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Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but meandering
Review: Arguably the Renaissance man of the Leftist movement, Abe Polonsky made his mark in the worlds of education, radio, film and television. A Very Dangerous Citizen documents in detail Polonsky's participation in socialist causes -- as well as his other public activities -- that ultimately led to his head-on collision with the U.S. government during the Red Scare of the late 1940s and 1950s. The list of Americans who have been labeled "a very dangerous citizen" on the floor of the United States Congress is a short one, and Polonsky earned that label due to his membership in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II.Authors Paul Buhle and Dave Wagner have studied the blacklist extensively -- Buhle as the co-author of Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist and Wagner as the political reporter for the Arizona Republic. Together they have produced a thorough if somewhat clinical study of the American Communist movement through the life of one of its staunchest advocates. The book begins slowly, as the authors devote several chapters to setting the stage for Polonsky's great triumphs in Hollywood by examining his past and the shaping influences in his life. While good biographic work, these scene-setting passages slow down the overall narrative to the point of distraction until the narrative arrives at Polonsky's best-known works, Body and Soul and Force of Evil. These films, produced in 1947 and 1948, respectively, are the primary reason Polonsky is remembered today. Here, the parallels between his work and his politics are clearly defined. Body and Soul, considered the standard bearer for later boxing films such as Raging Bull, establishes the postwar persona of John Garfield (also a later blacklistee) and presents a full-blown condemnation of the system that compromises an individual's morality. Force of Evil, also with John Garfield, is a noir classic that takes the next step in exposing how American society breeds those who would operate beneath the law. In each case, Garfield's character embodies values that Americans of the period would find both reprehensible and admirable. Buhle and Wagner dissect the scripts and the production value of these films in their attempt to get into Polonsky's head, and are extremely competent in their analysis. Once Polonsky is blacklisted, there isn't too much left to tell. His acerbic condemnation of those who perpetrated the blacklist as well as the popularity of his films overseas served to keep him active, but his later films were mere curiosities, known more for their creator than their content. This is not to say that Buhle and Wagner don't have fodder to continue their thesis. Indeed, they follow Polonsky through the '50s and his later return to Hollywood to work with newer stars like Robert Redford. Unfortunately, beyond his two great masterworks, Polonsky was no longer regarded as a pioneering voice in cinema, but rather as a historical curiosity. To those who don't possess at least a moderate interest in the history of American cinema and Hollywood, A Very Dangerous Citizen can read like a doctoral thesis. In the end it is interesting purely for the fact that its chosen subject matter was a man who led a mythic, almost clichéd, struggle for his art and beliefs. Polonsky himself tried to tell his story with the original screenplay for the film Guilty By Suspicion. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so, Buhle and Wagner demonstrate how Guilty By Suspicion in its final form is nothing like Polonsky's vision. Given his radical activities, they make a convincing argument that even a mainstream Hollywood exposition on the blacklist could not measure up with Polonsky's real story, though Buhle and Wagner have done so successfully.
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