"MISSION TO MOSCOW"
Sir-In Quentin Reynold’s book, The Curtain Rises, he quotes a member of the Diplomatic Corps in Russia as saying that during the showing of the film Mission to Moscow, Stalin was fine, he kept a straight face and did not laugh once! Reynolds says the film was a beautiful technical job, and the acting was magnificent, but it portrayed a Russia which none of them had ever seen, which, as it was supposed to be factual, was wrong. He says: "The film had telescoped two purge trials into one and had not presented them with any degree of accuracy. ... We all had copies (in English) of the testimony given at the trials, and it varied considerably from. what was shown on the screen. . . . In the film Radek is condemned to death. Actually he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment." The character of the British Ambassador was misrepresented. According to Litvinov, he and the German Ambassador to Moscow were the only two diplomats for whom he had any respect. Reynolds gives pages to the subject in his book, and shows deep regret that no one with real knowledge of Russia had been called in to advise on the film. He adds: "We were all frankly embarrassed by the picture." I do not think anyone will deny his personal know-
ledge of this subject.-
M.
D.
(Rotorua).
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 287, 22 December 1944, Page 7
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228"MISSION TO MOSCOW" New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 287, 22 December 1944, Page 7
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