The Red Menace

Taken seriously by only a few, THE RED MENACE still caused a sensation with it's anti-Communist propaganda. When a disgruntled ex-soldier (Robert Rockwell) gets no help from the Veteran's Bureau, he is ripe for the influences of Communists who lead him down the party line. But he soon meets up with disillusioned party members who attempt to break out. "Are you now, or have you ever been?" Fear of Communism, ultimately brought to a peak by the McCarthy Hearings, swept post-war America. A divided Hollywood scurried to pledge their allegiance; and cash in on the furor. I MARRIED A COMMUNIST, BIG JIM McLEAN and other inflammatory warnings came to the screen. Leading the way was THE RED MENACE, the first full-length film concerning Communist infiltration in America. Overseen by Republic studio chief Herbert Yates, the film's production was shrouded in secrecy. FATHOMS DEEP was the working title, but the word on the street was that it had something to do with Communism in the USA. Like other films of it's era, the documentary-styled THE RED MENACE was a message movie that crossed over into flat-out propaganda. Still, it is an intriguing, well-made reminder of a tumultuous time. Stylishly directed by R.G. Springsteen (Waco).

Director: R. G. Springsteen
Producer: Grant Whytock
Producer: Herbert J. Yates
Actor: Barbara Fuller
Actor: Hannelore Axman
Actor: Robert Rockwell
Actor: Hanne Axman
Actor: Betty Lou Gerson
Actor: Barbra Fuller
Actor: Shepard Menken
Actor: William J. Lally
Actor: Kay Riehl
Actor: Bill Lally
Actor: Lester Luther
Actor: Norman Budd
Actor: Leo Cleary
Actor: William Martel
Actor: Duke Williams
Actor: Robert Purcell
Actor: Gregg Martell
Actor: James Harrington
Actor: Napoleon Simpson
Actor: Royal Raymond
Actor: Jimmie Hawkins
Actor: Lloyd G. Davies
Actor: Marshall Bradford
Actor: John Pimley
Actor: Jim Hayward
Actor: George Taylor
Actor: Marilyn Criss Kraft
Actor: Bill Free
Actor: Gail Bonney
Actor: Theodore T. Sackett
Actor: Ralph Loretz
Actor: Joe Wallace
Actor: Arthur Millan
Actor: William Hitch
Actor: Oscar Weidhaas
Actor: Mary DeGolyer
Actor: Bernie Marcus
Actor: Jean Leighton
Actor: Harry Scher
Actor: Joe Duval
Actor: Bill Hudson