Reds (1981)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Warren Beatty

Writers:

Warren Beatty (written by) &
Trevor Griffiths (written by)

Release Date:

4 December 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

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

Plot:

A radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.

Plot Keywords:

Russia | Playwright | Political | Interview | Speech

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

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

Runtime:

194 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian | German | French | Finnish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:PG (re-rating after appeal) | USA:R (original rating) | Australia:M | UK:15 (cut) | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:K-16 | Norway:12 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

1 Great George Street, Westminster, London, England, UK

Company:

Barclays Mercantile Industrial Finance

Trivia:

In the mid-1980s, ABC wanted to telecast an edited version of the film. Star and producer Warren Beatty refused to allow an edited version to be shown, so that version was never aired.

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

Louise Bryant: What as?
John Reed: Well, it's almost Thanksgiving. You could go as a turkey.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 39th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1982) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Stop Your Ticklin' Me

A great companion piece to 1965's 'Doctor Zhivago'.

Warren Beatty's 'Reds' is a terrific film that is not only great story telling in the conventional Hollywood way but also has an original style of narration told in many ways from the point of view of witnesses to the real story who lived during the days the film is centred around.

The film is especially significant to view since the iron curtain in Russia has come down and 'Reds' is a movie that never looks dated and stresses the fact that morals at the early part of the 20th century were about the same as they are now. It's just that no one discussed it back then and it emphasizes that times change but people don't.

With top notch performances from the entire cast, it is one of the few films to be nominated for an Oscar in all four acting categories and was victorious in the Best Supporting Actress category for Maureen Stapleton although the film's best performance comes from Diane Keaton who should have won her second Oscar.

To date, Beatty is the only film maker to be Oscar nominated for Best Director, Actor, Screenwriter and Producer twice for the same film. The other time was for 1978's 'Heaven Can Wait'.