Art
06-04-2013, 07:49
Well, another insomnia attack last night so up watching old late night movies. Last night the old early morning movie was "Mission to Moscow" on TCM.
This 1943 movie is based on a memoir by Joseph Davies who was ambassador to the Soviet Union in the late 1930s. Davies gives the introduction to the movie himself. He is portrayed by Walter Huston, Ann Harding and Gene Lockhart also star.
All movies made in WW II that concern the war were propaganda pieces, including the great ones like "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo." This one was actually stunning, it's a love song to Soviet communism.
In the movie the leadership of the Soviet Union before the war is portrayed as almost pacifistic. The non-aggression pact between Hitler and Stalin is mentioned only in passing at the end and of course the partition of Poland by the Nazis and Bolsheviks isn't mentioned at all. The Soviet people are portrayed as happy hardworking folks living in a prosperous and efficient state.
The most outrageous part is the depiction of the show trials after the "Great Purge," also known as the "Great Terror" which was most intense between 1937-1939. In the movie all of the defendants, whose real names are used by the way, are depicted as unquestionably guilty. More than that they are presented as part of a "fifth Column" organized by the Nazis and Japanese and led by Leon Trotsky with the object of partitioning most of the Soviet Union between the Axis powers and putting Trotsky in charge as a puppet of what's left of Russia. Every bit of this part is an outrageous falsehood the sole purpose of which was to rehabilitate and elevate the status of the Soviet leadership in general and Stalin in particular in the eyes of the American people.
There were several similar movies made during the war, North Star and Armored Assault come to mind but this one stands alone not only in its naked attempt to portray the Soviet Union as being a true workers paradise and "Uncle Joe Stalin" as some sort of benevolent Soviet grand daddy, but its ability to weave the Axis powers, especially Germany and Japan into any problems that might have existed in the country pre war.
The movie was a big hit in the United States but a total flop in Russia where audiences viewed it as almost a comedy. Great film or total bust really depended on where you sat, literally on this one.
During the war this movie and others like it were looked on as "expedient lies" necessary to boost morale and help win the war. After the war, when we and the Soviets were again on the outs, a bunch of people involved in making this and other similar films found themselves hauled before congressional committees and asked about their possible communist sympathies. Yep, penthouse to outhouse in a few short years.
Anyhow, the movie is actually quite well made and acted, it just is what it is, pure unadulterated war time propaganda
This 1943 movie is based on a memoir by Joseph Davies who was ambassador to the Soviet Union in the late 1930s. Davies gives the introduction to the movie himself. He is portrayed by Walter Huston, Ann Harding and Gene Lockhart also star.
All movies made in WW II that concern the war were propaganda pieces, including the great ones like "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo." This one was actually stunning, it's a love song to Soviet communism.
In the movie the leadership of the Soviet Union before the war is portrayed as almost pacifistic. The non-aggression pact between Hitler and Stalin is mentioned only in passing at the end and of course the partition of Poland by the Nazis and Bolsheviks isn't mentioned at all. The Soviet people are portrayed as happy hardworking folks living in a prosperous and efficient state.
The most outrageous part is the depiction of the show trials after the "Great Purge," also known as the "Great Terror" which was most intense between 1937-1939. In the movie all of the defendants, whose real names are used by the way, are depicted as unquestionably guilty. More than that they are presented as part of a "fifth Column" organized by the Nazis and Japanese and led by Leon Trotsky with the object of partitioning most of the Soviet Union between the Axis powers and putting Trotsky in charge as a puppet of what's left of Russia. Every bit of this part is an outrageous falsehood the sole purpose of which was to rehabilitate and elevate the status of the Soviet leadership in general and Stalin in particular in the eyes of the American people.
There were several similar movies made during the war, North Star and Armored Assault come to mind but this one stands alone not only in its naked attempt to portray the Soviet Union as being a true workers paradise and "Uncle Joe Stalin" as some sort of benevolent Soviet grand daddy, but its ability to weave the Axis powers, especially Germany and Japan into any problems that might have existed in the country pre war.
The movie was a big hit in the United States but a total flop in Russia where audiences viewed it as almost a comedy. Great film or total bust really depended on where you sat, literally on this one.
During the war this movie and others like it were looked on as "expedient lies" necessary to boost morale and help win the war. After the war, when we and the Soviets were again on the outs, a bunch of people involved in making this and other similar films found themselves hauled before congressional committees and asked about their possible communist sympathies. Yep, penthouse to outhouse in a few short years.
Anyhow, the movie is actually quite well made and acted, it just is what it is, pure unadulterated war time propaganda