Communism (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #361 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Military & Propaganda]

Unlike Capitalism, this Coronet film has no dorky teenagers or weenies in it. Instead, it’s a fairly straightforward account of the history of Russian communism and Soviet aggression. This is not nearly as strident as it might have been, given the time that it was made, though it does clearly paint communism as an international conspiracy and a threat to world peace and freedom. Most of it is reasonably accurate, with the most inaccurate part of it probably being the talk about the U.S. fighting communism by supporting freedom in other countries, ignoring the U.S. policy of supporting tyrannical dictators in many countries simply because they weren’t communist. So overall the film is kind of dull, though it does contain a lot of film footage of early Soviet Russia.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.