Reds (1981)

A radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.

Director:

Warren Beatty

Writers:

Warren Beatty, Trevor Griffiths

Stars:

Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Edward Herrmann

Won 3 Oscars. Another 27 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Warren Beatty	...	John Reed
Diane Keaton	...	Louise Bryant
Edward Herrmann	...	Max Eastman
Jerzy Kosinski	...	Grigory Zinoviev
Jack Nicholson	...	Eugene O'Neill
Paul Sorvino	...	Louis Fraina
Maureen Stapleton	...	Emma Goldman
Nicolas Coster	...	Paul Trullinger
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Speaker - Liberal Club
Ian Wolfe	...	Mr. Partlow
Bessie Love	...	Mrs. Partlow
MacIntyre Dixon	...	Carl Walters
Pat Starr	...	Helen Walters
Eleanor D. Wilson	...	Mrs. Reed
Max Wright	...	Floyd Dell

Storyline

This movie tells the true story of John Reed, a radical American journalist around the time of World War I. He soon meets Louise Bryant, a respectable married woman, who dumps her husband for Reed and becomes an important feminist and radical in her own right. After involvement with labor and political disputes in the US, they go to Russia in time for the October Revolution in 1917, when the Communists siezed power. Inspired, they return to the US, hoping to lead a similar revolution. A particularly fascinating aspect of the movie is the inclusion of interviews with "witnesses", the real-life surviving participants in the events of the movie.

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Plot Keywords:

russia | interview | russian civil war | marriage | dinner party | 

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Taglines:

Not since Gone With The Wind has there been a great romantic epic like it!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian German French Finnish

Release Date:

4 December 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

John Reed: The Ten Days That Shook the World

Filming Locations:

Twickenham Film Studios, St Margarets, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 3,179,562 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Barclays Mercantile Industrial Finance, JRS Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

195 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The sculpture at the beginning of the art gallery scene is Auguste Rodin's "Cathedral", which depicts two right hands intertwined in a prayer-like gesture reminiscent of a medieval cathedral.

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Goofs

In the scene where Gene and Louise talk in Gene's apartment, the position of Gene's cigarette pack changes radically from shot to shot.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Witness 1: [voiceover] Was that in 1913 or 17? I can't remember now. Uh, I'm, uh, beginning to forget all the people that I used to know, see?
Witness 2: [voiceover] Do I remember Louise Bryant? Why, of course, I couldn't forget her if I tried.

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Crazy Credits

As the credits roll, additional interviews with the 'witnesses' play.

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Connections

Featured in Precious Images (1986)

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Soundtracks

"Onward Christian Soldiers"
Written by Sabine Baring-Gould (as S. Baring-Gould) & Arthur Sullivan (as A. Sullivan)

User Reviews

Reds

An engrossing film about John Reed's love affair with Louise Bryant and his struggles in the midst of the Russian Revolution. There are great performances from Beatty, Keaton, Nicholson (excellent as Eugene O'Neill) and Stapelton in her Oscar winning performance as Emma Goldman. Beatty's precision and timing in the use of his camera in this picture is a superb achievement. There is a touch of David Lean in director Beatty in this film. The color, the editing, the sound. All of those important filmic elements are at play here in great form. Beatty won the Best Director Oscar, but lost the Best Picture award to Chariots of Fire.