COMRADE X

US, 1940, 89 minutes, Black and white.
Clark Gable, Hedy Lamarr, Felix Bressart, Oscar Homolka, Eve Arden, Sig Rumann.
Directed by King Vidor

Comrade X is a pleasant updated comedy-drama. It highlights the attitudes of the Americans before the outbreak of World War 2 - towards the Russians, towards the Germans and the dangers in Europe. It was also made by M.G.M. in the aftermath of their success with Ninotchka, where Melvyn Douglas mellows Comrade Greta Garbo and she laughs.

This time it is Clark Gable in a familiar role as a tough journalist in Moscow and Hedy Lamarr as a committed comrade and tram*driver. They fall in love, have adventures with a sinister revolutionary leader who becomes a Commissar. Eve Arden has a few moments of wisecracking, Oscar Homolka appears and disappears as a Commissar, Felix Bressart is daffy as the Russian who wants his daughter safe in America, Sig Rumann is, yet again, a Nazi.

The material is familiar - but indicates the styles of film-making of the time, as well as the touch of propaganda. It was directed by King Vidor, whose career ranged from '20s epic like The Big Parade through many dramas of the '40s and '50s including War and Peace, Solomon and Sheba.

1. Film-making of the 1940s, the aftermath of Ninotchka, the American perspective on the Soviet Union, propaganda?

2. M.G.M. production values, black and white photography, Russia, romance and action, the sequence with the tanks? Musical score?

3. The mood of the'40s, the comedy with Ninotchka, alliances with the Russians, anti-Nazis, the breakout of World War Two? The theme of freedom and lack of freedom in the U.S.S.R. compared with the U.S?

4. Clark Gable and his style, Comrade X and his articles, Jane and her patter, his photography of the assassination attempt, his articles and the code for interpreting them? Vanya knowing? His plan to help Theodore out of the country? Thompson going to the tram, meeting and discussing, political
indoctrination, the touch of love, the decision, the marriage, together with Theodore, their arrest, Vanya claiming to be Comrade X, into the cell, the deal and the new Commissar? Getting out, taking the tank, the pursuit, the tanks over the cliff - to freedom? American ideas and the murdering of the Reds in baseball? The cheerful ending?

5. Theodore and her tram-driving, communist talk. the suggestion to go to the U.S., the kissing, her arrival back home, checking out Thompson, the agreement, the marriage. in the cells. escape, driving the tank, happy ending?

6. Vanya as the oddball valet, his ironing, getting information, knowing about the camera, his plan for Theodore, persuading Thompson, confessing to be Comrade X - prison, the tanks?

7. The Commissar and his press conference about Comrade X, the interrogations, his being replaced, the irony of the would-be assassin becoming the Commissar, his power, double-talk philosophy, the massacre of his helpers?

8. The glimpse of the press gallery in 1939, Jane and her comments, attitudes towards the Nazis?

9. The Nazi and his talk, and the Russians turning against him on hearing a declaration of war?

10. Comedy and serious drama? Entertaining blend?