Reds
Encyclopedia
Reds is a 1981 American epic film that was co-written, produced, directed by and starred Warren Beatty
. It centers on the life and career of John Reed
, the revolutionary communist
, journalist
, and writer who chronicled the Russian Revolution
in his book Ten Days that Shook the World
. In 1920, less than two years after writing his classic of romantic reporting, and a few days before his thirty-third birthday, Reed died in Moscow of typhus and a stroke. Beatty stars in the lead role alongside Diane Keaton
and Jack Nicholson
.
The supporting cast of the film includes Edward Herrmann
, Jerzy Kosinski
, Paul Sorvino
, Maureen Stapleton
, Gene Hackman
, Ramon Bieri
, Nicolas Coster
and M. Emmet Walsh
. The film also features, as "witnesses," interviews with the 98-year old radical educator and peace activist Scott Nearing
(1883–1983), author Dorothy Frooks
(1896–1997), reporter and author George Seldes
(1890–1995), and the American writer Henry Miller
(1891–1980), among others.
Beatty was awarded the Academy Award
for Best Director for the film. Reds was also nominated for Best Picture
, but lost to Chariots of Fire
. Warren Beatty
and Diane Keaton
were nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress, but lost to Henry Fonda
and Katharine Hepburn
in On Golden Pond
.
In June 2008, the American Film Institute
revealed its "Ten Top Ten
" — the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres – after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Reds was acknowledged as the ninth best film in the epic genre.
from their first meeting to Reed's final days in 1920 Russia. Interspersed throughout the narrative, several surviving "witnesses" from the time period give their recollections on Reed, Bryant, their colleagues and friends, and the era itself. A number of them have mixed views of Bryant and her relationship with Reed.
In 1912, married socialite Bryant encounters the radical journalist John "Jack" Reed for the first time at a lecture in Portland, Oregon
, and she is intrigued with his idealism. Upon meeting him for an interview on international politics which lasts over the course of a night, she realizes that writing has been her only escape from her frustrated high society existence. Inspired to leave her husband, Bryant joins Reed in Greenwich Village
, New York City
, with their fellow liberal peers. Later, they move to Provincetown
, Massachusetts, to cover the 1913 Armory Show
of European post-impressionist artwork. Through her writing, she becomes a feminist and radical in her own right. However, Reed becomes involved in labor strikes with the "Reds" of the American Communist Party
, and he results in alienating himself from Bryant. Obsessed with changing the world, he grows restless under his circumstances, and, against Bryant's wishes, he heads for St. Louis to cover the 1916 Democratic
Convention. During Reed's absence, she falls into a complicated affair with the alcoholic playwright Eugene O'Neill
, who is sympathetic towards her. Upon his return, Reed discovers the truth about the affair yet admits to his own infidelities, but Bryant takes ship to Europe to work as a war correspondent. After a flare-up of his kidney disorder, Reed is warned to avoid excessive travel or stress, but he decides to take the same path. Reunited as professionals, the two find their passion rekindled as they are swept up in the fall of Russia's czarist regime and the events of the 1917 Revolution. They find happiness and prosperity in Russia.
The second part of the film takes place shortly after the publication of Ten Days that Shook the World
. Inspired by the idealism of the Revolution, Reed attempts to bring the spirit of Communism to the United States, because he is disillusioned with the policies imposed upon Communist Russia by Grigory Zinoviev
and the Bolsheviks. While attempting to leave Europe, he is briefly imprisoned and interrogated in Finland
. He returns to Russia and is reunited with Bryant at the railway station in Moscow. By this point, Reed is growing progressively weaker as a result of his kidney disorder, but is refused permission to leave for medical treatment. In the final days, Bryant helps nurse the ailing Reed, who passes away shortly afterwords. During the final credits, the witnesses offer their final remarks about Reed and his being the only American to be buried next to the Kremlin Wall
.
remembers Beatty mentioning making a film about Reed's life as early as 1966. Originally titled Comrades, the first script was written by Beatty in 1969, but the process stalled. In 1976, Beatty found a suitable collaborator in Trevor Griffiths
who began work but was delayed when his wife died in a plane crash. The preliminary draft of the script was finished in 1978, but Beatty still had problems with it. Beatty and Griffiths spent four and a half months on fixing it, though Beatty's friend Elaine May
would also collaborate on polishing the script.
Beatty originally had no intention of acting in the film or even directing it, because he had learned on various projects such as Bonnie and Clyde
and Heaven Can Wait
that producing a film alone is a difficult task. He briefly considered John Lithgow
for the part of John Reed because the two looked similar in appearance. Eventually, however, Beatty decided to act in the film and direct it himself. Jack Nicholson was cast as Eugene O'Neill over James Taylor
and Sam Shepard
.
When principal photography began in August 1979 the original intention was for a 15-to-16-week filming shoot, but it ultimately took one whole year to just shoot the film. The process was slow because it was shot in five different countries and at various points the crew had to wait for snow to fall in Helsinki
(and other parts of Finland), which stood in for the Soviet Union
, and for rain to stop in Spain. Beatty would also not stop the camera between takes and would have it continuously roll. He also insisted on a large number of takes. Paul Sorvino said he did as many as 70 takes for one scene and actress Maureen Stapleton
had to do 80 takes of one particular scene which caused her to quip to Beatty, "Are you out of your fucking mind?"
Beatty and Keaton's romantic relationship also began to deteriorate during the filming. As Peter Biskind writing about the making of Reds said, "Beatty's relationship with Keaton barely survived the shoot. It is always a dicey proposition when an actress works with a star or director – both, in this case – with whom she has an offscreen relationship. ... Keaton appeared in more scenes than any other actor, save Beatty, and many of them were difficult ones, where she had to assay a wide range of feelings, from romantic passion to anger, and deliver several lengthy, complex, emotional speeches. George Plimpton once observed, "Diane almost got broken. I thought [Beatty] was trying to break her into what Louise Bryant
had been like with John Reed." Executive producer Simon Relph
adds, "It must have been a strain on their relationship, because he was completely obsessive, relentless."
The editing process began in spring of 1980 with as many as 65 people working on editing down and going over approximately two and a half million feet of film. Post-production ended in November 1981 more than two years after the start of filming. Paramount stated that the final cost of the film was $33.5 million, which would be the rough equivalent of around $80 million today.
.
The song was later recorded by Barbra Streisand
for The Movie Album
(2003).
. "More than anything else in Reds, these interviews give the film its poignant point of view and separate it from all other romantic adventure films ever made," wrote New York Times
film critic Vincent Canby
.
To gain perspective on the lives of Reed and Bryant, Beatty began filming the "witnesses" as early as 1971. Some of them are very well known, others less so. As well as their being listed in the opening credits, American Film magazine identified the witnesses in its March 1982 issue.
The movie currently holds a high rating on the website Rotten Tomatoes, scoring at 94%. The review stated that, "At a time when Ronald Reagan had just become the president of the United States, Beatty's sympathetic portrait of notorious American communist John Reed seemed even more daring. Yet, as it continues to age, the film only continues to grow in relevance, assuring its rightful place at the top of the Hollywood canon".
for the following:
The film received the following nominations:
To date, Reds is the last film to ever receive Academy Award nominations in all four acting categories.
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
. It centers on the life and career of John Reed
John Silas Reed
John Silas "Jack" Reed was an American journalist, poet, and communist activist, best remembered for his first-hand account of the Bolshevik Revolution, Ten Days that Shook the World...
, the revolutionary communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, journalist
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
, and writer who chronicled the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
in his book Ten Days that Shook the World
Ten Days that Shook the World
Ten Days that Shook the World is a book by American journalist and socialist John Reed about the October Revolution in Russia in 1917 which Reed experienced firsthand. Reed followed many of the prominent Bolshevik leaders, especially Grigory Zinoviev and Karl Radek, closely during his time in Russia...
. In 1920, less than two years after writing his classic of romantic reporting, and a few days before his thirty-third birthday, Reed died in Moscow of typhus and a stroke. Beatty stars in the lead role alongside Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
and Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
.
The supporting cast of the film includes Edward Herrmann
Edward Herrmann
Edward Kirk Herrmann is a U.S. television and film actor. He is best known for his Emmy-nominated portrayals of Franklin D...
, Jerzy Kosinski
Jerzy Kosinski
Jerzy Kosiński , born Józef Lewinkopf, was an award-winning Polish American novelist, and two-time President of the American Chapter of P.E.N.He was known for various novels, among them The Painted Bird and Being There...
, Paul Sorvino
Paul Sorvino
Paul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
, Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton was an American actress in film, theater and television.-Early life:Stapleton was born Lois Maureen Stapleton in Troy, New York, the daughter of Irene and John P. Stapleton, and grew up in a strict Irish American Catholic family...
, Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
, Ramon Bieri
Ramon Bieri
Ramon Arens Bieri was an American actor who has starred in many films and many TV shows.-Biography:He co-starred on the short-lived 1981 TV series Bret Maverick with James Garner. Bieri appeared in many TV movies as well...
, Nicolas Coster
Nicolas Coster
Nicolas Coster is a British-born American actor, most known for his work in daytime drama and as a character actor on nighttime television series.-Biography:...
and M. Emmet Walsh
M. Emmet Walsh
Michael Emmet Walsh is an American actor who has appeared in over 100 film and television productions.-Life and career:Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, the son of Agnes Kathrine and Harry Maurice Walsh, Sr., a customs agent...
. The film also features, as "witnesses," interviews with the 98-year old radical educator and peace activist Scott Nearing
Scott Nearing
Scott Nearing was an American radical economist, educator, writer, political activist, and advocate of simple living.-The early years:...
(1883–1983), author Dorothy Frooks
Dorothy Frooks
Dorothy Frooks was an American author, publisher, military figure and actress. An intriguing figure for most of her long life, Frooks was active in public affairs and in the military....
(1896–1997), reporter and author George Seldes
George Seldes
George Seldes was an American investigative journalist and media critic. The writer and critic Gilbert Seldes was his younger brother. Actress Marian Seldes is his niece....
(1890–1995), and the American writer Henry Miller
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller was an American novelist and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of 'novel' that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is...
(1891–1980), among others.
Beatty was awarded the Academy Award
54th Academy Awards
The 54th Academy Awards were presented March 29, 1982 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by Johnny Carson....
for Best Director for the film. Reds was also nominated for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
, but lost to Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
. Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
and Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
were nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress, but lost to Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
and Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
in On Golden Pond
On Golden Pond (1981 film)
On Golden Pond is a 1981 American drama film directed by Mark Rydell. The screenplay by Ernest Thompson was adapted from his 1979 play of the same title. Henry Fonda won the Academy Award in what was his final film role. Co-star Katharine Hepburn also received an Oscar, as did Thompson for his...
.
In June 2008, the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
revealed its "Ten Top Ten
AFI's 10 Top 10
AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....
" — the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres – after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Reds was acknowledged as the ninth best film in the epic genre.
Plot
The film covers the life of John Reed and Louise BryantLouise Bryant
Louise Bryant was an American journalist and writer. She was best known for her Marxist and anarchist beliefs and her essays on radical political and feminist themes. Bryant published articles in several radical left journals during her life, including Alexander Berkman's The Blast...
from their first meeting to Reed's final days in 1920 Russia. Interspersed throughout the narrative, several surviving "witnesses" from the time period give their recollections on Reed, Bryant, their colleagues and friends, and the era itself. A number of them have mixed views of Bryant and her relationship with Reed.
In 1912, married socialite Bryant encounters the radical journalist John "Jack" Reed for the first time at a lecture in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, and she is intrigued with his idealism. Upon meeting him for an interview on international politics which lasts over the course of a night, she realizes that writing has been her only escape from her frustrated high society existence. Inspired to leave her husband, Bryant joins Reed in Greenwich Village
Greenwich (village), New York
Greenwich is a village in Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village population was 1,902 at the 2000 census. Locals pronounce the name as it appears, in contrast to Greenwich , England...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, with their fellow liberal peers. Later, they move to Provincetown
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...
, Massachusetts, to cover the 1913 Armory Show
Armory Show
Many exhibitions have been held in the vast spaces of U.S. National Guard armories, but the Armory Show refers to the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art that was organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors...
of European post-impressionist artwork. Through her writing, she becomes a feminist and radical in her own right. However, Reed becomes involved in labor strikes with the "Reds" of the American Communist Party
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
, and he results in alienating himself from Bryant. Obsessed with changing the world, he grows restless under his circumstances, and, against Bryant's wishes, he heads for St. Louis to cover the 1916 Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Convention. During Reed's absence, she falls into a complicated affair with the alcoholic playwright Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
, who is sympathetic towards her. Upon his return, Reed discovers the truth about the affair yet admits to his own infidelities, but Bryant takes ship to Europe to work as a war correspondent. After a flare-up of his kidney disorder, Reed is warned to avoid excessive travel or stress, but he decides to take the same path. Reunited as professionals, the two find their passion rekindled as they are swept up in the fall of Russia's czarist regime and the events of the 1917 Revolution. They find happiness and prosperity in Russia.
The second part of the film takes place shortly after the publication of Ten Days that Shook the World
Ten Days that Shook the World
Ten Days that Shook the World is a book by American journalist and socialist John Reed about the October Revolution in Russia in 1917 which Reed experienced firsthand. Reed followed many of the prominent Bolshevik leaders, especially Grigory Zinoviev and Karl Radek, closely during his time in Russia...
. Inspired by the idealism of the Revolution, Reed attempts to bring the spirit of Communism to the United States, because he is disillusioned with the policies imposed upon Communist Russia by Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Yevseevich Zinoviev , born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky Apfelbaum , was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet Communist politician...
and the Bolsheviks. While attempting to leave Europe, he is briefly imprisoned and interrogated in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. He returns to Russia and is reunited with Bryant at the railway station in Moscow. By this point, Reed is growing progressively weaker as a result of his kidney disorder, but is refused permission to leave for medical treatment. In the final days, Bryant helps nurse the ailing Reed, who passes away shortly afterwords. During the final credits, the witnesses offer their final remarks about Reed and his being the only American to be buried next to the Kremlin Wall
Kremlin Wall
The Kremlin Wall is a defensive wall that surrounds the Moscow Kremlin, recognizable by the characteristic notches and its Kremlin towers. The original walls were likely a simple wooden fence with guard towers built in 1156.-History:...
.
Cast
| Actor | Historical character |
|---|---|
| Warren Beatty Warren Beatty Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and... |
John Silas "Jack" Reed |
| Diane Keaton Diane Keaton Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970... |
Louise Bryant Louise Bryant Louise Bryant was an American journalist and writer. She was best known for her Marxist and anarchist beliefs and her essays on radical political and feminist themes. Bryant published articles in several radical left journals during her life, including Alexander Berkman's The Blast... |
| Edward Herrmann Edward Herrmann Edward Kirk Herrmann is a U.S. television and film actor. He is best known for his Emmy-nominated portrayals of Franklin D... |
Max Eastman Max Eastman Max Forrester Eastman was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet, and a prominent political activist. For many years, Eastman was a supporter of socialism, a leading patron of the Harlem Renaissance and an activist for a number of liberal and radical causes... |
| Jerzy Kosinski Jerzy Kosinski Jerzy Kosiński , born Józef Lewinkopf, was an award-winning Polish American novelist, and two-time President of the American Chapter of P.E.N.He was known for various novels, among them The Painted Bird and Being There... |
Grigory Zinoviev Grigory Zinoviev Grigory Yevseevich Zinoviev , born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky Apfelbaum , was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet Communist politician... |
| Jack Nicholson Jack Nicholson John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the... |
Eugene O'Neill Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish... |
| Paul Sorvino Paul Sorvino Paul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law... |
Louis C. Fraina Louis C. Fraina Louis C. Fraina was a founding member of the American Communist Party in 1919. After running afoul of the Communist International in 1921 over the alleged misappropriation of funds, Fraina left the organized radical movement, emerging in 1930 as a left wing public intellectual by the name of Lewis... |
| Maureen Stapleton Maureen Stapleton Maureen Stapleton was an American actress in film, theater and television.-Early life:Stapleton was born Lois Maureen Stapleton in Troy, New York, the daughter of Irene and John P. Stapleton, and grew up in a strict Irish American Catholic family... |
Emma Goldman Emma Goldman Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century.... |
| Nicolas Coster Nicolas Coster Nicolas Coster is a British-born American actor, most known for his work in daytime drama and as a character actor on nighttime television series.-Biography:... |
Paul Trullinger |
| William Daniels William Daniels William David Daniels is an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild . He is known for his performance as Dustin Hoffman's father in The Graduate , as John Adams in 1776, as Carter Nash in Captain Nice, as Mr. George Feeny in ABC's Boy Meets World, as the voice of KITT in... |
Julius Gerber Julius Gerber Julius Gerber was a leading Socialist Party of America party official and politician during the first two decades of the 20th century. Gerber headed the important Socialist Party unit for New York City and its environs from 1911 through 1922... |
| M. Emmet Walsh M. Emmet Walsh Michael Emmet Walsh is an American actor who has appeared in over 100 film and television productions.-Life and career:Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, the son of Agnes Kathrine and Harry Maurice Walsh, Sr., a customs agent... |
Speaker - Liberal Liberalism Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,... Club |
| Ian Wolfe Ian Wolfe Ian Wolfe was an American actor whose films date from 1934 to 1990. Until 1934, he worked as a theatre actor. Wolfe mostly found work as a character actor, appearing in over 270 films... |
Mr. Partlow |
| Bessie Love Bessie Love Bessie Love was an American motion picture actress who achieved prominence mainly in the silent films and early talkies. With a small frame and delicate features, she played innocent young girls, flappers, and wholesome leading ladies. Her role in The Broadway Melody earned her a nomination for... |
Mrs. Partlow |
| MacIntyre Dixon | Carl Walters |
| Pat Starr | Helen Walters |
| Eleanor D. Wilson | Margaret Green Reed (mother) |
| Max Wright Max Wright George Edward Maxwell "Max" Wright is an American actor, best known for his role as Willie Tanner in the sitcom ALF.-Biography:Wright was born George Edward Maxwell Wright in Detroit, Michigan.... |
Floyd Dell Floyd Dell Floyd Dell was an American author and critic.-Biography:Floyd Dell was born in Barry, Illinois on June 28, 1887.... |
| George Plimpton George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton was an American journalist, writer, editor, and actor. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review.-Early life:... |
Horace Whigham |
| Harry Ditson | Maurice Becker Maurice Becker Maurice Becker was a radical political artist best known for his work in the 1910s and 1920s for such publications as The Masses and The Liberator.-Early years:... |
| Leigh Curran | Ida Rauh |
| Kathryn Grody | Crystal Eastman Crystal Eastman Crystal Catherine Eastman was a lawyer, antimilitarist, feminist, socialist, and journalist. She is best remembered as a leader in the fight for women's right to vote, as a co-editor of the radical arts and politics magazine The Liberator, and as a co-founder of the Women's International League... |
| Dolph Sweet Dolph Sweet Dolph Sweet was an American actor, credited with nearly 60 television and film roles as well as several roles in stage productions before his death from cancer in 1985.-Biography:... |
Big Bill Haywood |
| Gene Hackman Gene Hackman Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde... |
Pete Van Wherry |
| Nancy Duiguid | Jane Heap Jane Heap Jane Heap was an American publisher and a significant figure in the development and promotion of literary modernism. Together with Margaret Anderson, her friend and business partner , she edited the celebrated literary magazine The Little Review, which published an extraordinary collection of... |
| Dave King | Allan L. Benson Allan L. Benson Allan Louis Benson was an American newspaper editor and author who ran for President as the Socialist Party of America candidate in 1916.-Early years:Benson was born in Plainfield, Michigan on November 6, 1871. His father, Adelbert L... |
| Roger Sloman Roger Sloman Roger Sloman is an English actor. Born in the Harlesden district of London, he has performed in dozens of television and film appearances since the late 1970s... |
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a... |
| Stuart Richman | Leon Trotsky Leon Trotsky Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army.... |
| Oleg Kerensky Oleg Kerensky Oleg Aleksandrovich Kerensky CBE FRS , was a Russian civil engineer, one of the foremost bridge designers of his time.... |
Alexander Kerensky Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.Kerensky served as the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government until Vladimir Lenin was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets following the October Revolution... |
| John J. Hooker | Senator Overman Lee Slater Overman Lee Slater Overman was a Democratic U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina between 1903 and 1930. He was born in Salisbury, N.C., the son of William H. and Mary E. Slater Overman. He attended Trinity College , Class of 1874, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity... |
| Jan Triska Jan Tríska Jan Triska or Jan Tříska is a Czech-American actor.-Early life and career:He was born in Prague. Before his emigration he performed in the theater and had many roles in movies, the movie version of Radúz a Mahulena and in the communist propaganda piece 30 Cases of Major Zeman... |
Karl Radek Karl Radek Karl Bernhardovic Radek was a socialist active in the Polish and German movements before World War I and an international Communist leader after the Russian Revolution.... |
Production
Warren Beatty came across the story of John Reed in the mid-1960s and executive producer and film editor Dede AllenDede Allen
Dorothea Carothers "Dede" Allen was an American film editor, well-known "film editing doctor" to the major American movie studios, and one of cinema's all-time celebrated 'auteur' film editors....
remembers Beatty mentioning making a film about Reed's life as early as 1966. Originally titled Comrades, the first script was written by Beatty in 1969, but the process stalled. In 1976, Beatty found a suitable collaborator in Trevor Griffiths
Trevor Griffiths
Trevor Griffiths is an English dramatist.Raised as a Roman Catholic, he attended Saint Bede's College, before being accepted into Manchester University in 1952 to read English...
who began work but was delayed when his wife died in a plane crash. The preliminary draft of the script was finished in 1978, but Beatty still had problems with it. Beatty and Griffiths spent four and a half months on fixing it, though Beatty's friend Elaine May
Elaine May
Elaine May is an American film director, screenwriter and actress. She achieved her greatest fame in the 1950s from her improvisational comedy routines in partnership with Mike Nichols...
would also collaborate on polishing the script.
Beatty originally had no intention of acting in the film or even directing it, because he had learned on various projects such as Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde (film)
The film was originally offered to François Truffaut, the best-known director of the New Wave movement, who made contributions to the script. He passed on the project to make Fahrenheit 451. The producers approached Jean-Luc Godard next...
and Heaven Can Wait
Heaven Can Wait (1978 film)
Heaven Can Wait is a 1978 American comedy film directed by Warren Beatty and Buck Henry. It is the second film adaptation of Harry Segall's stageplay of the same name, preceded by Here Comes Mr. Jordan and followed by Down to Earth...
that producing a film alone is a difficult task. He briefly considered John Lithgow
John Lithgow
John Arthur Lithgow is an American actor, musician, and author. Presently, he is involved with a wide range of media projects, including stage, television, film, and radio...
for the part of John Reed because the two looked similar in appearance. Eventually, however, Beatty decided to act in the film and direct it himself. Jack Nicholson was cast as Eugene O'Neill over James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
and Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
.
When principal photography began in August 1979 the original intention was for a 15-to-16-week filming shoot, but it ultimately took one whole year to just shoot the film. The process was slow because it was shot in five different countries and at various points the crew had to wait for snow to fall in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
(and other parts of Finland), which stood in for the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and for rain to stop in Spain. Beatty would also not stop the camera between takes and would have it continuously roll. He also insisted on a large number of takes. Paul Sorvino said he did as many as 70 takes for one scene and actress Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton was an American actress in film, theater and television.-Early life:Stapleton was born Lois Maureen Stapleton in Troy, New York, the daughter of Irene and John P. Stapleton, and grew up in a strict Irish American Catholic family...
had to do 80 takes of one particular scene which caused her to quip to Beatty, "Are you out of your fucking mind?"
Beatty and Keaton's romantic relationship also began to deteriorate during the filming. As Peter Biskind writing about the making of Reds said, "Beatty's relationship with Keaton barely survived the shoot. It is always a dicey proposition when an actress works with a star or director – both, in this case – with whom she has an offscreen relationship. ... Keaton appeared in more scenes than any other actor, save Beatty, and many of them were difficult ones, where she had to assay a wide range of feelings, from romantic passion to anger, and deliver several lengthy, complex, emotional speeches. George Plimpton once observed, "Diane almost got broken. I thought [Beatty] was trying to break her into what Louise Bryant
Louise Bryant
Louise Bryant was an American journalist and writer. She was best known for her Marxist and anarchist beliefs and her essays on radical political and feminist themes. Bryant published articles in several radical left journals during her life, including Alexander Berkman's The Blast...
had been like with John Reed." Executive producer Simon Relph
Simon Relph
Simon Relph is a British assistant film director and producer. He is the former chairman of the BAFTA Foundation Trustees. He was a member of the jury at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival.-Selected filmography:* Reds...
adds, "It must have been a strain on their relationship, because he was completely obsessive, relentless."
The editing process began in spring of 1980 with as many as 65 people working on editing down and going over approximately two and a half million feet of film. Post-production ended in November 1981 more than two years after the start of filming. Paramount stated that the final cost of the film was $33.5 million, which would be the rough equivalent of around $80 million today.
Soundtrack
The film introduced the song "Goodbye For Now," written by Stephen SondheimStephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
.
The song was later recorded by Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
for The Movie Album
The Movie Album
The Movie Album is the 60th album released by Barbra Streisand. The album is made up of 12 songs newly recorded by Streisand which were previously featured in films.- Track listing :...
(2003).
Witnesses
"The most evocative aspect of the presentation is a documentary enhancement — interviews with a number of venerable 'witnesses,' whose recollections of the period help to set the scene, bridge transitions and preserve a touching human perspective," wrote The Washington PostThe Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
. "More than anything else in Reds, these interviews give the film its poignant point of view and separate it from all other romantic adventure films ever made," wrote New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
film critic Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
.
To gain perspective on the lives of Reed and Bryant, Beatty began filming the "witnesses" as early as 1971. Some of them are very well known, others less so. As well as their being listed in the opening credits, American Film magazine identified the witnesses in its March 1982 issue.
- Jacob Bailin, labor organizer
- Roger Nash BaldwinRoger Nash BaldwinRoger Nash Baldwin was one of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union . He served as executive director of the ACLU until 1950....
, founder, American Civil Liberties UnionAmerican Civil Liberties UnionThe American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and... - John Ballato, early socialist
- Harry Carlisle, writer, teacher
- Kenneth Chamberlain, political cartoonist for the MassesThe MassesThe Masses was a graphically innovative magazine of socialist politics published monthly in the U.S. from 1911 until 1917, when Federal prosecutors brought charges against its editors for conspiring to obstruct conscription. It was succeeded by The Liberator and then later The New Masses...
- Andrew DasburgAndrew DasburgAndrew Michael Dasburg was an American modernist painter and "one of America's leading early exponents of cubism".-Biography:...
, painter - Tess Davis, cousin of Louise Bryant's first husband
- Will DurantWill DurantWilliam James Durant was a prolific American writer, historian, and philosopher. He is best known for The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife Ariel Durant and published between 1935 and 1975...
, historian - Blanche Hays Fagen, with Provincetown Players
- Hamilton FishHamilton Fish IIIHamilton Fish III was a soldier and politician from New York State...
, Congressman, Harvard classmate of John Reed - Dorothy FrooksDorothy FrooksDorothy Frooks was an American author, publisher, military figure and actress. An intriguing figure for most of her long life, Frooks was active in public affairs and in the military....
, "Recruiting girl," World War I - Hugo GellertHugo GellertHugo Gellert was a Hungarian-American illustrator and muralist. A committed radical, much of Gellert's work is agitational in nature and distinctive in style, considered by some art critics as among the best political work of the first half of the 20th Century.-Early years:Hugo Gellert was born...
, artist for the MassesThe MassesThe Masses was a graphically innovative magazine of socialist politics published monthly in the U.S. from 1911 until 1917, when Federal prosecutors brought charges against its editors for conspiring to obstruct conscription. It was succeeded by The Liberator and then later The New Masses... - Emmanuel Herbert, student in Petrograd, 1917–18
- George JesselGeorge Jessel (actor)George Albert Jessel was an American illustrated song "model," actor, singer, songwriter, and Academy Award-winning movie producer. He was famous in his lifetime as a multitalented comedic entertainer, achieving a level of recognition that transcended his limited roles in movies...
, entertainer - Oleg KerenskyOleg KerenskyOleg Aleksandrovich Kerensky CBE FRS , was a Russian civil engineer, one of the foremost bridge designers of his time....
, son of Alexander KerenskyAlexander KerenskyAlexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.Kerensky served as the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government until Vladimir Lenin was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets following the October Revolution... - Isaac Don LevineIsaac Don LevineIsaac Don Levine was a Russian-born American journalist and writer.-Biography:Born in Mozyr, Russia, Levine came to the United States in 1911. He finished high school in Missouri, and found work with The Kansas City Star and later The New York Herald Tribune, for which he covered the revolution of...
, journalist, translator for Reed - Arthur Mayer, film historian, Harvard classmate of Reed
- Henry MillerHenry MillerHenry Valentine Miller was an American novelist and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of 'novel' that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is...
, novelist - Adele Nathan, with Provincetown Players
- Scott NearingScott NearingScott Nearing was an American radical economist, educator, writer, political activist, and advocate of simple living.-The early years:...
, sociologist, pacifist - Dora RussellDora RussellDora Black, Lady Russell was a British author, a feminist and socialist campaigner, and the second wife of the eminent philosopher Bertrand Russell....
, delegate to CominternCominternThe Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919... - Adela Rogers St. JohnsAdela Rogers St. JohnsAdela Rogers St. Johns was an American journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. She wrote a number of screenplays for silent movies and, late in life, appeared with other early twentieth-century figures as one of the 'witnesses' in Warren Beatty's Reds, but she is best remembered for her...
, journalist - George SeldesGeorge SeldesGeorge Seldes was an American investigative journalist and media critic. The writer and critic Gilbert Seldes was his younger brother. Actress Marian Seldes is his niece....
, U.S. journalist in Moscow - Art Shields, political activist
- Jessica SmithJessica Smith (editor)Jessica Smith was an American editor and activist.Daughter of the painter Walter Granville-Smith of New York, Jessica Granville-Smith, as she was known in her early life, graduated from Swarthmore College and championed women's suffrage...
, political activist - Arne SwabeckArne SwabeckArne Swabeck was an American Communist leader.Swabeck was born in Denmark and emigrated to the United States where he became one of the founding members of the Communist Party. In the late 1920s he was expelled from the party as a Trotskyist and worked together with James P. Cannon and other...
, member, Communist Labor Party - Bernadine Szold-Fritz, journalist
- Galina von Meck, witness to Russian Revolution
- Heaton Vorse, son of a Provincetown playwright
- Will WeinstoneWilliam WeinstoneWilliam Wolf "Will" Weinstone was an American Communist politician and labor leader. Weinstone served as Executive Secretary of the unified Communist Party of America, the forerunner of today's Communist Party USA, from October 15, 1921 to February 22, 1922 and was an important figure in the...
,organizer, U.S. Communist Party - Rebecca WestRebecca WestCicely Isabel Fairfield , known by her pen name Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, DBE was an English author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. A prolific, protean author who wrote in many genres, West was committed to feminist and liberal principles and was one of the foremost public...
, feminist, author - Lucita Williams, wife of a Lenin biographer
Reception and response
Released on December 4th, 1981, Reds opened to fairly positive reviews from critics. Despite its political subject matter and limited promotion by Warren Beatty, it managed to recoup its $35 million budget back and grossed $41 million in the United States. Although it was seen as a disappoinment, Beatty later remarked that the film "made a little money" in box office returns.The movie currently holds a high rating on the website Rotten Tomatoes, scoring at 94%. The review stated that, "At a time when Ronald Reagan had just become the president of the United States, Beatty's sympathetic portrait of notorious American communist John Reed seemed even more daring. Yet, as it continues to age, the film only continues to grow in relevance, assuring its rightful place at the top of the Hollywood canon".
Awards and honors
The film won Academy Awards54th Academy Awards
The 54th Academy Awards were presented March 29, 1982 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by Johnny Carson....
for the following:
- Best Actress in a Supporting RoleAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Maureen Stapleton playing Emma GoldmanEmma GoldmanEmma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
) - Best CinematographyAcademy Award for Best CinematographyThe Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
(Vittorio StoraroVittorio StoraroVittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. is an Italian cinematographer.In 2003, a survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild judged Storaro one of history's ten most influential cinematographers.-Biography:...
) - Best DirectorAcademy Award for DirectingThe Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
(Warren Beatty)
The film received the following nominations:
- Best Actor in a Leading RoleAcademy Award for Best ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Warren Beatty) - Best Actor in a Supporting RoleAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Jack Nicholson) - Best Actress in a Leading RoleAcademy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Diane Keaton) - Best Art Direction-Set DecorationAcademy Award for Best Art DirectionThe Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Richard SylbertRichard SylbertRichard Sylbert was an Academy Award-winning production designer and art director, primarily for feature films....
, Michael SeirtonMichael SeirtonMichael Seirton is an American set decorator. He has won an Academy Award and has been nominated for another in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:Seirton won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction and has been nominated for another:Won...
) - Best Costume DesignAcademy Award for Costume DesignThe Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievement in film costume design....
- Best Film EditingAcademy Award for Film EditingThe Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
- Best PictureAcademy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
- Best Sound (Dick VorisekDick VorisekDick Vorisek was an American sound engineer. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Sound for the film Reds. He worked on over 130 films between 1947 and 1988.-External links:...
, Tom FleischmanTom FleischmanTom Fleischman is an American sound engineer. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards in the category Best Sound. He has worked on over 170 films since 1978.-Selected filmography:* Reds * The Silence of the Lambs...
and Simon KayeSimon KayeSimon Kaye is a British sound engineer. He won two Academy Awards for Best Sound and has been nominated for another two in the same category...
) - Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
To date, Reds is the last film to ever receive Academy Award nominations in all four acting categories.
External links
- Reds at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
- Review of Reds; Vincent CanbyVincent CanbyVincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
(December 4, 1981) - "Film on a Revolution Was a Revolution Itself"; A.O. Scott, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
(October 4, 2006)