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I Was a Communist for the F.B.I.

  • 19511951
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 23m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
848
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. (1951)
  • Crime
  • Drama
  • Film-Noir
In Pittsburgh, PA, an F.B.I. agent works to undermine the Communist party, but his brothers and his teenage son think he's a real Red.In Pittsburgh, PA, an F.B.I. agent works to undermine the Communist party, but his brothers and his teenage son think he's a real Red.In Pittsburgh, PA, an F.B.I. agent works to undermine the Communist party, but his brothers and his teenage son think he's a real Red.
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
848
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Gordon Douglas
  • Writers
    • Crane Wilbur(screenplay)
    • Matt Cvetic(article "I Posed as a Communist for the F.B.I.")
    • Pete Martin(article "I Posed as a Communist for the F.B.I.")
  • Stars
    • Frank Lovejoy
    • Dorothy Hart
    • Philip Carey
Top credits
  • Director
    • Gordon Douglas
  • Writers
    • Crane Wilbur(screenplay)
    • Matt Cvetic(article "I Posed as a Communist for the F.B.I.")
    • Pete Martin(article "I Posed as a Communist for the F.B.I.")
  • Stars
    • Frank Lovejoy
    • Dorothy Hart
    • Philip Carey
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 27User reviews
    • 11Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 1 nomination total

    Photos6

    Frank Lovejoy in I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. (1951)
    Dorothy Hart, Frank Lovejoy, and James Millican in I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. (1951)
    Dorothy Hart and Frank Lovejoy in I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. (1951)
    Frank Lovejoy in I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. (1951)
    Dorothy Hart in I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. (1951)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Frank Lovejoy
    Frank Lovejoy
    • Matt Cveticas Matt Cvetic
    Dorothy Hart
    Dorothy Hart
    • Eve Merrickas Eve Merrick
    Philip Carey
    Philip Carey
    • Masonas Mason
    James Millican
    James Millican
    • Jim Blandonas Jim Blandon
    Richard Webb
    Richard Webb
    • Ken Crowleyas Ken Crowley
    Konstantin Shayne
    Konstantin Shayne
    • Gerhardt Eisleras Gerhardt Eisler
    Paul Picerni
    Paul Picerni
    • Joe Cveticas Joe Cvetic
    Edward Norris
    Edward Norris
    • Harmonas Harmon
    • (as Eddie Norris)
    Ron Hagerthy
    Ron Hagerthy
    • Dick Cveticas Dick Cvetic
    Hugh Sanders
    Hugh Sanders
    • Clyde Garsonas Clyde Garson
    Hope Kramer
    • Ruth Cveticas Ruth Cvetic
    James Adamson
    • Picketas Picket
    • (uncredited)
    Ernest Anderson
    Ernest Anderson
    • Black Manas Black Man
    • (uncredited)
    Sugarfoot Anderson
    Sugarfoot Anderson
    • Black Manas Black Man
    • (uncredited)
    William Bailey
    William Bailey
    • Lawyeras Lawyer
    • (uncredited)
    Al Bain
    Al Bain
    • Crowd Memberas Crowd Member
    • (uncredited)
    Janet Barrett
    • Secretaryas Secretary
    • (uncredited)
    Brandon Beach
    • Senatoras Senator
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Gordon Douglas
    • Writers
      • Crane Wilbur(screenplay)
      • Matt Cvetic(article "I Posed as a Communist for the F.B.I.")
      • Pete Martin(article "I Posed as a Communist for the F.B.I.")
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The Communist Party USA was established in 1919. In 1921 it changed its name to The Workers Party of America. It was banned in 1954 by an act of Congress (the Communist Control Act of 1954). At its peak in 1944 the membership rose to 80.000 members but by mid-1950s it dropped to only 5000 members, including 1500 FBI informants.
    • Goofs
      Early in the film there's a shot at an airport where we see planes moving outside a window. The outside shot is flipped: the "PAN AMERICAN" logo on the side of the plane is backwards.
    • Quotes

      Gerhardt Eisler: This section produces more steel than all the rest of the country put together. Move Pittsburgh an inch and we can move this country a mile. But, er, Pittsburgh is too quiet, too peaceful. To bring about the victory of Communism in America, we must incite riots, discontent, open warfare among the people. That is the purpose of tonight's meeting.

    • Connections
      Featured in The Fifties (1997)

    User reviews27

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Red Cover
    ****SPOILERS**** Living in the shadows despised and hated by his family and friends Matt Cvetic, Frank Lovejoy, made the ultimate sacrifice in the war against the Communist menace that threatened America and the free world back in the late 1940's and early 1950's. Matt became a Communist but a Communist for the FBI.

    Based on the true story of undercover agent Matt Cvetic the movie is about a Pittsburgh steel worker and union representative and member of the Communist party. Matt risked his life and safety as well as the lives and safety of his friends and family for nine years to get the goods on the Communist party and put them behind bars for a long long time. Yet for all that time Matt was not only a man without a country but a man without a soul as well.

    Matt working undercover gets the evidence on his commie cohorts but not after he's involved in killing two commies who tried to kill him and his girlfriend Eva; as well as him being charged with the murder of an FBI agent. An FBI man That the commies, that Matt killed in self-defense, really murdered. Matt's also provided in the movie with a fellow traveler love-interest Eve Merrick, Dorothy Heart, who's a teacher, undermining the American youth, in Matt's son's Dick, Ron Hegerthy, high school.

    You at first think that Eve is an undercover agent like Matt is when he accidentally drops his wallet, when Matt's brother Joe(Paul Picerni) slugs him for having the nerve to attend their mother's funeral. Matt's wallet has a letter to his son telling him the truth about himself that Eve picked up. You later realize that Eve really was a commie but saw the light and got religious after seeing just how low those rotten Reds can go to achieve their wretched aims.

    Watching the Communists in action in the movie shows how their only really interested in creating chaos hatred and destruction among the working-class people. The Commies have not the least interest at all in getting the people to love and respect each other or to help them economically. This is the usual Commie trick that they always like to pull, in helping the working class, like they kept boasting over and over in the movie but to only use them to farther their goals.

    The Commies are so cold and unfeeling, even to each other, and were more then willing to rat out and even have fellow members murdered for the slightest infraction against "The Movement". These back-stabbing actions on their part made you wonder why anyone normal would want to join such a sleazy organization in the first place? Even Matt as hard as he tried had trouble convincing people in the movie, as well as the movie audience,that he was really a Communist! Matt acted so forced and phony as a slimly and in your face fanatical Communist that he looked almost embarrassed in his efforts in trying to be one.

    It was good to see in the end of the movie Matt get a couple of good licks in by belting his commie comrade boss Blandon, James Millican, who attacked him in the courthouse after exposing him and his Commie organization. It was also good to see Matt put the rest of Baldon's rotten Commie crew away with his undercover testimony as well. And most of all it was also very rewarding for Matt to have his friends and family finally realize just what a really great American he was. In Matt letting them on that he was a Commie only to get the Commies that he was involved with, who were trying to undermine and destroy America, their just reward.

    Obviously " I was a Communist for the FBI" is an over-the-top movie about Communism in America back during the Cold War. Yet at the time of it's release, 1951, there was a Hot War going on in Korea not just against the Communist North Koreans but the Communist Chinese. It was the Red Chinese who provided the manpower for the North Korean Communists to the point were they were over 80% of the ground forces fighting the US troops there. There was also USSR, the Evil Cummmunist Empire, also providing the North Koreans with experienced jet-pilots, who shot down hundreds of USAF combat planes and helicopters. Knowing all this one can easily forgive the extreme dislike and antipathy shown against the Communist in the film back in those days.
    helpful•33
    26
    • sol-kay
    • May 26, 2004

    FAQ1

    • Is this based on a book?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 5, 1951 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Ich war FBI Mann M.C.
    • Filming locations
      • Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Warner Bros.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 23 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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