Crusade For Freedom
Crusade For Freedom
Crusade For Freedom Ronald Reagan of Hollywood tells how Radio Free Europe has pierced the iron curtain and appeals for help to keep it operating. Shot opens with Ron sitting at a desk, foreshadowing future addresses from the Oval Office. B-roll about Radio Free Europe. "Freedom Bell" ringing. VS radio towers. VS men ostensibly operating radio transmission equipment. VS middle-aged men (broadcaster, narrator, actor, newsman, reporter, announcer) reading from script into large microphone (mic says "RFE"). Nice shot that could pass for film noir atmosphere: over the shoulder shot of man writing a letter, a hat and ashtray with cigarette on the desk before him, the man's face mysteriously shadowed. General Lucius D. Clay(?) speaks into microphones before large crowd. Animated map shows radio towers with "radio signals" broadcasting across Europe and into the Soviet Union; another map shows radio waves penetrating China. Reagan urges viewers to send contributions, and he hold up a giant envelope with the mailing address on it. [This has got to be a classic of American Cold War propaganda.]