HotHouse Fall Series: On Whose Shoulders

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 16| 8pm. $5

AT CO-PROSPERITY SPHERE | 3219 S. Morgan

Focus on Red Pulp/ Manufacturing Hysteria

WALK EAST ON BEACON | |1hr. 38min.  |1952

The screenplay was inspired by a May 1952 Reader's Digest article by J. Edgar Hoover entitled "The Crime of the Century: The Case of the A-Bomb Spies." The article covers the case against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for treason. Federal agent Belden (George Murphy) is assigned to locate the communist mastermind behind the leak, and to trace all avenues of informational access utilized by the Communists. Professor Albert Kafer (Finlay Currie) a scientist who is being blackmailed by the Reds into cooperating with them, while Alexi Laschenkov (Karel Stepanek) is the top Eastern-Bloc spy.

ABOUT HOTHOUSE SERIES: ON WHOSE SHOULDERS

On Whose Shoulders is a major multi-arts festival of films and other cultural content coinciding with the 100th Anniversary of the CPUSA (Communist Party USA).

The curators of the series have partnered with arts presenting organizations around the city to explore through film, oral histories, music, poetry, photographs and other documentary ephemera the legacy of the "party" and related events.  

The first event is on Monday, September 16  with the screening of Point of Order. The series runs through December 8, 2019 in multiple public arts venues and will additionally showcase content online and via social media platforms. 

ABOUT THE SCREENING SERIES

Twenty-one feature films and documentaries look at 20th century communism and related movements. The programs are presented across the city in five separate screening venues in collaboration with our partners; The Rebuild Foundation; Chicago Film Society; Co-Prosperity Sphere; the Illinois District of the Communist Party USA, filmfront, South Side Projections and CANTV. Special thanks to Peter Kuttner, co-curator, and to Judy Hoffman and Eric Torres for their contributions to the project.