Advisory from a reader:
In the next week, Turner Classic Movies will be showing the two films that most spurred the HUAC investigation into Reds in Hollywood. Both films are out of print (unavailable on tape or DVD), so this is a relatively rare opportunity to see future “Fifth Amendment Communists” (as Ronald Reagan later called them) in action (but you will need to set the VCR or Tivo in all likelihood).
On March 31 at 2am (ET), we get Song of Russia (1943). See New England-style townhall democracy in the Soviet Union, as well as the free exercise of religion under Stalin!
Even better, on April 6 at 3pm (ET), is Mission to Moscow (1943). This one is truly mind-boggling, as it presents the Great Purge show trials as legitimate exercises in jurisprudence, and actually has a portrayal of Stalin explaining why he HAD TO enter into the Nazi/Soviet nonaggression pact of 1939 (which sealed Poland’s fate).
Grab these two while you can.
The great trilogy of paeans to Uncle Joe can be completed by buying The North Star (1943), which lapsed in the public domain, and is thus available very cheaply. This one was written by Lillian Hellman–do you need to know more?
After seeing these three, Joe McCarthy begins to look a whole lot better!