Then, comrades, come rally

And the last fight
Let us face

The Internationale

Unites the human race

Then, comrades, come rally

And the last fight
Let us face

The Internationale

Unites the human race

That's how it goes.

Porter!

Confiscate it.

I'll take it with me to Washington
on Wednesday.

On whose authority?

The authority of the Attorney General.

All right, pack it up.

- Attorney General?
- Attorney General of the United States.

That's upside down.

- Louise!
- Max!

How are you?

Max. Hi!

Hi!

Oh, God, Louise. You look good!

God, whatever you've been doing,
you ought to bottle it.

Oh, thank you.

He's gonna write a great book, Max,
and I'm gonna lecture while he's doing it

so we can have something to live on.

And he's gonna write
wherever I'm lecturing.

And then we're gonna go back to Croton

and he's gonna help me edit
my collection of articles

on women in the Revolution,

and then we're gonna help
edit each other's books.

No more separations.
We've really promised each other, Max.

We're really going to get down
to living our own lives.

It's so moving.
God, Max, you should've been there!

Well, they took my notes.
Every goddamn note I have for my book.

Can they do that?

Welcome home. Let's go.

Come on, come on.
We'll get your notes back.

You'll write your book.

A lot's been happening. Now what
the hell is going on here, Jack?

I understand you and Louise
have decided to be happy?

It's a very difficult situation

for a country who is conducting a war,

when one of its allies has a revolution

and the government is changed.

The thing that made the furor
was that the Russians withdrew,

and we lost an ally.

We thought the Russians
had gone back on us.

The Bolshevik Revolution, at the time,

was the most single striking
event in the history of the times,

of the whole era.

The complete transformation
of Russian society,

and the taking over
by the peasants and the workers

of the machinery of the state.

It never had happened before in history.

You're a grand old flag

You're a high flying flag

And forever and e'er may you wave

You're the emblem of
The land I love

The home of the free and the brave

Every heart beats true
For the red, white and blue

Where there's never a boast or brag

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

Keep your eye on the grand old flag

Over There is not till 1918.

Over there, over there

Send the word, send the word

Over there
That the Yanks are coming...

You know that one.

But the other one
after Grand Old Flag,

or before, was
I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy.

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy

Yankee Doodle...

Real live nephew of my Uncle Sam

Born on the 4th of July

I've got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart

She's my Yankee Doodle joy

Yankee Doodle went to London
Just to ride the ponies

I am the Yankee Doodle boy

That was a big hit.

- Do you believe in God?
- I beg your pardon?

It's a simple question, Miss Bryant.
Now do you want me to repeat it?

I'm sorry, for a moment I thought

you asked me
if I believed there's a God.

That is precisely what I asked you.

I see. Well, I have no way of knowing.

Are you a Christian?

I was christened in the Catholic Church.

- Well, are you a Christian now?
- I suppose I am.

Do you believe
in Our Lord Jesus Christ?

I believe in the teachings of Christ.
Am I being tried for witchcraft?

Miss Bryant, tell me,

are there no decent, God-fearing
Christians among the Bolsheviks?

Does one have to be God-fearing
and Christian to be decent?

Senator, the Bolsheviks believe
that it's religion, particularly Christianity,

that's kept the Russian people back
for so many centuries.

- Miss Bryant...
- If any of you'd ever been to Russia

and seen the peasants,
you might think they had a point.

On the subject of decency, Senator,

the Bolsheviks took power
with the slogan, "An end to the war."

Within six months, they made good
their promise to the Russian people.

Now, the present President
of the United States of America

went to this country in 1916,
on a "no war" ticket.

Within six months,
he'd taken us into the war,

and 115,000 young Americans
didn't come back.

If that's how decent,
God-fearing Christians behave,

give me atheists anytime.

By the way, Senator Overman,
in Russia, women have the vote,

which is more than you can say
for this country.

Miss Bryant,

do you advocate a Soviet government
for this country?

No. In this country
I don't think it would work.

In other words,
you mean the Red scare?

They got scared, or we got scared?

No, we didn't get scared.

They were afraid that the unions
would grow in strength.

A radical movement in America.
They were scared.

Oh, sure.

The Americans, they were frightened
to death by it, you know.

That it could occur here.

Sure. Everybody was in mortal dread

of the government descending on them.

The FBI or whatever it was,
don't you know.

We had to expose them.

And once they told American people
what Communism was...

People won't have nothing to do
with Communism now.

They know what it is.

But then, they didn't know.
It was a new thing.

Public opinion was
solidly against anyone

who had a good word
for the Russian Revolution.

But Louise was always communicating
what she had experienced.

I brought blankets, here,

and a heavy coat, here.

Chase and Sanborn.

Gloves.

Thank you, Jack.
Everyone else brought me hats.

And Louise sends you her best and this.

A scarf. Very kind.

I'm afraid your time is up.

Well,

we're going to keep fighting this.

Will you tell Max I'd like a picture
of myself in the magazine?

And under it, I would like the words,
"Deported in 1919.

"The government of the most
powerful country in the world

"is afraid of this woman."

We're going to get you back, E.G.

The revolution needs you.
We're gonna get you back.

Comrade, I'm not leaving
the revolution.

In Russia, I'll be joining it.

I urged the deportation of all

alien Communists.
All alien Communists.

It's bad enough having
a Communist with us,

but to have alien Communists
who are not citizens,

denouncing our form
of government and our republic

and everything else,
they should be deported.

And I led a big fight on that
for a long while.

It wasn't a very healthy atmosphere.

So when John Reed came along,

well, he was a voice of what I love.

He was able to go into the most
controversial subject of all,

Communism, Bolshevism.

He was considered one of the rare
persons who could do a thing like that.

He knew he was
on the threshold of history,

and he wrote it that way.

- A touch of this...
- Jack, I'm back!

I'm in here, honey.

I talked to Edmund and Alfred today
at Liveright's.

- What a day it's turned out to be.
- Stay out, honey! Stay out, stay out.

What are you doing in there?
Is everything okay?

- Can't I help?
- No, no, no, no!

Sure smells good. What is it?

Stay out, honey.
What did Edmund have to say?

Stay out, honey.
What did Edmund have to say?

He said in a few weeks
the steelworkers will strike.

He thinks at least 200,000 of them,
and maybe as many as 300,000.

But he doesn't think there's
any stopping them this time.

Yeah? That's good.

You still thinking
about doing a piece on it? I am.

Well, I can't really talk now,
but what does he say the next step is?

Evidently the federal government's
saying the steel organizers are Reds.

So what they're doing is
forming a bureau of investigation

just to look into subversive activity.

And you know, with all this talk
about the leadership of the AF of L

being in cahoots with the Steel Trust,

Alfred asked me if I was still gonna do
the piece on the IWW.

So I said, "Alfred, for the moment
I don't want to go any further away

- "than New Jersey."
- Really?

Oh, that's good. That's good.

- Just...
- Yeah, it is good.

Sit down. I'll just be a minute.

Jack, what are you doing?

- How did you leave it with Edmund?
- He's gonna read the piece on Debs.

Okay, the first course.

- Yeah?
- Sit down.

Sit down and close your eyes. Sit down.

Okay.

Oh, my.

My...

- Go ahead.
- Oh.

What do you think?

Really? You serious?

Really? Thank God.
I was gonna flambe them out here,

but the goddamn things flambeed
themselves in the pan.

He was certainly the main inspiration

in the development
of a revolutionary movement

through his history

of T en Days That Shook The World.

T en Days That Shook The World
was, of course, his masterpiece.

He was there when
the Bolshevik Revolution took place.

And his was the best report of it.

Max Eastman had this story
that John Reed came down,

tousled hair all, you know...
And said he was writing a book

and not to disturb him for ten days.

And that became
Ten Days That Shook The World.

Supposedly.

He was an enormous,
enormous success,

and this success
largely changed his whole life, I think,

'cause he found out there was
something that he could do well,

do practically better than anyone else.

"Comrades, we have made
a great stride forward in our program

"to capture
the Socialist Party for Revolution.

"The time of right-wing domination
of the party has ended.

"They have fallen before the shining
example of revolutionary Russia

"like so many bowling pins!

"Comrades, we have done better
than we could have dreamed.

"The left wing has won 12
of the 15 seats

"on the Socialist Party Executive,

"including myself,
Edmund MacAlpine and Jack Reed."

He took a tremendous jump forward
from there on.

He became a revolutionist
on the workers' side,

and he had no more illusions
about people like Wilson.

We all have problems.

You can't escape having problems,
don't you know?

But to take on the problem
of all humanity,

to save all humanity,

my God, that was too big
even for Jesus Christ.

Don't you know
he got himself crucified?

How the hell do we expect
to do those things?

Oh.

Louise. Is that you?

Hello, Harry.

Well, where have you been lately?
I haven't seen you in a long time.

That's right.
Is this thing gonna last all day?

It might. We've been kicked out.

- Kicked out of what?
- The Socialist Party.

- Wait, wait. Who got kicked out?
- Everybody in that room.

The Executive Committee
kicked us all out.

- The whole left wing?
- That's right. They nullified the election.

- Can they do that?
- They've done it.

We're the majority. We have the votes.

We weren't expelled
by the membership.

We were expelled by the executives.

And you're talking about doing exactly

what the Executive Committee
wants us to do.

Give the party back to them
without a fight!

Yes! And organize our own party!

Goddamn it, Louis,
the Socialist Party is our own party!

We were voted into power
by its membership

and we can't be expelled
by the executives.

It's an illegal act, and if we fight it
at the convention, we'll win.

Why do we have to fight?

What do you mean,
"Why do we have to fight?"

For what do we stay in a party

in which we must win control
from the minority, not once, but twice?

Well, what is it, Louis? You mean,
if we must fight for what we deserve,

then to hell with it?
Is that your idea of revolution?

I'd like to hear more about
your revolutionary concept, Louis.

My idea of revolution
is not a revolution in my own party!

And my idea of a socialist party
is not a debating society!

It is a party of action!

Fine! Fine.

The best example we can give them
is go to that convention

and take control of the party!

No! We form our own party!

And I hope that everybody here
who believe in Bolshevism

will be there that night
to help found that party!

All right, but I say you're wrong,

and I say that I'm gonna be there
at that Socialist Party convention

to take the seat that belongs to me,
and I urge everyone here today

to be there to take the seats
that belong to you!

It's almost like they want to be
separated from the masses.

They do want to be separated
from the masses. That's the point.

Let's go.

I've been in a minority before.

Hello.

While he liked the draft manifesto,

he's a bit nervous
about the social-patriot clause.

- Excuse me.
- Tactically, he's gonna be trouble.

Is he gonna bring his people
to the convention or not?

The man will talk theory
with you all year.

Well, I don't think so.
He'll go with Fraina.

Isn't that nice? He likes the manifesto.
How about Carnofsky?

I don't think we're gonna have
as much support as we thought, Jack.

We're gonna get in.
What did Carnofsky say?

- Carnofsky said no.
- I'm telling you, Jack...

- Just knowing on our own...
- Half of Fraina's people would come...

Come in!
Louise, please keep her quiet, will you?

- Hi, Eddie.
- How can...

- Hello, Eddie.
- Hello, Louise, Ben.

Hey.

Eddie, what about Levine?

- Eddie?
- Yeah.

- What did Levine say?
- He never showed. He...

I waited over an hour.

- Levine didn't show.
- That doesn't sound like Levine.

Sure it does. Where were you meeting?

In Casey's.

Now, that surprises me.
That really surprises me.

I could have missed him.

It was really busy in there.

- You could have missed him?
- What's that supposed to mean?

I was late.

How late?

Forty, forty-five minutes.

Nora started spitting up blood
again this morning.

I had to take her to the clinic,

and I had to wait for my mother
to come and pick up the kid.

So you were 45 minutes late.

Yeah. I thought I could make it.
I really did.

All right, we gotta get in touch
with the guy. How do we do it?

He's on his way to Chicago.

That's one of the reasons
I thought he would still be there.

Wait a minute,
you thought he'd still be there?

- Yeah.
- Who asked for the meeting, Eddie?

- Who asked for the meeting?
- Who asked for the meeting?

- Did Levine want the meeting?
- Yeah, I thought he wanted it.

Did he call us?

No. We called him.

Then why would he wait?
We wanted the meeting.

I'm sorry.

Well, why didn't you call one of us
and get somebody to take your place?

Because I thought I could make it.

I mean, I thought the man
would still be there.

You thought, you thought, you thought.
Try not to think too much, Eddie.

Not when your comrades
are depending on you.

Be sure.

All right, look.

Do we have a contact
for Levine in Chicago?

Let's call Singer.

- Do you have a number for him?
- Yeah. Well, I've probably got it.

Here.

Thanks.

You know, they might work better

if you put something in your stomach
besides coffee.

You're a little hard on Eddie,
aren't you, under the circumstances?

You think my sympathies
can help Eddie's wife?

Might help Eddie.

Listen to me.
Building a party will help Eddie.

Four, eight, twelve...

You know, I think we all believe
in the same things.

But with us,

it's more or less our good intentions.

And with Jack, it's a religion.

Our old friend Jack's
getting serious on us.

Okay. Hey, Frank, how are you?

How are you?

Excuse me. What's happening here?

No one's admitted without a red card.
That's the order of the Executive.

Well, I'm on the Executive,
so is he, so is he...

- No one's admitted without a red card.
- Where do we get the red cards?

You'll have to take that up
with the Credentials Committee.

And where's
the Credentials Committee?

And where's
the Credentials Committee?

I don't know.

I don't think he wants us to go in there.

Well, the way to take the hall
is to take the hall.

Edmund!

Edmund! Jack!

Okay. Let's go. Let's go.
Come on, this way!

To propose the agenda,
I would like to read a message

from the Credentials Committee
to the floor.

May we please have order back there?

In the back of the hall, could we have...

Sergeant-at-arms, would you see
what's going on back there?

Ladies and gentlemen, it seems
we have a group of intruders

who are trying to take over
this conference.

We're not going to let them.

Now, please, please sit down.
I need these aisles clear.

Sergeant-at-arms,
I must have these aisles clear!

Please, everyone, sit down.

Now, these are Bolshevik sympathizers

who are trying to take over this party,
and we're not going to let them.

The police are coming.

These people aren't socialists.
These people are just thugs!

Now you see? That is Bolshevik tactics!

Come on, delegates.
These people are imposters!

They were not elected
to the leadership of this party.

Ladies and gentlemen,
the police are coming!

- You see? The police.
- What the hell is this?

That's the only way the Executive
Committee can stay in power,

is by the use of the capitalist police.

Flash your red cards!

They'll resort to any tactics
to keep the working class

away from its true leadership
because they're afraid of revolution!

Officers, whoever has no red card
does not belong in this room.

Hold up your red cards.

It's all right. We're going.
You don't have to throw us out.

If you want to know
where the true leadership

of the Socialist Party of America is,

it'll be in the basement of this building
in five minutes...

- Red cards, everybody!
- ...and you're welcome to join us.

I want anybody who does not have
a red card to be out of this hall.

Comrade Chairman, I move that
we immediately constitute ourselves

as the bona fide Communist party,

and that we call ourselves
the Communist Labor Party of America.

I second that motion!

Well, look, if we're gonna have
a really revolutionary party,

I think what we have to do
is to find out from the American worker

what he wants the most and then
we have to translate it back to him

in terms of the labor movement
as a whole.

What we have to do
is make him want more.

We have to make him want
the whole goddamn revolution.

Those people upstairs
think that Karl Marx was somebody

who wrote a good antitrust law.

And whether we call our party
the Socialist Labor Party

or the Real Socialist Communist...
Whatever we call the party,

it doesn't matter because it...

Hello, Lou, are you lost?

No. I'm not lost.
I'm here to tell my friends

that the newly-formed
Communist Party of America

is meeting at the Russian Federation
on Blue Island Avenue.

We welcome your applications.

They will be judged
on an individual basis.

You're gonna judge our applications?

We're gonna apply to you
for membership?

Comrade Chairman,
I'd like to call that question, please.

The motion has been made
and seconded that

we immediately constitute ourselves
as the bona fide Communist party

and that we call ourselves
the Communist Labor Party of America.

All those in favor,
please signify by saying aye.

Aye!

Opposed? Motion is carried.

Comrades! Comrades!

Comrades, this is the wrong time
to be fighting against one another.

We should be united in our struggle
against the capitalists.

You should have thought of that
six weeks ago, Louis.

If your people had stayed with us,
we'd have had a majority,

and we'd be in control
of that convention upstairs.

We have five times your membership!

Louis, your arithmetic's
something like your politics.

We will be at the Russian Federation
on Blue Island Avenue.

I hope to see some of you there.

Comrade Chairman, I move we
immediately send a delegate to Moscow

to gain recognition by the Comintern

for the Communist Labor Party
of America,

- and that delegate be Jack Reed.
- Second the motion!

The motion has been made
and seconded to send Jack Reed

to Moscow immediately
as the international delegate

to obtain recognition of the Comintern

for the Communist Labor Party
of America.

All those in favor,
please signify by saying aye.

Aye!

Opposed? Motion is carried.

Since the first question
I'm going to be asked...

All right, thank you.

All right, comrades, since
the first question I'm gonna be asked

by the Comintern is gonna be
about membership eligibility,

I think I'm gonna have to be very clear
what our position is

in relation to
the Foreign Language Federation.

I'm gonna have to say exactly
what our requirements are

as opposed to any other group,

and I think we'll have to make it clear
on our Platform Committee

and be very clear in the manifesto.

- Good luck in Moscow, Jack!
- Okay, Harry.

Well, I guess you boys think
you can run a newspaper without me.

Hello, Jessie.

Good girl.

- Hello.
- Hello.

Let me make it easy for you, Jack.
I'm not going with you.

And if you go, I'm not sure I'll be here
when you get back.

Louise, you know, the Comintern
doesn't know Edmund or Alfred

from the New York Yankees.
They know me.

Somebody's got to go over there
who's got a background.

We'd be back by Christmas.

We can't merge with Fraina.

We can't deal with him
on membership eligibility.

He wouldn't accept half of our people.

The man is gonna do nothing
but alienate himself

from any potential
broad base of support.

He's sociologically isolated,

programmatically he's impossible
to deal with...

You mean he's a foreigner?

Don't do that, Louise.

Six months ago, you were friends.

These people can barely speak English.

They don't even want to be integrated
into American life.

The Foreign Language Federations
aren't gonna create Bolshevism

in America any more
than eating borscht will.

Being Russian
doesn't make a revolution.

Do you think the American workers

are gonna be led
by the Russian federations?

Or an insular Italian like Louis Fraina?

He has no possibility
of leading a revolution in this country.

Unlike you?

I'm just saying
that the revolution in this country

is not gonna be led by immigrants.

Revolution? In this country?
When, Jack? Just after Christmas?

Well, what do you think
we could've done with the steel strike

if we'd been ready?

30,000 party members all armed
with a unified theory and program

leading 365,000 steelworkers?

What it takes is leadership.

And we gotta get it
by getting recognition from Moscow.

- I have to go.
- You don't have to go.

You want to go. You want to go running
all over the world ranting and raving

and making resolutions
and organizing caucuses.

What's the difference
between the Communist Party

and the Communist Labor Party

except that you're running one
and he's running the other?

- I've made a commitment.
- To what?

To the fine distinction between
which half of the left of the left

is recognized by Moscow as
the real Communist Party in America?

To petty political squabbling between
humorless and hack politicians

just wasting their time
on left-wing dogma?

just wasting their time
on left-wing dogma?

To getting the endorsement
of a committee in Russia

you call the International

for your group of 14 intellectual friends
in the basement

who are supposed to tell the workers
of this country what they want,

whether they want it or not?

Write, Jack.

You're not a politician, you're a writer.

And your writing has done more
for the revolution

than 20 years of this infighting can do,
and you know it.

You're an artist, Jack.

Don't go.

Don't run away
from what you do the best.

Jack.

I'll be back by Christmas.

I'm going into the city.
When do you leave?

Tomorrow.

- I see.
- I'll be back by Christmas.

Will you be here?

I don't know. I'll see you when I see you.

Here. Your passport and papers.
Your name's James Gormley.

Go now!

Well, Mrs. Reed. Sit down.

What can I do for you?

Hello, Gene. How are you?

Fine. And you?

I'm fine.

Sit down.

- How's Jack?
- He's fine. He's in Russia.

- Is he?
- Yes.

He's trying to get recognition
from the Comintern

for the Communist Labor Party.

You see, they've split
into two different factions.

And you?
Left alone with your work again?

No.

Well, actually, yes,
but my work is different now.

I do a lot of lecturing
about what I saw in Russia.

Ah, yes, Russia.

Russia's been good for you and Jack.

Given you a way to meet people,
given him a reason to leave home.

Russia.

Russia.

Are you really that cynical,
or are you angry with me?

I'm really that cynical.
Why would I be angry with you?

Gene, if you'd been to Russia,

you'd never be cynical
about anything again.

You would have seen
people transformed. Ordinary people.

Louise, something in me tightens when
an American intellectual's eyes shine

and they start to talk to me
about the Russian people.

- Wait...
- Something in me says, "Watch it.

"A new version of Irish Catholicism
is being offered for your faith."

- It's not like that.
- And I wonder why

a lovely wife like Louise Reed
who's just seen the brave new world

is sitting around
with a cynical bastard like me

instead of trotting all over Russia
with her idealistic husband.

It's almost worth being converted.

Well, I was wrong to come.

You and Jack have a lot of
middle-class dreams for two radicals.

Jack dreams that he can hustle
the American working man,

whose one dream is to be rich enough
not to have to work,

into a revolution led by his party.

And you dream that if you discuss
the revolution with a man

before you go to bed with him,

it'll be missionary work rather than sex.

I'm sorry to see you and Jack
so serious about your sports.

It's particularly disappointing
in you, Louise.

You had a lighter touch
when you were touting free love.

Boy, you've become quite the critic,
haven't you, Gene?

Just leaned back and analyzed us all.

Duplicitous women who tout free love
and then get married,

power-mad journalists
who join the revolution

instead of observing it,

middle-class radicals
who come looking for sex

and then talk about Russia.

It must seem so contemptible
to a man like you

who has the courage to sit on his ass
and observe human inadequacy

from the inside of a bottle.

Well, I've never seen you
do anything for anyone.

I've never seen you
give anything to anyone,

so I can understand why you might
suspect the motives of those who have.

But whatever Jack's motives are, how...

I seem to have touched a wound.

You're a wounding son of a bitch,

and whatever I've done to you,
you've made me pay for it.

Louise.

Jessie!

Hey, Jess, come on! Come here, Jess.

Jessie, come here.

Jessie.

Jessie?

Jessie?

- Oh!
- Good evening.

By the order of the Attorney General
of the United States,

A. Mitchell Palmer,
I have a warrant here

for the arrest of one John Silas Reed.

Look upstairs, Frank.

- Arrest for what?
- Sedition.

- Where is he?
- What do you mean by sedition?

Lady, don't ask me.
Ask Woodrow Wilson.

Just tell me where he is.

I don't suppose there's a chance

of you being a Bolshevik agitator,
is there?

Why don't you just look around,
and see how agitated you get?

In 1919,

there were no more

than four or five Americans

who got into Russia

because the country was surrounded
on all sides.

You were actually forbidden to go,
and you could only go illegally.

It was very dangerous
to go through Finland.

Because the Finns
were a White government,

and they were bitterly opposed
to the Reds.

They decided to strangle

the revolutionary Bolshevik infant
in its cradle.

And 16 armies went into Russia
from the east and from the west,

for the purpose
of wiping out the Bolsheviks

and wiping out the revolution

and restoring Christian civilization
to its rightful place.

Speak English.

Have a lemon.
You won't see one for a long time.

Thank you. I just want to know
if you think that I was clear

- in what I said about...
- Eminently clear.

Salt?

- Salt?
- For the lemon.

Thank you.

I see you eat the peel with the lemon.

Fights the scurvy. So does the onion.

Together, they fight better.

You see, what I really wanted to do

was ask your frank opinion
whether we...

You think we'll get the endorsement
from the committee.

- I ask unofficially, of course.
- Unofficially?

Unofficially, I don't know.

Yeah, well, it's such a...

It's a peculiarly American problem
and I...

- You do think I was clear?
- Quite clear.

In this case, however, clarity does not
necessarily guarantee endorsement.

Well, I don't know.
In this case, I think perhaps it might.

You know, in fact, I don't...

What I really want to do
is to make a detailed report

for the Executive Committee to read
on conditions in America.

You see, I'd like to deal in that report
with the entire history

of the American Federation of Labor.

I'd like to deal
with its support of the war, you see.

And I'm gonna talk
about the persecution of the IWW,

I'm gonna deal with the rise
of the patrioteering societies,

and the capitulation
of leading socialists.

- I'm gonna... Am I speaking too quickly?
- No, no. Go on.

And so I will deal with
the rising militancy of American labor.

I'll talk about the general strikes
in Seattle and Winnipeg,

the Boston police strike.

I'm gonna discuss the Plumb Plan,
and particularly the attitude

and the policies of the AF of L
and IWW toward them.

Now, after that, I think it's important...

Comrade Reed, the Executive
Committee of the Comintern

has decided against endorsing
either the Communist Labor Party

or the Communist Party of America,

and instructs the two parties
to merge forthwith.

Sit here, Comrade Reed.

This time, your usual chair,
as you can see,

is now occupied by your detailed report
on American conditions.

A most penetrating study.
Very, very clear.

Thank you.

Obviously, it wasn't clear enough.

Comrade Radek,

I think there must have been
some mistake

about my travel arrangements
about my return to the United States.

Well, it seems as if I've been asked
to report to the Propaganda Bureau.

That is right.

Comrade Reed,
the Executive Committee has decided

you are very much needed
at the Propaganda Bureau.

We plan for you to remain
in Soviet Russia until July.

You're very welcome
to the Bureau of Propaganda.

Well, thank you very much,

but I thought that these
travel arrangements had been made.

I have to get to the Latvian
or the Finnish border.

And to which border would you suggest,
Comrade Reed?

Well, I understand that train travel
is very dangerous at the moment...

Why does he need a train?

Because I have urgent personal
considerations and responsibilities

- in the United States and I...
- Of what nature?

- Excuse me?
- Of what nature?

- I have a family.
- We all have families.

Well, I can speak only for myself
and I must see my wife.

It's very urgent,

and I ask only
for a single place on a train.

But you have a place on the train!

You have a place
on the train of this revolution.

You have been like so many others,
the best revolutionaries.

One of the engineers
on the locomotive of this train

that pulls this revolution
on the tracks of historical necessity

laid out for it by the party.

You can't leave us now.
We can't replace you.

- What right do you have you to leave...
- I'm not sure.

To do what? To see your wife?

Last year at the International Congress

I learned that my son
was very ill of typhus.

I didn't go to see my son

because I knew I was needed
where I was placed by the party.

What you don't understand is...

Would you like to abandon this moment
in your life?

Would you ever get this moment again?

- I am not abandoning the revolution!
- Comrade Reed, you're a writer.

People know and respect your work.

- You speak with authority of feeling.
- Comrade Zinoviev,

for the past eight weeks,

I've been completely unable
to communicate with my wife

or with my comrades
in the United States.

I need to go back. I would like your help.

Comrade Reed, you can always go back
to your private responsibilities,

so can I.

You can never, never come back
to this moment in history.

I'm sorry.

I have no right to tell you
about your own life.

You know it better than I do.

Maybe it was impossible
to get out of Russia.

There was White armies all around,

so escape was not dreamt of.

We had a communication from Jack.

He was in prison in Finland
where he couldn't communicate freely.

But he got word out to me

to take a message to Louise.

And I remember walking over to Louise,
she lived right near me.

I walked over to Louise's apartment
on Patson Place,

and spent an evening with her
talking about Jack,

and she talked very earnestly
about Jack's plight.

Mrs. Reed, the United States
cannot involve itself

in the internal affairs of Finland.

Are you trying to tell me
the American Consul

- can't give you any information?
- I'm afraid that there's nothing

- that the State Department can do.
- Don't give me that garbage.

If his name were Rockefeller,
there'd be something you could do.

Mrs. Reed, if your husband's name
were Rockefeller,

I think he would hardly be
under indictment

for a conspiracy to overthrow
the United States Government.

He has only one kidney.
He could be dangerously ill.

That is a chance
that your husband took, Mrs. Reed,

when he left the United States
without an exit visa or a passport.

Good day, Mrs. Reed.

The United States
participated with the Allies

in military expeditions against
the Soviet Union

in an attempt to overcome them,
invade them,

and set up another government.
Oh, yes. Yes.

There was a noose

to be pulled around Russia

which gave you an idea
of how a whole country

can be surrounded
east, west, south, and north.

Your name,
and the name of your contact in Finland.

Your name,
and the name of your contact in Finland.

I don't know what color...

I'll just get it myself.

- Would you get some...
- Would you like us to do it now?

- Okay.
- Oh, okay.

- All right.
- I understand.

From the top?

Oh, I see. Then they made a map.

Terry spoke to me.

Louise, I don't think you realize
how difficult this trip to be for a woman.

You'd have to stow away.

If you got there at all,
it would take you six months to...

Terry said that he thought that
you could arrange a freighter for me

- as far as Norway.
- Don't know why you're saying it.

You know what I mean?

Sit down.

I want to talk to you about something.

...indicates the map.

I could go.

I can sign on as a seaman.
There'd be no questions asked.

I think under the circumstances...

Don't look at me like that.
Jack Reed's a friend of mine.

I'm not gonna let
the son of a bitch rot in jail.

Just seemed to me
that I'm not as interested...

...and at this point...

Okay.

Wasn't he supposed to come over
to me on this?

I'll talk to Terry in the morning.

Where the cross is made...

I wish these son-of-a-bitches could act.

Your blood pressure is very high.

They only give me
some kind of salted fish.

The blood in your mouth
is from the gums.

You have scurvy.

An impressive shade of red, comrade.

Could you send a cable to my wife?

Mr. Reed, I have something for you.

- Is there a cable?
- There's nothing yet.

You should take one of these powders
in a glass of water, once a day.

Has she sent word to me here?

They won't say.
Our people can find out nothing.

You are being released.

You know, I must tell you,
I lost sight of John Reed completely.

But what I heard was

the Bolsheviki traded
some Finnish professors

for the release of John Reed.

John Reed.

We are here to welcome you.

Could you take me
to the telegraph office?

- Yes. Get in.
- Thank you.

"Louise Bryant, Croton-on..."

Hudson.

"...Hudson, New York, USA.

"I'm safe. Stop."

"Please contact..."

Contact. Please contact.

"Contact Petrograd telegraph office.
Stop.

"Have received no word from you. Stop.

"Please for... Forgive..."

Please forgive Christmas.

"Please forgive Christmas. Stop.
Love, Jack."

Could you send that right away?

Comrade Lenin said

he would trade,
for John Reed, fifty professors.

"Louise Bryant, Croton-on-Hudson,

"New York, USA."

- USA.
- "USA. Immediate."

- Immediate return...
- "Immediate return..."

- ... United States...
- "... United States..."

- ...impossible.
- "...impossible."

- Louise Bryant, Croton...
- Croton.

- "Croton-on..."
- Croton-on-Hudson.

"Croton-on-Hudson, New York, USA.

"Still no word from you. Stop.
Have no fixed address. Stop."

"Louise Bryant.
Croton-on-Hudson, New York, USA.

"Must know, are you well? Stop."

- "Do not..."
- Do not understand.

"Do not understand
why no word from you. Stop."

"Louise Bryant.
Croton-on-Hudson, New York, USA.

- "Need..."
- Need word.

"Need word from you. Stop.
Do not understand your silence. Stop"

"Louise Bryant. Croton-on-Hudson,

- "New York, USA."
- Did you check R-E-A-D?

Yes. Yes.

And you checked R-E-I-D also?

I have looked R-E-I-D,

R-E-A-D,

R-E-D.
I have looked Goldman and Bryant.

I'm just... Excuse me. One second.

If, if...

I thought maybe there's some other way
of misspelling the name.

- You also looked under R-E-I-D?
- Yes, Comrade Reed.

- Yes, yes. What do you want?
- There's many people wait.

- Excuse me.
- If something come, we'll notify you.

What have you heard?

Not much. What have you heard?

I don't hear. I wait.
They've jailed more anarchists.

But they made Bill Shatoff
head of the Siberian railway.

They treated me very well,
and I'm reserving my judgment.

- Well, that's wise.
- There's so much I don't understand.

There are forests within easy reach
of Petrograd.

Why is this city freezing?

I asked Zinoviev.

He said our enemies have destroyed
all the means of transportation

and killed off our horses
as well as our men.

How would we get at it?

I said, "What about
the people of Petrograd?

"They could go there together on foot
and haul the wood back with ropes."

He said, "Oh, yes, it would make
the people warmer,

"but it would interfere with the carrying
out of the main political policy."

- You get letters from America, E.G.?
- Oh, yes.

All opened by the Justice Department.
I hope they enjoy what they read. I don't.

So I asked him,
"What are the main political policies?"

He said,
"Concentration of all power in the hands

"of the proletarian avant-garde.

"The avant-garde of the revolution,
which is the Communist Party."

Anybody mention Louise?

I don't think so.
You haven't heard from her?

I've sent her cables,
but I don't get any answer.

- For how long?
- A long time.

Wait.

Rhys Williams
mentioned her in his letter.

He hasn't heard from her, either.

What'd he say?

I think he said
that he'd tried to reach her

sometime after Christmas,
but she'd left New York.

How long ago was that?

Well, you know how these letters take
a couple of months to get here.

By the time I get them, whoever sent it
is either in jail or deported.

- That's it.
- Which?

- There.
- Rhys Williams.

Oh.

- First the eyes go, then the legs.
- Yeah.

Yeah, I don't understand
the fuel situation, either.

I don't know...

He says she seems to be out of town.

That's all he said?

Yeah.

What did he say about O'Neill?

O'Neill? Nothing.

Come on, what did he say?

Nothing.

Can I see it?

I'm sorry.

I just don't know where...

Jack, sit down.

If Louise were to come here,

she'd have to leave
the United States illegally,

then live in exile with you,
and never go home again.

All for the sake of a revolution
she was never any part of.

Why should she?

You chose the life of a revolutionary.

She didn't.

Your cables only focus the
Justice Department's attention on her,

and the most seditious thing
they can accuse her of

is being your wife.

Leave her alone.

Let her choose her own future.

Why hasn't she answered me?

I think she has answered you.

He's been released.
They won't tell me where he is.

Do you know, she was much hated

for her extravagance in clothes.

Well, a long time ago,
somebody said to me,

"People who...

"Women whose lives
have been in danger

"over a long period
are always the most extravagant."

Comrades, as wrong-headed
as many of its policies are,

the IWW is a revolutionary union

and the American Federation of Labor
is not.

To think we can infiltrate
the American Federation of Labor

and convert it
to revolutionary policies is hopeless.

Translation.

Comrades, that's the wrong translation.

That's not what he said.

What's he saying?

For us to make a point
on the floor of the Congress,

we have to go

from our own English language
into the official German language

to the Italian, or Spanish,
or French language.

- And then, when the response from...
- What is your question, please?

Simply for the labor union issue,

could we have the English language
as an official language

on the floor of the Congress?

Comrade Reed, this is the third time
you have raised this proposal!

The issue has been decided.

We must move on
to the national and colonial issues!

Real revolutionary workers
in the United States

quit the AF of L a long time ago

and joined the IWW.

We have to make
the Russians understand this,

and that's why we want your support

to extend the session of congress
and to keep the debate open.

Jack, are you okay?

- Did you talk to Sadoul?
- Yes, I did.

Comrades, I'm still opposed to closing
the discussion here.

I think that this discussion
is being closed

to avoid hearing the American
and the British delegations.

And if for no other reason than that,

it shows that discussion
should continue.

Comrade Radek
uses this sort of remark

in place of an argument and as a result,
he doesn't want to talk about it.

What Reed says is not distinguished
by excessive fear of distorting the truth.

He goes on day and night
and has the cheek to claim

that the discussion is being broken off

because of fear of the great might
of John Reed.

Comrade Reed, you may have time
to discuss it until tomorrow morning.

Other people do not have the time.

Comrade Radek, other people that
don't have the time for this discussion

are 101 leaders of the IWW

who are in jail today
in the United States

because of their revolutionary views.

And if we turn our back
on these comrades

out of some pipe dream to radicalize
the American Federation of Labor

which cannot be done, it is a disgrace.

We've discussed this
during six sessions of this commission.

We spent whole day today discussing it,

and you insinuate
we are trying to dismiss the issue?

We haven't had enough discussion...

We haven't had enough discussion
for my friend here

to realize that Louis Fraina and I
think alike on this problem.

Every American on our delegation,

- every man on the English delegation...
- You are a member of this committee.

You are not
an independent political party.

Comrade Zinoviev, I will not be
steamrollered by this committee

that has not had
a proper education on this problem.

On the fact...

The discussion is closed.

However, if Comrade Reed
wishes to make a statement,

he will have two minutes to do so.

I would merely want to say that
on behalf of the American delegates,

that we will refuse
to vote on these theses,

and that I myself
will resign my seat on this committee.

Jack, I think we have to face it.

The dream that we had
is dying in Russia.

If Bolshevism means
the peasants taking the land,

the workers taking the factories,

Russia's one place
where there's no Bolshevism.

You know, I can argue with cops,
I can fight with generals.

I can't deal with a bureaucrat.

You think Zinoviev is nothing worse
than a bureaucrat?

The Soviets have no more
local autonomy.

The central state has all the power.

All the power
is in the hands of a few men

and they are destroying the revolution.

They are destroying any hope
of real Communism in Russia.

They're putting people like me in jail.

My understanding of revolution

is not a continual extermination
of political dissenters,

and I want no part of it.

Every single newspaper's
been shut down

or taken over by the party.

Anyone even vaguely suspected
of being a counter-revolutionary

can be taken out and shot
without a trial. Where does that end?

Is any nightmare justifiable

in the name of defense
against counter-revolution?

The dream may be dying in Russia,
but I'm not.

It may take some time. I'm getting out.

You sound like you're a little confused
by the revolution in action, E.G.

Up to now,
you've only dealt with it in theory.

What did you think
this thing was gonna be?

A revolution by consensus

where we all sat down
and agreed over a cup of coffee?

Nothing works.

Four million people died last year.

Not from fighting a war,

they died from starvation and typhus
in a militaristic police state

that suppresses
freedom and human rights

where nothing works.

They died because of a
French, British and American blockade

that cut off
all food and medical supplies

and because counter-revolutionaries
have sabotaged the factories

and the railroads and the telephones,
and because the people,

the poor, ignorant,
superstitious, illiterate people,

are trying to run things themselves,
just as you always said that they should,

but they don't know
how to run them yet.

Did you really think things would work
right away?

Did you really expect
social transformation

to be anything other than
a murderous process?

It's a war, E.G.,
and we gotta fight it like we fight a war,

with discipline,
with terror, with firing squads,

or we just give it up.

Those four million people
didn't die fighting a war.

They died from a system
that cannot work!

It's just the beginning, E.G.

It's not happening
the way we thought it would.

It's not happening
the way we wanted it to,

but it's happening.

If you walk out on it now,

what's your whole life meant?

Could you tell me if my resignation
is ready for signature yet?

- It is.
- Good.

May I see it?

Thank you.

- Thank you, Comrade Reed.
- Welcome back, Comrade Reed.

Now you'll be able to represent
the American workers

at the forthcoming congress at Baku

to inspire revolution among the peoples
of the Middle East.

Prepare for a difficult trip.

Our only route
is through divided territory.

Some of these intellectuals
spread rumors

that he changed his mind afterwards,

trying to, you know,

show that he came to his senses.

It's preposterous.

These men, well,
I don't even remember them.

I don't want to remember them.

All trains to Baku canceled
because of attacks

by counter-revolutionaries.

There must be some train to Baku.

All trains to Baku canceled

because of attacks
by counter-revolutionaries.

There has to be something to Baku.

Louise?

Emma?

Emma.

Emma.

How in the name of God
did you get into Russia?

- I had no idea how long it would take.
- So, you'll wait for a while.

By the time you got there,
he'd be back here anyway.

Go on in. Go on in.

Oh, I'm sorry.

It's all right. It's all right.

Here. Louise, sit down. Sit down.

I want to tell you something.

It's late, I know.

I want to thank you for that scarf.

Oh, yes.

I was wrong about you.

So was I.

The American oil companies
are trying to establish

a world monopoly of oil.

In 1898, the Filipinos rebelled against
the cruel colonial government of Spain.

But after the Spaniards
had been driven out...

The Americans have promised
the Filipinos independence.

Soon an independent Filipino republic
will be proclaimed.

The government of United States
sent soldiers and sailors there...

...under a dictatorship
worse than the British tyrants.

What's that for?

They are supporting you
for your call for a holy war

of Islamic people against
the western infidels.

Excuse me, Comrade Reed.

They said you are not happy
with the translations of your speech.

I did the German into Turkic

and Comrade Ossinsky
did the Russian into German.

Russian?

Who turned it into Russian
in the first place?

Well, I don't know.

They were already in Russian
when we got them

from the office of Comrade Zinoviev.

- I'm sorry for my English.
- Your English is fine, comrade.

Zinoviev, did you do
the translations of my speech?

I supervised it. Yes.

I didn't say "holy war."
I said "class war."

I took a liberty
of altering a phrase or two.

Yes, well, I don't allow people
to take those liberties with what I write.

Aren't you propagandist enough
to utilize what moves people most?

I'm propagandist enough
to utilize the truth.

And who defines this truth?
You or the party?

Is your life dedicated to speaking for...

You don't talk about what
my life is dedicated to!

Your life? You haven't resolved
what your life is dedicated to.

You see yourself as an artist
and at the same time as a revolutionary.

As a lover to your wife, but also as a
spokesman for the American classes.

Zinoviev, you don't think
a man can be an individual

and be true to the collective,

or speak for his own country
and the International at the same time,

or love his wife
and still be faithful to the revolution,

you don't have a self to give!

Would you ever be willing
to give yourself to this revolution?

When you separate a man
from what he loves the most,

what you do is purge
what's unique in him.

And when you purge
what's unique in him,

- you purge dissent.
- Comrade Reed.

And when you purge dissent,
you kill the revolution!

Revolution is dissent!

- Comrade Reed.
- You don't rewrite what I write!

Comrade Reed, counter-revolutionaries!

Counter-revolutionaries,
Comrade Reed!

Papa!

Papa!

Don't leave me.

Please don't leave me.

Comrade, the doctor
would like to see you now.

The doctor thinks
that we must do more analysis.

And a picture of his illness
will be clearer in a few days.

And he wants you to know

that we shall do the best conditions
for Comrade Reed

to prevent possibility
of high blood pressure

to cause a stroke.

I really... I know...

What?

How are you?

No.

Jack?

You know, I don't... I don't...

You hear it?

- Huh?
- What was that?

The water plays little songs.

It's not December, is it?

My, my, my, my.

God. What a time it was, huh?

- Want to come to New York with me?
- New York?

I got a taxi waiting.

I wouldn't mind.

What as?

What as?

What as?

Gee, I don't know.

Comrades?

Comrades.

Well, I want to go home.

Yeah.

I'll get you some water.

Oh, God.

It was in the afternoon,

sometime in the fall, I think.

October, I think.

Somebody came to tell me

that Jack Reed died.

You can imagine how...

How I felt.

I'd forgotten all about them.

Were they socialists?

Many of them were idealists.

You know,
things go and come back again.

I don't know what the outside world
thought of them,

but they were a couple.

I mean, you always spoke
of Louise Bryant and Jack Reed.

He was just a man in the prime of life.

I don't even know.
Did they ever have any children?

They probably didn't have any children,

he and Louise.

Again, you can't tell,
when you have children,

whether they will carry on
your revolutionary tradition or not.

Why did he do it?

Well, it's impossible to say

why Edison invented,

or why Galli-Curci sang...

He was definitely a stirrer-up of people.

That was his field.

That's what he came to do, apparently.

He's well-known amongst a few,
but not everybody.

They don't know who in heck he is.

I look for myself to die any day.

He was asked by Lenin,
"Are you an American?"

He said, "Yes."

And Lenin said,
"An American American?"

And Reed said, "Yes."

Of course,
nobody goes with the idea of dying.

Everybody wants to live.

I don't remember his exact words,

but the meaning was

that grand things are ahead,

worth living and worth dying for.

He himself said that.