“Red Planet Mars” (1952) is undoubtedly one of the best (or one of the worst: in any case it’s not a halfway point) movies about the intrigues that preceded the Bolshevik revolution. The film narrates with realism the invasion of our planet by some Martians who are forced to make an emergency landing as a result of the drunkenness of the pilot, Grtyyuk Drakorewoo (whose name is significant because in Martian language it means ‘the drunkest teetotaler’). Once on Earth the Martians have no choice but to rummage through the dumps, until they get tired and take out their ray guns. Humanity believes itself to be in danger of death or, if not of death, at least of total annihilation, and asks a circus clown (Peter Graves) for help. For a while, the clown manages to distract the Martians by juggling, but when one of the balls falls to the ground, the Martians understand that this is nothing more than a gross diversionary tactic, and they run out of the circus tent ready to conquer the planet or, alternatively, to spend a pleasant evening playing rummy. This precipitates the discovery that Grtyyuk Drakorewoo is really a teetotaler and that he had landed on Earth expressly with the unspeakable purpose of overthrowing the Czar of Russia. With a shiver, the spectator finds out that we are in 1917 and it’s already too late to hide the jewels as the storming of the Winter Palace will take place shortly after. And the rest is history.
