September 3rd: REDS (Warren Beatty, 1981)

Note: this film will be shown in the high-definition Blu-ray format

The life of globetrotting journalist and activist John Reed, from the early days of Greenwich Village bohemia to his formation of an American communist party to his participation in the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Warren Beatty was a matinee idol near the end of the old Hollywood studio system in the early 1960s.  Before the end of the decade he struck out on his own as an independent producer, releasing the landmark Bonnie And Clyde in 1967.  He was the first person since Orson Welles to receive Academy Award nominations for acting in, directing, writing, and producing the same film with his debut feature Heaven Can Wait. 

Beatty became fascinated with the life of Reed after a visit to Moscow, and spent over ten years writing a screenplay, and filming interviews with real-life "witnesses" to the story as early as 1971 (including writer Henry Miller).  He somehow persuaded Paramount Pictures to fund an ambitious epic about communism, a tough sell even before Ronald Reagan's rise to the presidency in 1980.

Filming took place on location in New York City, Spain, and Finland and Sweden substituting for the Soviet Union.  Soundstage work was done in England and Los Angeles.  Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now, Last Tango In Paris) experimented with a new film developing process that routed all negatives to Rome before getting to the editors, who had to sift through over 130 hours of footage.  The editing process alone took a year and a half to complete.

The cast is headed by Beatty and then-girlfriend Diane Keaton as Reed's wife and collaborator Louise Bryant.  Jack Nicholson appears in an atypically restrained role as playwright Eugene O'Neill, and Maureen Stapleton plays iconic anarchist Emma Goldman.  Other smaller roles are filled by Gene Hackman, Paul Sorvino, Edward Herrmann, and writers George Plimpton and Jerzy Kosiniski.   In a bold move, Beatty inserted clips from his research interviews throughout the film, offering alternate viewpoints to the events and people portrayed.

Reds received very positive reviews, and despite the subject matter and length managed to make over $50 million in the U.S.  It received 12 Oscar nominations (the most of any film in 15 years) including all four acting categories, as well as ones for Best Picture, editing, and screenplay.  Stapleton, Beatty (for direction) and Storaro all won their categories.

Running time is approx. 3 hrs, 10 min.