Comrade X
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Comrade X |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1940 |
| length | 84 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | King Vidor |
| script |
Ben Hecht Charles Lederer Herman J. Mankiewicz |
| production |
Gottfried Reinhardt King Vidor |
| music |
Bronislau caper Daniele Amfitheatrof |
| camera | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| cut | Harold F. Kress |
| occupation | |
| |
Comrade X is an American comedy film from the year 1940 by King Vidor on a story by Walter Reisch .
action
Comrade X is the name of an anonymous reporter who sends unpleasant stories about the Stalinist Soviet Union to a large newspaper publisher. The reporter Mac Thompson, Moscow correspondent for the Texas Bugle , is that mysterious news writer. So that nobody can track him down, he disguises himself as an irresponsible bon vivant who has long since betrayed his journalistic ideals. However, Vanya, a servant in Thompson's Moscow hotel, has discovered Thompson's secret and wants to blackmail him. He is supposed to smuggle his daughter, a strict communist whose life Vanya fears for her political involvement, out of the country. Thompson finally agrees and wants to meet with Vanya.
Vanya's daughter works as a tram driver under the name Theodore, because only men are allowed to drive trams. Thompson tries to get the girl to travel to America, but she doesn't want to go with him until she knows his background. In order to gain sympathy, Thompson poses as a communist and promises her that they would both be working on a communist revolution in the United States. Theodore later seeks up Thompson and explains to him that they have to get married because this is the only way for them to be able to leave the country.
The couple are arrested after their wedding ceremony. Inspector Vasiliev, who took over from a comrade who recently died as a result of a “car accident”, is conducting the interrogation. He asks Thompson about the Comrade X camera they found at Vanya. Faced with the death penalty, Thompson promises to betray the opposition leader. For this he, Vanya and Theodore should be spared. In the commissioner's office, Thompson is shocked to see Michael Bastakoff, the former opposition leader, as the new commissioner. In the meantime, Vasilev has also died as a result of a "car accident".
Thompson is able to buy his way out with Vanya and Theodore for the time being thanks to the incriminating footage he has about Bastakoff. However, it is only a matter of time before Bastakoff will have her killed. They kidnap a tank and a general and, pursued by the Soviet army, roll to the Romanian border to safety.
criticism
Bosley Crowther of the New York Times wrote that rarely has a film mocked a state and its political system so relentlessly and with malicious glee.
Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader was King Vidor was not in his element in this pompous farce.
Awards
Walter Reisch received an Oscar nomination in the category Best Original Story in 1941 .
background
The film premiered on December 13, 1940.
Michael Rasumny as an officer and Keye Luke as a conference participant can be seen in small supporting roles . The film was set by art director Cedric Gibbons and set decorator Edwin B. Willis . The sound engineer was Douglas Shearer , the special effects came from A. Arnold Gillespie . Karl Freund used the camera for nocturnal outdoor shots.
Web links
- Comrade X in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Review of the New York Times (English)
- ↑ Critique of the Chicago Reader (English)