Mission to Moscow (1943)

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Mission to Moscow is a book by the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1936 - 1938) Joseph E. Davies. It was directed by Michael Curtiz in 1943.

Joseph E. Davies wrote a memoir about his stint as ambassador in 1941. While the storylines of both the book and movie are practically identical, the movie uses cinematic techniques and dialogue changes to overstate or change some controversial points in the book—changes that were made with Davies' approval.

The movie, starring Walter Huston, chronicles Ambassador Davies' impressions of the Soviet Union, his meetings with Stalin, and his overall opinion of the Soviet Union and its ties with the United States. It is made in faux-documentary style, beginning with Davies meeting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt to discuss his new appointment as United States ambassador to the Soviet Union. It continues to show the Davies' family's trip by boat to Moscow, with stops in Europe.
Joseph Stalin greets U.S. Ambassador Joseph E. Davies (Walter Huston) in Mission to Moscow.

While in Moscow, the movie alternates between Davies' interpretations of Russian politics and communism and his family's impressions of Russian life. It includes a memorable scene with Mrs. Davies at a Russian department store. The movie gives Davies' perspective on various points in Soviet history. It begins with the real Ambassador Davies stating, while seated in an armchair, “No leaders of a nation have been so misrepresented and misunderstood as those in the Soviet government during those critical years between the two world wars.”

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Joseph E. Davies. Mission to Moscow (1945) in PDF and DjVu formats