Review of Mission to Moscow (1943) by Noel V — 20 Jan 2010

It's uh--wow. Michael Curtiz, fresh off of Casablanca, directed this, and with all the energy and speed he poured into the project, it moves as swiftly as quick-drying cement. Politics, politics, politics, the occasional cameo by a world leader (played by some actor in thick makeup). Only thing that makes it bearable is Walter Huston, looking as earnest as all his actorly powers can manage, which is considerable. He cares, and his expression suggests that you should care too.

It's propaganda, of course. That they could have treated the material straight (I'm talking hypothetical--Davies had control, and the president himself asked Warner for this effort) and it would be more compelling stuff--allying with a mass murderer in charged of a fascistic country--that's the stuff of epic drama. Watching the actual results, the vast whitewashing and ass-kissing involved, that's a different kind of epic drama, more jaw-dropping for sure.