Reds (film)
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| Reds | |
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 Reds movie poster |
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| Directed by | Warren Beatty |
| Produced by | Warren Beatty |
| Written by | Warren Beatty Trevor Griffiths |
| Starring | Warren Beatty Diane Keaton Jack Nicholson Paul Sorvino Maureen Stapleton Gene Hackman Edward Herrmann |
| Music by | Stephen Sondheim Dave Grusin |
| Cinematography | Vittorio Storaro |
| Editing by | Dede Allen |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 4, 1981 (USA) |
| Running time | 194 min. |
| Language | English Russian German |
| Budget | $35,000,000 US (est.) |
| IMDb profile | |
Reds is a 1981 film starring Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton. It centers on the life of John Reed, the Communist, journalist, and writer who chronicled the Russian Revolution in his book Ten Days that Shook the World.
Besides Beatty and Keaton, the movie stars Edward Herrmann, Jerzy Kosinski, Jack Nicholson, Paul Sorvino, Maureen Stapleton, Gene Hackman, Ramon Bieri, Nicolas Coster and M. Emmet Walsh. It was adapted by Warren Beatty, Peter S. Feibleman (uncredited), Trevor Griffiths, Elaine May (uncredited) and Jeremy Pikser from Reed's memoir. It was directed by Beatty.
The film also features, as "witnesses," interviews with the celebrated radical educator and peace activist 98-year old 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. Warren Beatty was awarded the Oscar for Best Director for the film. It was also nominated for Best Picture, but lost to Chariots of Fire.
Contents |
[edit] Main historical characters
- John Silas Reed - (played by Warren Beatty)
- Louise Bryant - (played by Diane Keaton)
- Max Eastman - (played by Edward Herrmann)
- Grigory Zinoviev - (played by Jerzy Kosinski)
- Eugene O'Neill - (played by Jack Nicholson)
- Emma Goldman - (played by Maureen Stapleton)
[edit] The Witnesses
Some are very well known, others not so.
- Roger Nash Baldwin - (founder of the ACLU)
- Henry Miller - (Writer)
- Adela Rogers St. Johns - (Journalist, novelist, and screenwriter)
- Dora Russell - (Feminist and progressive campaigner)
- Scott Nearing - (Conservationist, peace activist, educator and writer)
- Tess Davis
- Hamilton Fish III - (Congressman)
- Isaac Don Levine
- Rebecca West - (Feminist and writer)
- Will Durant - (Philosopher, historian, and writer)
- Will Weinstone
- Emmanuel Herbert
- Arne Swabeck - (American Communist leader)
- Adele Gutman Nathan
- George Seldes - (Investigative journalist and media critic)
- Kenneth Chamberlain
- Blanche Hays Fagen
- Galina von Meck
- Art Shields
- Andrew Dasburg
- Hugo Gellert - (Illustrator and satirist)
- Dorothy Frooks - (Author, publisher, military figure and actress)
- George Jessel - (Actor, singer, songwriter, and movie producer)
- Jacob Bailin
- John Ballato
- Lucita Williams
- Bernadine Szold-Fritz
- Jessica Smith - (Editor and activist)
- Harry Carlisle
- Arthur Mayer
[edit] Awards
The movie won Academy Awards for:
- Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Maureen Stapleton playing Emma Goldman)
- Best Cinematography (Vittorio Storaro)
- Best Director (Warren Beatty)
and was nominated for:
- Best Actor in a Leading Role (Warren Beatty)
- Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jack Nicholson)
- Best Actress in a Leading Role (Diane Keaton)
- Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
- Best Costume Design
- Best Film Editing
- Best Picture
- Best Sound
- Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
[edit] Trivia
- During filming, Beatty lectured his Russian extras on the capitalist exploitation of labour, attempting to inspire them. According to the magazine Total Film in 2004, this was the 4th "dumbest decision in movie history": the extras duly went on strike, demanding higher wages.
- To date, this is the last film to receive Oscar nominations in each of the four acting categories. No film since Reds has achieved this feat.
- Warren Beatty began filming interviews with the "witnesses" in the early 1970s.
- Gene Hackman performed in an unbilled cameo role as Pete Van Wherry. The scene in which he tells Jack Reed that Louise Bryant no longer works for him took exactly 100 takes to shoot. Hackman vowed that he would not shoot a 101st take and he did not.
- In a 1981 interview with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd on a talk show (included as a bonus on the 'Best of Saturday Night Live: John Belushi' DVD), Belushi and Aykroyd mentioned 'Reds' as one of their favorite recent movies.
- Part of the movie ,the October Revolution part,was shot at Helsinki specialy in Suomenlinna and in the Helsinki Senate Square,
- Jerzy Kosinski played the role of Bolshevik revolutionary and Politburo member Grigory Zinoviev. The Time magazine critic wrote: "As Reed's Soviet nemesis, novelist Jerzy Kosinski acquits himself nicely--a tundra of ice against Reed's all-American fire." Newsweek complimented Kosinski's "delightfully abrasive" performance."[1]
- The movie was not released on DVD until 2006.
[edit] External links
- Reds at the Internet Movie Database
Categories: 1981 films | Biographical films | Anarchist films | Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Globe | Epic films | Films whose director won the Best Director Academy Award | Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winning performance | Historical films | Paramount films | Russian Revolution | Films over three hours long | English-language films | Russian-language films | German-language films | Political films
