He died pretty young, didn't he?
^^^^ CB: Yes, early thirties. I think part of the appeal of the movie is that Reed is a very American national character type and embodiment of a Marxist. Sort of a Marx Twain , a literary type. He had a certain promise of merging "Americanism and Marxism", which ended with his early death.
I think "Reds" was much more emotionally potent when it came out because the Soviet Union still existed. Eastern European Socialist bloc of nations still existed. So, the Russian Revolution's impact on the world was much more evident then than now.