Popular Culture Review Vol. 12, No. 1, February 2001 | Page 109

O n e L o n e l y N i g h t and J e t P il o t

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must face his gullibility, admitting that Anna is a “Soviet tootsie roll that made a
chump of me.” Yet, when she decides to help Shannon to escape from the Soviet
Union and to go with him, she seems more motivated by a desire for the lifestyle
the United States has to offer than by love for Shannon. While in Russia, she
nostalgically remembers the beef in Palm Springs and obsesses over keeping a
nightgown that Shannon has bought for her there. The last scene of the film
underscores Anna’s materialism as she tells Shannon that she came back to the
United States for steak. Shannon asks her if there was any other reason, and she
tells him that she also came back in order to be with him, but she quickly turns her
attention to eating the steak. Anna delivers the final ideological statement in the
film when she wishes that she could make the Russian people realize “that steaks
are better than all the guns in the world.
Unlike One Lonely N ight, J e t Pilot gives the Soviets a mythological power.
Not only can Anna easily dupe an American colonel, but his romantic efforts do
nothing to dissuade her from Communism. Whereas Mike’s lovemaking ability
converts misguided Communist women. Shannon is ineffectual in changing Anna;
only the material comforts of the United States have any impact on her. Moreover,
whereas One Lonely N igh t concludes that the Soviets are stupid. J e t P ilot credits
them with super-intelligence, not only in Anna’s skills as an agent, but also in their
use of the new experimental mind-erasing drug they have developed that the United
States does not possess. Only Anna can save Shannon from destruction; he doesn’t
h ave the intelligence or strength to save himself, even though John Wayne plays
him. J e t P ilo t suggests that American men cannot defeat the seductions of
Communism; only American products can do that.
As these two works demonstrate, anti-Communist propaganda of the Fifties
was complicated and spanned various popular genres. Whether working to
mythologize or demythologize the Red Menace, anti-Communist works became
part of American popular culture in the Fifties, providing varied and interesting
portraits of the Red Menace.
Arkansas State University

Notes

Cyndy Hendershot

Thanks to Antony Oldknow for his help.
1. Robert L. Sandels argues that what Hammer seeks to do in the novels is avoid women
because he perceives them as a threat to his autonomy: “Hammer may easily fool the
reader by his compulsive sexual banter into assuming that his adventures are chiefly in
bed. In fact, he uses every excuse to avoid or to postpone sex” (353).
2. The majority of critics accuse Spillane of misogyny. For a sampling, see Tim Dayton,
James Schokoff, Kay Weibel, Robert L. Sandels, and Tony Hilfer.