The backstory of this film is perhaps more interesting than the film itself--director Robert Dertano of Gun Girls and Girl Gang fame, teamed with exploitation photographer William C. Thompson, teamed with Tor Johnson (in one scene only), teamed with producer Stephen Apostolof (aka A. C. Stephen)whose own story as a refugee from communist Bulgaria this film tells. In its waning days (from 1955 on), Republic Pictures distributed some off-beat films in order to pad out its release schedule, as the studio no longer produced much of its own product. While Republic films were usually low-budget, they always had a slick, professional, assembly-line quality. However,This film has the murky, minimalist, semi-professional look of Dertano's earlier exploitation classics, and the first third of it is chock-full of stock footage and newsreel clips of riots and foreign cities. The difference is that instead of being set in drug dens and abortion doctors' offices, this film tries in its no-budget way to suggest foreign settings, which gives it an odd, otherworldly feeling, like the interiors in a 1930s z-grade jungle film. Also, the first two-thirds of the film feature a first-person narration from a Bulgarian communist official's point-of-view, a sort of "We'll bury you" kind of snide, threatening narration, although this is dropped after a certain point. I'm not sure about star Jacques Scott's accent, but otherwise he does a convincing job as an ambitious but naive freedom-loving refugee. The rest of the cast, some of whom will be familiar from exploitation films, are semi-amateur. Apostolof/Stephen is credited with production of the film, and with the "industry professionals" he relied on being Thompson and Dertano, it's no wonder the film has such a seedy look and semi-amateur feel. The melodramatic turn of the plot in the last half of the film really takes the film away from any anti-communist, freedom-loving message and turns it into low-grade melodrama. A fascinating curio that is of historic significance, but JOURNEY TO FREEDOM is not really that entertaining and, ironically, will probably appeal most to fans of Dertano's other films such as WRESTLING RACKET GIRLS or GUN GIRLS. It's a shame that they didn't think to cast Timothy Farrell in this film--what a great communist boss he would have made, or a sleazy party operative! Apostolof's next film was eight years later, ORGY OF THE DEAD. Both films have a few things in common--an idea that is more interesting than the actual product, a number of recognizable exploitation names, and a film that has a good "angle" to market but is actually somewhat boring to watch.
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Let's place ourselves back in time for a few moments. It's the 1950s, the red scare is in full swing, McCarthyism is rampant, and cheep B- movies are in their heyday. It is during this time you take your brand new '57 Chevy out to the drive in with your significant other and the first film comes on. 'Journey to Freedom,' is the title and your anxious for the main feature to start, but feel optimistic about this title with its intense theme song and use of appropriate stock footage. However, as the film continues, I believe that your optimism would begin to wane as you realize that the film you are viewing is just okay, and not the spectacular Cold War epic you were hoping for.
With the context for this film set, allow me to divulge into the plot. The story follows a young Bulgarian refugee named Stephan (Jacques Scott) and his two friends on their escape from the clutches of their tyrannical government who frequently jailed and beat the trio for their anti-communist views. The story focuses on Stephan who manages to make it country to country until finally reaching his destination in America where he is an active member in an Anti-Communist group.
During this time, Stephan settles down in his new American life. He gets married, becomes an active member of his community and seems to have finally made his exodus from the clutches of tyranny. However, getting away from communism, for Stephan, isn't all that easy. During his time in America the commies continue to try to hamper his success, especially because of his continual attempts to fight the Bulgarian government even after his exile. These attacks on Stephan are a mainstay of the film, demonstrating that life does not instantly get easier for refugees and that life after communism is a constant struggle.
Outwardly, Journey to Freedom has a great deal going for it. The film, after all, was written by a man who shared a similar life to Stephen in the film, director Stephen C. Apostolof of Ed Wood fame, giving it a genuine feel the whole way through. Furthermore, the film is generally well acted, while it isn't Shakespeare, I've seen a lot worse acting in 1950s B films. And finally, the plot isn't full of preachy patriotic dribble, it tells a legitimate story from the perspective of a refugee from behind the Iron Curtain. Where this film falls short is in its pacing, a problem which really makes this film difficult to watch at times. The different scenes in the film do not flow particularly well, and the plot is explained through dialogue rather than actions.
With this said, I keep coming back to this film. Another reviewer of this title stated that this film is more interesting because of its history rather than because of its own merit. I agree with this. The history I believe that this reviewer is discussing is the both Apostolof's personal connection to the film, and perhaps more importantly its Ed Wood Connection i.e. Tor Johnson, William Thompson, and Aspotolof. For me personally, that may be why I keep coming back to this time. As a lover of 1950s B movies, and films with a larger historical context, that might also explain why I like it so much. Rather or not you will like the film or not really depends on you; if you don't care about the history, Tor Johnson, or B films, I doubt you'll find much here worth viewing.
As a nod to my colleague who also reviewed this film, I agree fully that this film would have gathered a few more stars if it would have had Tim Farrell in it, but I digress.
In all, slightly recommended if you have read the reviews and know what 50s B-films are like. -
rondo-922241 August 2018Lstefanoff, I recorded this movie on the EPIX channel last week and watched it tonight. I don't know how to contact you to give you my copy, but maybe you can watch it on EPIX. We enjoyed the 1957 scenes and suspense. It's amazing that your father endured this same escape from the Iron Curtain. I recently read Andy Grove's escape from Hungary, "Swimming Across" (he was a founder of Intel). Amazing bravery.
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mark.waltz27 August 2016A Bulgarian national makes his way across Europe in an effort to get to the United States and find freedom on these gold lined streets. Pompous narration tells the tale of this young man's journey, dealing with hatred towards his people in Turkey, fighting to play the piano enough to get a ticket. Newsreel footage and stock film fluff out this slim tale that condemns eastern European countries, padded out with apparently subversive voice overs. When it deals with governmental and interpersonal issues of issues in supposed Communist regimes, it holds interest as a low budget cold war semi-documentary. However, once it starts giving the voice over the Yankee Doodle Dandy, Isn't America just great?, treatment, I rolled my eyes so far back I could almost see Russia out my window.
Tor Johnson has one brief scene as a simple headed (what else?) Turk who had an aggressive hatred towards Bulgarians. With lines like, "That somebody is dead. Real dead.", you know you're not dealing with a full deck of cards in a script that only wishes that it had the quality of typical exploitation films. Released by Republic (ironic choice of studio) during its desperate days, this avoids a total bomb by having several more moments of unintentional humor that could make you gag if you are eating when you hear them. -
My father was one of the Bulgarians that escaped and set off on the Journey to Freedom with Stephen Apostolof...
I believe there were 5 of them altogether. And while they escaped together through the Turkish border, they didn't all end up in the same places. Two stayed in France, and three came to the States. My Dad being one of them. There are two remaining from the 5, my Dad (88) and his cousin in France.
I would LOVE to get a copy of this film. From what I understand, it is not 100% based on their true adventure, but loosely so. Still, I would love to see it if anyone can direct me to how I can do that I would greatly appreciate it.