I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. (1951)

In Pittsburgh, PA, an F.B.I. agent works to undermine the Communist party, but his brothers and his teenage boy thinks he's a real Red.

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

Crane Wilbur (screenplay), Matt Cvetic (article)

Stars:

Frank Lovejoy, Dorothy Hart, Philip Carey

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Frank Lovejoy	...	Matt Cvetic
Dorothy Hart	...	Eve Merrick
Philip Carey	...	Mason
James Millican	...	Jim Blandon
Richard Webb	...	Ken Crowley
Konstantin Shayne	...	Gerhardt Eisler
Paul Picerni	...	Joe Cvetic
Edward Norris	...	Harmon (as Eddie Norris)
Ron Hagerthy	...	Dick Cvetic
Hugh Sanders	...	Clyde Garson
Hope Kramer	...	Ruth Cvetic

Storyline

The FBI infiltrates one of their agents in the US Communist Party. This causes big problems in the normal life of the agent. Nobody knows that he is with the FBI, neither his family.

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Plot Keywords:

work injury | fbi agent | factory | teacher | brother versus brother | 

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Taglines:

This was it ..the end of a nine year manhunt-- or the end of a hero!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 May 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

I Was a Communist for the FBI

Filming Locations:

Pittsburgh ,Pennsylvania, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Matt Cvetic really was a Pittsburgh native who really was asked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to join the Communist Party of the USA as an informant in the 1940s. By 1948 he was earning $85 per week from the FBI for his work, although he continually pressured the Bureau to increase his salary to $100 and threatened to quit if his requests were not granted (they weren't, and he didn't). He told what he was the true story of his experience in a series of articles in the Saturday Evening Post. His experiences were first dramatized in a radio program, which was later adapted for a Warner Brothers motion picture in 1951. He also testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s. Although the radio and film adaptations portrayed Cvetic as one of the party's primary operatives in the USA, he didn't actually rise above the party's lower echelons. By 1955, Cvetic had been largely discredited as a witness regarding communist activities in the USA because of Justice Department and FBI concerns regarding Cvetic's embellishment of the facts, including an instance in which he claimed to have defused a Nazi spy plot single-handedly.

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Goofs

Eve's blouse has a large bow tied at her neck with long ends hanging down her front. These long ends alternate between hanging outside her coat and being tucked inside her coat between shots during her scene in Cvetic's apartment.

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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.

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Connections

Featured in The Fifties (1997)

User Reviews

Communism = bad

Well, that's the message this film tries to deliver. It's not very subtle at all, but I don't think that's what they tried to accomplish with it at that time. I heard the film was also nominated for best documentary (but didn't win) at the Academy Awards, so that proves that this was taken very serious in the early 50's. Nowadays, it all seems very simplistic and one-sided and the ending is very moralizing. The story isn't very thrilling too, but the acting is quite good and it's been all put together in a rather decent way too. Just don't believe too much in what they are saying. 5/10