Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press 1996
Distributed by New Day Films,190 Route 17M, P.O. Box 1084, Harriman, NY 10926; 888-367-9154 or 845-774-7051
Produced by Rick Goldsmith
Directed by Rick Goldsmith
VHS, color, 111 min.
High School - Adult
History, Journalism
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Scott Smith, Associate Director, Lorette Wilmot Library, Nazareth College of Rochester, Rochester, NYI must tell the truth before I run on: this is an instance of a somewhat reconstructed liberal reviewing a documentary of one of the greatest, and undeservedly unknown, unreconstructed liberals of modern America. Although the liberal bias evident in this documentary was pleasing to me, other viewers could take issue with the absence of any dissenting voice among the narration and talking heads who extol Seldes.
The format of the video combines newsreel footage, still photos, a parade of the above-mentioned talking heads (including Ralph Nader, Victor Navasky, and Daniel Ellsberg), and, certainly most compelling, interview footage of the then 98 year old Seldes still working at his manual typewriter in May of 1989, six years before his death, recounting past exploits, as well as current concerns over press censorship and social equity. The documentary traces Seldes' life and career as a newspaperman, editor of his own weekly critique of the press titled In Fact, and his later years, focusing on his coverage of World War I, the early years of the Soviet Union, the Spanish Civil War, his pre-World War II exposure of the scientific evidence of the dangers of tobacco, his ongoing support of liberal and pro-labor causes, the ongoing feuds with the FBI and especially J. Edgar Hoover, and the, seemingly inevitable, investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Although Seldes was cleared by the HUAC the national climate that it represented ushered in the demise of In Fact and his decades-long slide into seeming obscurity. Seldes was resurrected in part by his own appearance as a talking head in the 1981 film Reds.
Perhaps Nat Hentoff best expresses the spirit of the documentary, and the man, when he states "George Seldes was the trombone of muckraking journalism. His voice was so clear, so loud and strident, if you like. He took what should be the most honorable term in American journalism - muckraking - and made it work again." Tell the Truth and Run combines excellent technical quality with a forceful, albeit not balanced, presentation of censorship and media suppression in modern America. It could be viewed with profit by audiences of high school age and above and would be an appropriate purchase not only in the areas of journalism or recent American history, but also as general non-fiction. Highly recommended.