IMDb > Mission to Moscow (1943)

Mission to Moscow (1943) More at IMDbPro »

Overview

User Rating:
5.8/10   301 votes
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Director:
Michael Curtiz
Writers:
Joseph E. Davies (book)
Howard Koch (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Mission to Moscow on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
22 May 1943 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | History | War more
Tagline:
One American's Journey into the Truth
Plot:
Mission to Moscow was made at the behest of F.D.R. in order to garner more support for the Soviet Union during WWII... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. more
User Comments:
Grand Propaganda Film, Hollywood Style more (28 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Walter Huston ... Ambassador Joseph E. Davies
Ann Harding ... Mrs. Marjorie Davies
Oskar Homolka ... Maxim Litvinov, Foreign Minister
George Tobias ... Freddie

Gene Lockhart ... Premier Molotov
Eleanor Parker ... Emlen Davies
Richard Travis ... Paul
Helmut Dantine ... Major Kamenev
Victor Francen ... Vyshinsky, chief trial prosecutor
Henry Daniell ... Minister von Ribbentrop
Barbara Everest ... Mrs. Litvinov
Dudley Field Malone ... Winston Churchill
Roman Bohnen ... Mr. Krestinsky
Maria Palmer ... Tanya Litvinov
Moroni Olsen ... Colonel Faymonville
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
123 min (Turner library print) | 124 min (copyright length)
Country:
USA
Language:
English | Russian | German | Mandarin | French
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:
Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #8958)
Company:
Warner Bros. Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This film was often mentioned during the 1947 House of Representatives Un-American Committee (HUAC) investigation of communist infiltration in the motion picture industry and was chiefly responsible for the blacklisting of screenwriter Howard Koch. Jack L. Warner defended the picture as being "made when our country was fighting for its existence, with Russia as one of our allies. ... The picture was made only to help a desperate war effort and not for posterity." more
Goofs:
Factual errors: Aside from the issue of the fairness of the Moscow purge trials, or the truthfulness of the alleged confessions of the accused, the people shown standing trial together in the film in fact did not all stand trial at the same time. There were two such major show trials, one in 1937, the second in 1938, and the real life characters depicted in the film as being tried simultaneously were actually tried in separate groups at one of the two trials. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Dallas: Mission to Moscow (#12.25)" (1989) more
Soundtrack:
L'amour, toujours, l'amour more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
35 out of 39 people found the following comment useful.
Grand Propaganda Film, Hollywood Style, 6 April 2004
Author: jacksflicks from Hollywood

Among the comments here I don't see much recognition of the fact that this propaganda film was released at the height of World War II, when the battle against Nazis was focused on Stalingrad, which arguably was the crucial battle of the war in Europe.

The context of this film cannot be ignored or minimized. Propaganda films are morale films, and the omissions and distortions which have been cited in Mission to Moscow are beside the point. Of course Stalin was a monster before, during and after World War II. Of course Joseph E. Davies was a naif, and a pompous one at that. Perhaps that's why he only lasted a year as ambassador.

On one hand, there is an absolutely ludicrous review here, praising Mission to Moscow as dispelling the terrible calumnies against the great Soviet achievements. On the other hand, there are those on the opposite side who, though far more accurate about Stalin and about how this film whitewashes his atrocities, seem so rabid in their responses, they fail to understand, or conveniently ignore, that propaganda films as documentaries are more or less bull, and that it's stupid to criticize a propaganda film because it's a propaganda film.

What is interesting about Mission to Moscow is not what it is trying to say or do, which requires little insight to divine, but how well it does it. This is a Hollywood "A" film enlisted in the service of propaganda. Top cast, direction and production values should have made for a very strong message to 1943 American audiences, whom the government wanted to think of the war against Germany as "We're all in this together."

As to the outrage of Stalin's show trials, I think that the sinister, menacing demeanor of one of the great Hollywood heavies Victor Francen as prosecutor Vyshinsky, versus the rather meek, contemplative demeanor of the defendants, suggests that the film knows what's going on, even if Davies doesn't.

Yes, the relentless pro-Soviet propaganda is a bit hard to take for those who sit smugly in the light of hindsight. But if you look at Mission to Moscow as document rather than documentary, you will gain an insight into the kind of public mindset called for by our government at a crucial moment in our history.

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