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 19 wins & 37 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

American journalist John Reed journeys to Russia to document the Bolshevik Revolution and returns a revolutionary. His fervor for left-wing politics leads him to Louise Bryant, then married, who will become a feminist icon and activist. Politics at home become more complicated as the rift grows between reality and Reed's ideals. Bryant takes up with a cynical playwright, and Reed returns to Russia, where his health declines.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1917 | bolshevik revolution | october revolution | russian revolution | bolshevik | 

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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:

R13

Did You Know?

Trivia

Debut film as an actor for writer Jerzy Kosinski.

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Goofs

The pet dog is a Golden Retriever but the first Golden (Champion Speedwell Pluto) wasn't imported into the US from England until 1930

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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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Alternate Versions

3 seconds of horse falls were cut from the British version. The DVD supplements showing these shots are also cut in England.

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #22.56 (2005)

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Soundtracks

You're a Grand Old Flag
Written by George M. Cohan

User Reviews

"Reds"- A Love Story told inside period politics at the height of the Russian Revolution

Bolshevik leader V.I. Lenin once wrote, "The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them."

Lenin's quote came to mind when I was watching one of the most spellbinding movies to come along in years,and not since David Lean's brilliant 1965 epic classic "Doctor Zhivago" hasn't been a movie in recent memory that has come close. That motion picture is "Reds",released in 1981 by Paramount Pictures. The film was Warren Beatty's peeve project which he served not only as it star,but also the co-writer and direction. Director Warren Beatty's epic love story about American writers John Reed and Louise Bryant,set amid of the turbulence of American politics in the 1910's World War I and the Russian revolution that set this movie into plain focus. The movie itself is astounding to behold and is a tragic love story between the writers John Reed(Warren Beatty),and Louise Bryant(Diane Keaton). But it creatively used artsy,radical Greenwich Village in the 1910's-and such as real-life characters as playwright Eugene O'Neill(Jack Nicholson),and anarchist activist Emma Goldman(Maureen Stapleton)-as well as the drama of the Russian Revolution and the subsequent civil war as the principal landscapes in which their relationship plays out.

Director Beatty also made creative use of on-camera "testimony" by the likes of novelists Henry Miller and Rebecca West,Republican politician Hamilton Fish,comic George Jessel and civil libertarian Roger Baldwin. These senior citizens recall,with varying degrees of historical accuracy,Reed,Bryant and the times in which they lived. "Reds" shows convincingly that many of the contemporary issues in politics and culture have their antecendents in the first debates of the 20th century. Debates over birth control and abortion,marriage and commitment,public life versus private life,revolution versus reform are given full expression from varying viewpoints throughout the lengthy film(which runs over three hours). To Beatty's credit,his film captures the excitement the Bolshevik revolution stirred,both inside and outside Russia while revealing how the Bolshevik leadership quickly began to suppressing dissent within the revolutionary ranks on the way to becoming a dictatorship with a country that is in constant turmoil. Beatty's efforts certainly paid off artistically,bringing him prestige to him and Paramount making "Reds" a huge box office success for the studio when it premiered in theatres around Christmas of 1981.

"Reds" became one of the top highest grossing pictures of that year,and it paid off in high standards too. "Reds",which received 12 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture,lost an upset to Hugh Hudson's "Chariots Of Fire" in the Best Picture category. However it won three Oscars for Best Director(Warren Beatty),Best Supporting Actress(Maureen Stapleton),and Best Cimematopgraphy(Vittorio Storaro). Eventually,"Reds" made more than $40 million at the domestic box office,and once international figures were added in,it became one of the top grossing films of the 1980's. A feat Warren Beatty is still proud of to this day.

Details

Country:

USA UK Canada

Language:

English Russian German French Finnish Italian

Release Date:

25 December 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ein Mann kämpft für Gerechtigkeit

Filming Locations:

Twickenham Film Studios, St Margarets, Twickenham, Greater London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$32,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,325,029, 6 December 1981

Gross USA:

$40,382,659

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$40,382,659

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