I Was a Communist for the FBI is a 1951 American film noir crime film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Frank Lovejoy. The film was produced by Bryan Foy who was head of Warners B picture unit until 1942.
The film was based on a series of stories written by Matt Cvetic that appeared in The Saturday Evening Post. The stories were later turned into a best-selling book, and a radio show starring Dana Andrews that ran for 78 episodes from April 23, 1952, until October 14, 1953.
The story follows Cvetic, who infiltrated a local Communist Party cell for nine years and reported back to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on their activities.
The film and radio show are, in part, artifacts of the McCarthy era, as well as a time capsule of American society during the Second Red Scare. The purpose of both is partly to warn people about the threat of Communist subversion of American society. The tone of the show is ultra-patriotic, with Communists portrayed as racist, vindictive, and tools of a totalitarian foreign power, the Soviet Union.
Matt Cvetic (Frank Lovejoy), who works in a Pittsburgh steel mill, has been infiltrating the Communist Party for the FBI in Pittsburgh for nine years. During this time he has been unable to tell his family about his dual role, so they assume that he is a genuine believer in communism and despise him.
He becomes emotionally involved with a Communist school teacher (Dorothy Hart), who is becoming disenchanted with the party. She breaks with the party when it foments a violent strike. Cvetic helps her escape the Communists in violent sequences in which two Communists and an FBI agent are killed.
Communists are portrayed in the film as cynical opportunists, racists who are interested only in seizing power on behalf of the Soviet Union. They are shown exploiting ethnic tensions to get their way, such as by wrapping copies of a Jewish newspaper around lead pipes used to beat up people during a strike. They also are shown fomenting discontent among blacks. They are shown as cynical racists, calling blacks "niggers" and Jews "kikes," and as violent thugs who kill informers.
Cvetic ultimately testifies against the Communists before the House Un-American Activities Committee and reconciles with his brother and son.
The radio version of I Was a Communist for the FBI consisted of 78 episodes syndicated by the Frederick W. Ziv Company to more than 600 stations, including KNX in Los Angeles, California, with original episodes running from March 30, 1952, to September 20, 1953. The program was made without the cooperation of the FBI. Real-life undercover agent Matt Cvetic was portrayed by Dana Andrews. The show had a budget of $12,000 per week, a very high cost to produce a radio show at the time.
The program frequently dealt with the great stress that Cvetic was under, as he covertly infiltrated a local Communist Party cell. There were many personal and family problems caused by his being a Communist as well as a certain amount of mental torment. He saw the party as being hypocritical and a great danger to society.
In 1953, Ziv created I Led Three Lives, based on the life of Herbert Philbrick, an advertising executive who also infiltrated the U.S. Communist Party on behalf of the FBI in the 1940s. This time, the FBI approved all of the show's scripts.
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1 A Riot Made to Order - 26:48
2 A Study in Oils - 26:59
3 A Suit for the Party - 25:41
4 Abby, as in Abbigale - 27:17
5 Against the Middle - 26:47
6 American Kremlin - 26:31
7 An Unamerican Activity - 27:14
8 Burnt Offering - 26:02
9 Canadian Crossfire - 27:44
10 Card Game in the Clouds - 27:22
11 Charter City Square Dance - 26:42
12 Courier of Disaster - 26:44
13 Double Exposure - 26:54
14 Draw the Red Curtain - 27:25
15 Exit on the Left - 28:42
16 Fifteen Minutes to Murder - 27:19
17 Forged Faces - 27:25
18 Hate Song - 26:54
19 Home Improvement - 26:57
20 I Can't Sleep - 25:07
21 I Walk Alone - 25:59
22 Jump to the Whip - 27:01
23 Kangaroo Court - 27:18
24 Little Boy Blue Turned Red - 26:38
25 Little Boy Red - 27:08
26 No Second Chance - 27:35
27 No Visitors - 26:45
28 One Way Ticket - 26:44
29 Panic Plan - 26:42
30 Pennies from the Dead - 26:48
31 Pit Viper - 26:33
32 Red Clay - 27:48
33 Red Clouds on the Good Earth - 27:16
34 Red Gold - 27:11
35 Red Red Herring - 25:49
36 Red Rover, Red Rover - 27:02
37 Rhapsody in Red - 27:42
38 Rich Man, Poor Man - 28:18
39 Squeeze Play - 27:19
40 The Black Gospel - 27:07
41 The Brass Monkey - 26:45
42 The Canadian Backbone - 27:07
43 The Crossed Heart - 27:05
44 The Dangerous Dollars - 25:28
45 The Elspeth Club - 27:39
46 The Flames Burned Red - 26:48
47 The Inhuman Element - 27:34
48 The Kiss of Death - 27:09
49 The Line Is Busy - 27:30
50 The Party Got Rough - 27:12
51 The Rat Race - 30:19
52 The Red Gate - 28:39
53 The Red Ladies - 26:56
54 The Red Octopus - 27:17
55 The Red Record - 28:02
56 The Red Snow - 27:36
57 The Red Waves - 25:43
58 The Sleeper - 27:42
59 The Unwelcome Hosts - 27:01
60 The Wrong Green - 27:18
61 Tight Wire - 25:56
62 Tour of Duty - 27:35
63 Traitors for Hire - 26:58
64 Treason Comes in Cans - 26:39
65 Trial by Fear - 27:23
66 Use Only as Directed - 27:24
67 Very Private Funeral - 27:48
68 Violence Preferred - 25:59
69 Where the Red Men Roam - 24:58
70 Word Game - 24:59
