The profession of film director can and should be such a high and precious one; that no man aspiring to it can disregard any knowledge that will make him a better film director or human being.

In his initial films Eisenstein did not use professional actors. All footage from the still incomplete Ivan The Terrible Part III was confiscated and most of it was destroyed (though several filmed scenes still exist today). Film theorist
Eisenstein was a pioneer in the use of montage a specific use of film editing.

He is noted in particular for his silent films Strike (1924) Battleship Potemkin (1925) and October (1927) as well as the historical epics Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible (1944 1958).