John Wayne A true story of an FBI agent Matt Cevetic, excellently portrayed by actor Frank Lovejoy who spent 9 years undercover as a member of the Communist Party. He endured the many hardships and dangers that went with the territory. The tactics of the Communist Party were to disrupt the U.S. government by infiltrating the Unions and even the school systems, by spreading the fear, hatred, racism, and even commiting murder in some cases. Some may choose to believe that this is just a simple propaganda piece, but it is far more than that. This is just my take on this, believe what you choose, but If you look at the Democrat Party today, you will see distinct similarities between their tactics and those of the Communist Party of old. This movie will keep you the edge of your seat, but have some tissue ready, your going to need it!

Theo Robertson This is based on a true story of FBI agent Matt Cvetic who spent nine years undercover infiltrating the American communist party. Unlike so many films based on a true story there is a lot of artistic license involved by unlike so many other films the exaggerations seen here are so exaggerated that they become painfully amusing if not laugh out loud funny The American communist party members are portrayed as being entirely hypocritical . When we're introduced to the party hierarchy at a hotel room a long table filled with champagne and caviar . Hmmm not an entirely long stretch to believe that that reds are hypocrites . What does become shocking is when one of the party chiefs uses the N word quite freely because the party needs African Americans to take part in race riots to overthrow the capitalist state . On top of that it also means party funds will increase . They also want to beat up strikebreakers and a cunning plan to do this by walloping people over the head with Jewish newspapers hence the Jews will get blamed " Wow blaming ethnic minorities for something Theo . That sounds a bit like that Hitler bloke " Oh indeed and on top of that one of the those filthy communist traitors is of a German background and gets told to start up a Nazi organization same as he did ten years previously so the Communists can use agitation to stir up the masses . Don't worry about being classed as a fascist comrade because Hitler and Stalin teamed up in 1939 . There is some truth in this but feeling the need to portray communists of all ilks as being cynical moral degenerates you almost expect them to start up a paedophile ring: " Comrade lets us stand out the high school gates giving out candy to thirteen year olds " - " Comrade are you stupid ? Don't you realise kids are past it at thirteen ? " Nominated for documentary feature because in those days no one was too fussy what qualified as a documentary this is a true life story that has so much artistic license you'd think it was produced by some sort of one party Orwellian state . Americans from this period did indeed have an irony defincey

bkoganbing There are so very few films where just the title tells you all you need to know about the film. Such a film is I Was A Communist For The FBI. Another example would be I Married A Monster From Outer Space.The really interesting thing about this film is how in heaven's name did this get nominated for an Oscar in the documentary category? It is not a documentary in any sense of the word, it's not even in that hybrid category of docudrama. It's just a rather exploitive film about the work of an FBI undercover agent named Matt Cvetic who infiltrated the Communist Party in Pittsburgh and got active in trying to take over the Steelworker's Union for the Communists and reporting on said activities to his handlers in the FBI.A documentary of that work might have been interesting, but what we got was a film to fit those paranoid times. I found it fascinating that when Cvetic finally broke his cover it was to the House Un-American Activities Committee rather than the trial in New York of the Communist Party leaders. There was a moment in the film where head Communist James Millican tells his followers to start spreading the word that the House Un American Activities Committee was composed of a bunch of right wing yahoos looking to get their names in front of the camera. Now what could have given him that idea? Anyway just connect the dots and no doubt the word their came from J. Edgar Hoover trying to give some credence to HUAC by having an effective undercover come out there rather than at an actual trial. Little thing there called cross examination.Warner Brothers who produced I Was A Communist For The FBI later produced Big Jim McLain which starred John Wayne about a HUAC investigator in Hawaii. HUAC did grab on to credit for the work done by the Honolulu PD in breaking up a Communist spy ring there among the dockworkers. But at least in John Wayne's film nobody claimed it was a documentary.Frank Lovejoy is in the title role as Cvetic and his FBI handlers are Richard Webb and Philip Carey. Dorothy Hart plays a Pittsburgh school teacher who says that there are 30 or so like here in that school system indoctrinating the young among whom is Ron Hagerthy, Lovejoy's son. She has a change of heart about the Communists and Lovejoy has to save her from a homicidal fate planned by his superiors. Ironically Hart left the movies and went to work for all places, the United Nations which as we know has been accused often of being a Communist nest in the USA.Over half a century later and we really have very few objective works on film or in print about the Communist Party of the USA. They were in fact a very active bunch in the labor movement. The real heroes in stopping them were labor organizers like Walter Reuther in the UAW or David Dubinsky in the ILGWU. But since they were people of the left they just don't have the following on the right to be suitable propaganda material.Anyway I Was A Communist For The FBI is an exploitive work based on a real life character and a testament to those paranoid times.

Michael O'Keefe The fear of Communism runs high. Truth or propaganda? An FBI agent turns counterspy burrowing his way into the U.S. Communist Party. Documentary style Film-Noir. Watching this fifty some years after its release dilutes the original intentions. A case of do as I say; not as I do. Frank Lovejoy is sometimes stoic but effective. Also featured are Philip Carey, Dorothy Hart and Richard Webb. You may possibly get more into CONFESSIONS of a NAZI SPY(1939)starring Edward G. Robinson.