The Hoaxters

Some commenters on the left side of the aisle call this film "propaganda;" but being propagandistic doesn't make it false. In fact, the Hoaxters' historical sketch of the rise and various phases of Communism, and its continuing danger to liberty and freedom (as we just saw in Georgia under brutal Soviet -- sorry, Russian occupation), is remarkably accurate, given the constraints of a movie short.

Definitely worth the viewing time for anybody not utterly besotted with the anti-anti-communist propaganda routinely taught in school these days, where kids are told that Joe McCarthy was a greater threat to world peace and liberty than Josef Stalin.

To really appreciate the amusement value of this pseudo-documentary (and the truly scary nature of this sort of propaganda) it is necessary to understand the political situation of Europe and North America during the middle years of the 20th century. While isolationism (America First Committee) was generally favored by much of the population; both Europe and America had seen a growth of antiliberalism (a mix of fascism and interventionist sentiment). This surge in antiliberalism was part of a gradual evolution over the preceding six decades.

It expressed violent opposition to liberalism and social democracy; but reserved its most vitriolic rants for Marxism (later communism and Bolshevism-Hitler termed it Judeo-Bolshevism). In Germany before the war and in America after the war, it included an extreme brand of nationalism. "The Hoaxters" even spends a moment at the grave site of Karl Marx; branding him the greatest evil of the world.

The irony of "The Hoaxters" (and the quality Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels would have found most amusing) is its basic premise of equating Nazi antiliberalism (an ideology much closer to that of this film's makers and backers) with the perceived ideology of America's enemy-of-the-decade; the Soviet Union.

Indeed Hitler nicely summed up his core belief and social Darwinist attitude as: "In this struggle the stronger, the more able, win, while the less able, the weak, lose. Struggle is the father of all things ... It is not by the principles of humanity that man lives or is able to preserve himself above the animal world, but solely by means of the most brutal struggle". Which is much closer to free market capitalism than to Marxism's: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need".

Flush from their triumphs over Germany and Japan; both America and the Soviets were in need of a credible enemy. They served each other well in this capacity; with fear routinely employed by both countries to prevent a return to isolationism.

But the documentary does not limit itself to traditional saber rattling. It evokes the snake oil salesman analogy to discredit and dismiss any new fangled notions of government. It even anticipates that the socio-economic situation of blue-collar workers, women, and minorities back in 1952 might make them less receptive to simplistic arguments about freedom and democracy. Jackie Robinson and Walter Reuther appear briefly to proclaim that their respective races and classes are solidly behind America (something to the effect that they would rather be discriminated and exploited here; than have to live in the Soviet Union).

The documentary is professionally made and narrated.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Hoaxters, The (1952)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

MGM short is pure propaganda, which ranks right down there with Triumph of the Will and various other films. The film tries to show claims that Communist and anyone wanting to make money are no different than Nazis. This film runs just over 30-minutes and I'm sure at the time it had its heart in the right place but it's very dated today and some of the films claims are just downright silly. Howard Keel, George Murphy, Walter Pidgeon, Barry Sullivan, Robert Taylor and James Whitmore narrate various parts of the film. Technically speaking the film is very well made but that doesn't add to the entertainment value.

The Hoaxters only rates a four out of ten. The production value is very high, and it has big-name stars doing the narration, but the subject is so repugnant that it is almost nauseating to watch.

I'm glad it wasn't listed as a Documentary, because it is certainly anything but. Its purpose is indoctrination, pure and simple. It is sort of the American version of a Leni Riefenstahl film, except that her films are a lot more upbeat and enjoyable to watch.

It starts out equating Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito. Then, the first banner headline word zooms across the screen: "COMMUNISM" Almost immediately, Stalin is equated with the first three. "All dictators are the same," is chanted throughout the film at intervals in between segments of the narration.

The film is a classic example of what George Orwell termed "double-think." It rails against "The Big Lie" while at the same moment spouting some of the most incredible whoppers I have ever heard! Just a minor example is J. Edgar Hoover, the King of Blackmail, stating that he would never want to see anyone publicly embarrassed as a result of his investigations.

At one point, it is railing against dictators and the one-party system, and in the same breath has the nerve to show film footage of Senator Joseph McCarthy!

The thing I personally found most offensive was its presentation that all the anti-war protests at the White House were engineered and funded by the International Communist Party, and that as soon as Stalin and Hitler had a falling out, the demonstrations instantly evaporated.

The film kept my interest. In fact, it is fascinating. But rather in the same morbid way as I imagine watching a train wreck taking place would be.

At the very least, "The Hoaxters" is worth watching as a lesson in history, and also as a textbook example of propaganda techniques which are still widely used and very effective today.

This is a nifty little piece of American Cold War propaganda. Much time is spent comparing the methods of the USSR to those of the WWII Axis powers.

Deeper than that, though, is the ending, which draws a clear comparison of the "medicine-man" tactics used by all those aforementioned enemies and the McCarthyites, who at the time of this film's release were in full swing.