What The Challenge of Ideas in 1961 Has in Common With John Wayne

Challenge of Ideas
John Wayne, Edward R. Murrow, and others discuss the ideological battle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
Shotlist
ANALYZES BASIC IDEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE U.S. & THE COMMUNIST STATE. DESCRIBES OBJECTIVES & TECHNIQUES USED BY THE USSR TO INFLUENCE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD. EMPHASIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING THE U.S. STRONG SPIRITUALLY & MORALLY.

Ken Smith sez: A cavalcade of stars -- Edward R. Murrow, John Wayne, Frank McGee, Helen Hayes and, of course, Lowell Thomas -- spend the bulk of this film tells us that Americans are "under God," and that the U.S. government follows an international policy of "watchful, non-intrusive friendship" and "hands-off internal affairs" (tell that to Cuba or South Vietnam in 1961). When these celebrities finish trumpeting our manifest destiny, they start warning us about the communists, who want "world conquest" and are a "perversion of us and everything we stand for."
The section with John Wayne is the best -- he spouts lines such as "beauty is of national concern to us" while we see stock footage of Miss America, lady wrestlers, clips from Personal Hygiene (!), and a marine corps trio playing Rock Around the Clock. Many good "American" vs. "communist" montages.