I Was A Communist
for the F.B.I.
Director: Gordon Douglas
Year:
1951
Rating: 5.0
In the midst of the Red Scare, the movie studios
not only tried to rid themselves of anyone with Communist affiliations but
also thought it wise to put out an anti-Communist film or two. It was simply
good politics. This was one that came from Warner Brothers and it is as square
as the Pledge of Allegiance from a Boy Scout on a stack of bibles. This one
definitely got the stamp of approval from J. Edgar Hoover. Knowing a little
about Hoover's private life maybe he used it for foreplay. What makes it
interesting and not just propaganda drivel is that it is based on a real
person who went underground for the FBI and infiltrated the Communist Party
in Pittsburgh. Apparently though, the real life Matt Cvetic exaggerated his
tales to the FBI to the extent that at some point they considered him useless.
But that didn't stop him from first creating a radio show on his exploits,
a book and then this film. He may have added more value doing this for the
FBI than his actual work for them.
Cvetic played by the hard nose Frank Lovejoy has been a loyal member of the
Communist Party for nine years and has worked his way up the hierarchy of
the cell in Pittsburgh. He doesn't keep it a secret and so everyone hates
him - his brothers, his sisters, his son, his neighbors and his dog if he
had one. It is the price he has had to pay but it is getting to him. The
dirty Commies are up to no good in the Steel City - trying to enflame the
blacks to rise against the whites but behind the scenes calling them the
N word and also trying to implicate the Jews. They just want hatred to spread
everywhere for Comrade Stalin. Cvetic has to go along with all of this to
maintain his cover even when his brother is beaten up by Red hoodlums. But
then it turns out a pretty young thing who is his son's teacher is also a
card carrying Red and has been sent by Red Central to keep an eye on Cvetic
just as everyone keeps an eye on everyone else. She seems to offer herself
to him - he declines being a good FBI man - I would have been tempted.
She is played by Dorothy Hart and I was wondering why I didn't know her as
attractive as she was - turns out she pretty much got out of town after this
film and Tarzan's Savage Fury and never came back. Ended up working for the
U.N for humanitarian causes. She hated Hollywood. But not as much as she
comes to hate the Commies in this film and that is a dangerous thing to do.
As in his real life, Cvetic reveals his true identity and provides testimony
before Congress at the House Un-American Activities Committee. And now even
his dog loves him, if he had one. This is quite corny, a relic from another
age - though today I suppose films like this are being made about radical
Islam - perhaps with a bit more gray area - but perhaps not. Still no matter
what, this is a Warner Brothers film and they give it that Warners ripped
from the headlines look and feel (which in fact it literally was) - so much
so that it was nominated for the Oscar for Documentary!
