I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951)

Pretty Good

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

In 1921, only 4 years after their revolution, Hoover warned that Russian Communist spy cells were being set up in America with the purpose of violently overthrowing America. They would start with infiltration, strikes, riots, tied into labor disputes and whatever mayhem they could create. When this movie was made, there were many sympathizers in Hollywood, the elites who didn't understand that they would be among the first murdered if Russian Communism succeeded. Warner was brave to do this movie. McCarthy was villainized by daring to ask if their allegiance was to America or to Russia. Are you or have you ever been a member of the Communist party? A simple question, which any patriot would be proud to answer a resounding "No". They tortured him into an early grave by ridiculing him, with the help of the Liberal Press. To this day, Liberal professors poison our youth against the lofty principles that made America great. Along with "entitlement" and 15 million illegals and their "rights", we are in deep trouble.

According to the Wikipedia, "I Was a Communist for the FBI" was the name of a series of articles written by Matt Cvetic that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. The stories were later turned into a best-selling book, an American espionage thriller radio series, and also this motion picture. Mr. Cvetic's articles were the true story of his undercover life, but the radio show and this film were largely fictionalized for dramatic effect. Matt Cvetic was actually an undercover agent for the FBI posing as a Communist for nine years. It is true that he alienated his family and friends as a result of them believing that he was actually a Communist, and even wound up divorced as a result of his assignment, although the divorce is not mentioned in the film. It is not true that the Communists posed as big a threat to the U.S. from within as is shown in the motion picture. The film itself is quite interesting and a pretty good thriller in its own right. It will keep you guessing as to whether or not Cvetic's true identity will be revealed before he is finished collecting information.You just have to forget about the stretching of the truth that goes on here and enjoy this film for what it is - a window into a particularly paranoid time in America with a good pace to it. A film that is equivalent to it and made about the same time is the better known "Big Jim McLain" starring John Wayne. It too has many wild stereotypes, but the action is good and you just have to remember when and why it was made. If you do that, you should thoroughly enjoy both films.

The word 'propaganda' has a bad connotation but it's not always a bad thing. It consists of messages that are intended to sway opinions using a variety of means towards a cause. Sometimes, but not always, lies or distortions are used to change opinions. During WWII, there were a bunch of films that helped sway opinions towards to the war effort--a noble cause. And, though they were far fewer, in the early 1950s, there were some films that were meant to sway opinions against Communism--which, in hindsight was odd, since during WWII the American film industry was actually encouraged to portray the Soviets positively (since they were, at that time, our allies).This film was one of the better anti-Communist propaganda films of the era as it's highly entertaining. While its being considered a documentary by the Academy (since they nominated it for the Best Documentary category) is silly since so much of the story was fictionalized, the basic story idea was taken from a man who actually worked undercover with Communists who had infiltrated some labor unions. And, given its excellent acting, gritty script and nice direction, the overall package is great--like a film noir film in many ways.One of my biggest reasons for liking this film is that a veteran character actor, Frank Lovejoy, was used in the lead--not a person who was typically a leading man. Lovejoy was a great actor plus he seemed much more realistic--like a real life character, not some pretty-boy actor. The rest of the cast were also very good.The writing was very good and unflinching. I doubt if the Communists had infiltrated that much of the labor movement and the film seemed to imply it was widespread AND race riots were the fault of Communist agitators--not social conditions--a shortcoming of the film. But, I loved the way the leaders were shown so unsympathetically. While they claimed to love minorities in public, they had contempt for them and used them as pawns--as they did with everyone they came into contact with in their roles. Some will be offended by the film's use of racial epithets, but I think it added great shock value. Plus, the construction of the film was tight and exciting throughout--with lots of twists and edge of your seat thrills.Overall, a very exciting film that's held up very well over the years--and an interesting curio from the era of the so-called "Red Scare".

I caught this movie on the Encore Mystery channel some time ago and thought it was hysterical. I especially love the way they portrayed the party member who was a teacher and she explains how the teachers will subvert America's children. You still see remarks to the affect that the NEA is a commie front.The truth is that Cvetic liked to turn in lists of people who were in no way connected to the CPUSA. He got paid for quantity apparently. I believe this is what eventually caused the FBI to cut him loose.Still, the film is a great example of the hysteria sweeping the country at that time. I wish it was available on DVD so I could add it to my collection of bad cinema.