Book review: Invasion USA
Sub-titled "Essays on Anti-Communist Movies of the 1950s and 1960s," this compilation of essays by editor David J. Hogan feature some of the top film historians examining how filmmakers responded to the concept of the red menace. It is remarkable how many genres, as writer Ted Okuda explains, "rejoiced at the onset of Cold War paranoia, if only for the opportunity it afforded to slap a new coat of paint on the shopworn good guys/bad guys formula." Okuda is one of the essayists who contribute to this volume, covering the Roy Rogers westerns "Bells of Coronado" and "Spoilers of the Plains."
Along with Okuda, noted film experts like Mark A. Miller, Mark Clark, Brian Setzman, and Hogan himself are among those who examine the way communism was approached as an inherent plot point with sci-fi films, westerns, comedies, and dramas. Filmmakers as diverse as Charlie Chaplin, Roger Corman, Don Siegel, Frank Tashlin, and Gordon Douglas helm films featuring a myriad of different actors like John Wayne, Jerry Lewis, Harry Belafonte, and Beverly Garland.
Some of the films discussed, like "The Day The Earth Stood Still" and "I Was Communist for the FBI," are expected entries, but the accompanying discussion is interesting and enlightening. It is interesting to see Chaplin's "A King in New York" represented, while the inclusion of such decidedly offbeat items as "Artists and Models," "Big Jim McLain," and the aforementioned Roy Rogers efforts are even more commendable.
Editor Hogan does a nice job of compiling so many interesting entries from a variety of different approaches, while all of the contributors offer insightful analyses. Many essays also present a lot of details and background information that is not readily available in other books. And in every chapter, the films are covered from a perspective that is sometimes overlooked in other studies.
"Invasion USA: Essays on Anti-Communist Movies of the 1950s and 1960s," is, therefore, a highly recommended book that gathers some of the top film theorists presenting some of their most insightful work in a compilation that is both fascinating and informative.
The book is available here.