Joris Ivens to Ross,
June 26, 1936; and an undated note by “F.A.”
(Forrest Allen) in the Herbert S. Marks Papers, the FDR
Presidential Library, Hyde Park, New York.
© 2005 Ephraim K. Smith
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