The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Trumbo (2007), Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005), The Front (1976), Storm Center (1956), Guilty by Suspicion (1991), Invaders From Mars (1953), I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. (1951) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Red Scare movies.
Storyline: Major Ben Marco (Frank Sinatra) is an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army. He served valiantly as a captain in the Korean war and his Sergeant, Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), even won the Medal of Honor. Marco has a major problem however: he has a recurring nightmare, one where two members of his squad are killed by Shaw. He's put on indefinite sick leave and visits Shaw in New York. Shaw for his part has established himself well, despite the misgivings of his domineering mother, Mrs. Eleanor Iselin (Angela Lansbury). She is a red-baiter, accusing anyone who disagrees with her right-wing reactionary views of being a Communist. Raymond hates her, not only for how she's treated him but equally because of his step-father, the ineffectual U.S. Senator John Iselin (James Gregory), who is intent on seeking higher office. When Marco learns that others in his Korean War unit have had nightmares similar to his own, he realizes that something happened to all of them in Korea and that Raymond...
Plot Keywords: political thriller, cold war, brainwashing, conspiracy, espionage, mind control, assassination ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Through a focus on the life of Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976), this film examines the effects on individuals and families of a congressional pursuit of Hollywood Communists after World War II. Trumbo was one of several writers, directors, and actors who invoked the First Amendment in refusing to answer questions under oath. They were blacklisted and imprisoned. We follow Trumbo to prison, to exile in Mexico with his family, to poverty, to the public shunning of his children, to his writing under others' names, and to an eventual but incomplete vindication. Actors read his letters; his children and friends remember and comment. Archive photos, newsreels and interviews add texture.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>
Plot Keywords: biography, history, drama, hollywood, screenwriter, cold war, political persecution ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In the early 1950's, the threat of Communism created an air of paranoia in the United States and exploiting those fears was Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. However, CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and his producer Fred W. Friendly decided to take a stand and challenge McCarthy and expose him for the fear monger he was. However, their actions took a great personal toll on both men, but they stood by their convictions and helped to bring down one of the most controversial senators in American history.
Plot Keywords: history, journalism, politics, cold war, media, black and white, true story ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In the early 1950s Howard Prince, who works in a restaurant, helps out a black-listed writer friend by selling a TV station a script under his own name. The money is useful in paying off gambling debts, so he takes on three more such clients. Howard is politically pretty innocent, but involvement with Florence - who quits TV in disgust over things - and friendship with the show's ex-star - now himself blacklisted - make him start to think about what is really going on.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Plot Keywords: political persecution, hollywood, screenwriter, cold war, deception, reputation, loyalty ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A small-town librarian is branded as a Communist by local politicians when she refuses to withdraw a controversial book from the library's shelves.—Daniel Bubbeo <dbubbeo@cmp.com>
Plot Keywords: political persecution, cold war, american history, 1950s, education, small town life, social pressure ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: David Merrill (Robert De Niro), a fictitious 1950s Hollywood Director, returns from filming abroad in France to find that his loyalty has been called into question by the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and he is unable to work until cleared. Before being called, his highest priority had been his work to the extent of leaving his wife (Annette Bening) and son (Luke Edwards) alone for several months at a time. He initially refuses to implicate others or himself in a private meeting with Roy Cohn and a studio lawyer. This decision initially to stick to his principles first leaves him unable to work in his profession, even with films and producers he never would have worked with before. Harassment by the F.B.I. leaves him unable to work on Broadway, with advertising agencies, or even in a small film repair shop. Finally, having fallen so far, and tempted with a new offer to direct a film from his old studio (if he testifies), he agrees to go before the Committee, initially planning to name his friends. But when confronted with the cruel and tyrannical behavior of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, he realizes that there is a higher priority in his life. There is standing up for what is right, and in doing so, he inspires friends and family to do the same.—Mike Harris <mharris@injersey.com>
Plot Keywords: history, drama, political, hollywood, investigation, persecution, loyalty ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: One night, young David McLean sees a spaceship crash into a nearby sandpit. His father goes to investigate, but comes back changed. Where once he was cheerful and affectionate, he's now sullen and snarlingly rude. Others fall into the sandpit and begin acting like him: cold, ill-tempered and conspiratorial. David knows that aliens are taking over the bodies of humans, but he'll soon discover there have been far more of these terrible thefts than he could have imagined. The young doom-monger finds some serious help in a lady doctor and a brilliant astronomer. Soon they meet the aliens: green creatures with insect-like eyes. These beings prove to be slaves to their leader: a large, silent head with ceaselessly shifting eyes and two tentacles on either side, each of which branches off into three smaller tentacles. It's up to the redoubtable earth trio to stop its evil plans.—J. Spurlin
Plot Keywords: sci-fi, horror, aliens, cold war, b-movie, classic, black and white ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The FBI infiltrates one of their agents in the US Communist Party. This causes big problems in the normal life of the agent. Nobody knows that he is with the FBI, neither his family.—Luis Carvacho <lcarvach@lascar.puc.cl>
Plot Keywords: cold war, fbi, spy, political, film noir, american, 1950s ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee investigators Jim McLain and Mal Baxter attempt to break up a ring of Communist Party troublemakers in Hawaii (ignoring somewhat, as do their superiors in the Congress, that membership in the Communist Party was, at the time, legal in the U.S.)—Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>
Plot Keywords: action, adventure, crime, drama, thriller, film noir, detective ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Communists blackmail a San Francisco shipper (Robert Ryan) and recruit his wife's (Laraine Day) brother (John Agar) with a blonde.
Plot Keywords: film noir, cold war, propaganda, espionage, communism, usa, 1950s ...
Movie Details Click Here !