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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

---

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

Warren Beatty began filming interviews with the "witnesses" in the early 1970s.

---

Goofs

When Louise first comes to New York and finds John's apartment (during the time of WWI), some of the apartment windows behind her have air conditioning units.

---

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.

---

Crazy Credits

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

---

Connections

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007)

---

Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Every movie lover should see this film!

Warren Beatty's Reds follows only Gone With The Wind in my list of favourite films. This movie is both a love story, and a documentary. It educates the viewer not just on John Reed and his comrades, but on WWI era society in general.

This brilliant script, (which, like the writings of Jack Reed expresses his political feelings with the same poetic eloquence as his love poems to his wife Louise), is interspersed with commentary from Jack's contemporaries, who tell the history from their own unique perspectives. As the truth of what was going on in that community is such an illusive thing, the only way to tell this story accurately was to show the often completely opposite view points of what was going on as told by the people for whom this history is a first hand memory.

The acting in Reds is breath taking. Every member of this, extremely large, cast committed fully to their characters. One feels a true connection to even those characters who lurked in the background with only occasional lines. The most notable performances were by Beatty himself, (who's embodiment of Jack Reed was incredible), Diane Keaton, (who portrayed all the facets of Louise's personality with stunning realism), Jack Nickelson, (who delivers O'Neil's quick witted dialogue with an almost frightening cynicism), and Maureen Stapelton, (who conveyed an amazing strength as Emma Goldman). While these actors were the most prominently featured, all the actors delivered noteworthy performances as far as I'm concerned.

The political history covered in this movie is nothing if not vast. This is proof of Beatty's most impressive knowledge of history. This is a film I would recommend be shown in schools, as one the most in depth study of American communism on screen to date.

Reds is truly an inspiration, and should be seen by every actor, director, writer, liberal, film maker, history buff & movie lover! You will not be disappointed!