Cold War Fears in American Espionage Thrillers
The Cold War era inspired some of the best action-espionage films of the 20th Century. With the threat of nuclear war between the West and Communist forces of the USSR and China, “Fail Safe”, starring Henry Fonda, addressed this concern head on. The Philby Conspiracy scandal in the UK stoked many Fifth Column fears of double agents, and “The Manchurian Candidate”, with Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury explored how brainwashing could turn even a war hero into the enemy. The James Bond franchise and its various spy genre spinoffs, mined the Cold War from the glorified trenches of espionage in films like, “From Russia With Love.Get more information here. http://le0pard13.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/the-hunt-for-red-october-film-review/”
As the Soviet Union began to weaken during the Reagan years, the Cold War took on a different tack, with sympathy for those under the oppression of the Communist system. “White Nights”, starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines, criticized the Communist regime’s stranglehold on artistic and personal freedoms, as exemplified by opposite side defectors: a Russian ballet star and an American tap dancer. “The Hunt For Red October”, adapted from the Tom Clancy bestseller, delved deeply into the murky waters of high tech military submarine warfare and tactics, as Sean Connery’s Captain Ramius covertly attempts to defect with a prized Soviet nuclear sub, and Alec Baldwin’s CIA analyst, Jack Ryan, is the only one who can assist him.