 was a communist for the FBI Starring Dana Andrews and an exciting tale of danger and espionage. I was a communist for the FBI From the actual records and authentic experiences of Matt's sevetic come many of the incidents in this unusual story Here is our star Dana Andrews as Matt's sevetic who for nine fantastic years Live as a communist for the FBI After serving a nine-year sentence with the Reds I decided that doing time in prison is a lot better than doing time in the Communist Party You can serve your sentence in jail and if you're lucky you can get out in time to enjoy freedom But you never get out of the party and what's worse your party never gets out of you This story shows what I mean In a moment listen to Dana Andrews as Matt's sevetic under cover man Here is Dana Andrews as Matt's sevetic under cover man This story from the confidential file is marked the brass monkey The door at the top of this long flight of stairs led to the progress and format agency Beyond that door I was to find my new job my new assignment for the Reds All I knew about the progress employment agency was what the local commie bosses told me when they gave me my orders It's an employment bureau with a social conscience. They said see Hugo Hastings and no one else The office had the same bleak barren look as a local draft board their walls a skylight for ventilation three desks for straight back chairs and And in one of them Hugo Hastings, so you're the Matt's sevetic. I've heard so much about and what have you heard Hastings Oh, it's all good all good. It's got to be you've got a big job out of you a job that calls for a man Who can be trusted to think fast and well, what is the job? You don't know no You're going to prison Prison of course prison. What did you expect? Well? Hey, look no one's told me anything about this deal. I don't I thought you'd been briefed on this little project Nobody told me anything about going to prison and somehow the idea doesn't appeal to me one bit Not even as a service to the party or relax comrade relax You're expected at state prison tomorrow afternoon. You better make other arrangements. I don't argue comrade. It's all settled Sit down and I'll explain It was settled all right the party was sending me to prison no not as a convict But as an advisor an employment counselor for the progress employment agency my job To give a series of aptitude tests to prisoners who were soon to be released the purpose of these tests To check their qualifications for jobs to be offered them by the progress agency Naturally, there was a reason for this too and Hastings showed it to me Yeah, well look Setic the party needs no faces no members to do our specialized work men we can control That's why we have chosen to recruit these ex-convicts But how can we do that the prison authorities would never the party has taken great pains to win the confidence of these prison authorities Wasn't easy it took months of conniving planning working Wheatling our way into their company. Well, I get it now They send their parolees to us and the men think we're giving them new starts in life But suppose these men don't like working for communist front organizations suppose. They don't like the jobs We give them they could expose our whole plan. Oh, no, they won't remember a prison record is a handicap a brass monkey Purchased on the back of every man we choose if a man starts giving us trouble We simply turn that brass monkey against him. How if a man turns from us We add a full-scale smear campaign to the handicap of his prison record and the man is ruined for life. Nice great Society will accept a man with one brass monkey like a prison record, but do Never if you'll come with me. I'll arrange for your train tickets to the prison Oh Mr. Svendick we've been looking forward to your visit. Thanks warden. I hope I won't be putting you too much trouble trouble Believe me nothing's too much trouble if it keeps these men on the right side of the law And if you can help and get good solid jobs, well, I'll do my best. Oh warden Where am I to give these tests? Huh? Oh, oh sure thing. I guess I've been talking too much, haven't I? Come on. It's down near cell block 16 Yes, sir. I I like this kind of cooperation This way everybody benefits everybody benefits I'll just introduce you to the men's medic and then I'll go there'll be less self-conscious without me here. Okay, warden. Fine All right, man Take your seats, please man This is mr. Matt Svendick He represents the progress employment agency man He's here to help you fellas All of you are due to be released pretty soon. You'll need help in finding jobs So give mr. Svendick your attention and follow his instructions. I'll see you later fellas These tests are designed to help us find out what sort of work you do best What I mean is If my agency is to help you find jobs, we have to know your qualifications Maybe you men think differently than I do I'm looking forward to leaving this prison and soon All right gentlemen have your fun enjoy yourselves Let me tell you this I thought sending you a postcard every day would help me get started on the outside. I'd do it. Yes. I'd do it I'd do anything for the right break This man from the employment agency came up here to give us all a decent chance to get started when we leave this place Perhaps some of you smarter jailbirds don't need help. I do I Have a wife Wife who's willing to let me prove I can live an honest life and gentlemen. I promise you I'm not letting anyone here ruin my chance to do it. All right, mr. Svendick I think they'll listen now. Thanks. Thanks a lot. Hey, uh, what's your name? Maro less tomorrow After Maro's outburst the tests went off like clockwork The man's overwhelming sincerity must have made the hecklers a little self-conscious a little ashamed But none of them was as much ashamed as I was I It was demanding their attention and their trust so I could sell them down the river Maro didn't deserve what I could do for him. No decent human being deserved it The idea of hanging a man like Maro in a red frame made me sick sick of my job as an undercover man Sick of the commies sick of myself And you I had to help Maro I had the feeling that if I could save him from this commie trap I could save all the men When I got back to town I mailed a report of my chore to the FBI and then headed straight for Maro's home Yes Mrs. Maro Yeah, what is it? My name is Svendick. I'm with the Progress Employment Agency. Oh, thanks a lot, but I it's about your husband Mrs. Maro, it's important. Oh Come in thank you What about my husband my employment agency has been working with the The institution the prison you mean. Yes, we're helping the parolees get jobs I understand your husband expects his parole pretty soon. That's right within a week Are you going to help him get a job? Can you play? Oh? No, Mrs. Maro. I can't You can't But why not he he'll work he'll work hard I know he's expecting help from us, but his qualifications don't fit any of the jobs we have open. Oh I see I'm sorry, Mrs. Maro. You know mr. Svendick my husband's a two-time loser He violated his parole last time because he was desperate He couldn't get a job anywhere and I was too sick to work He's worth another chance, isn't he? Well, of course he is but this is something that mr. Svendick What do you know about him that I don't know? Nothing. This is more or nothing at all. I'm trying to trust him so that he'll trust himself I'm trying hard mr. Svendick, but you you're not helping one bit Not a bit mr. Svendick not one single bit The only way I could help Maro now was to hurt him and by this time my conscience had grown stronger than my caution I paid another visit to the prison this time five minutes with Maro alone I didn't expect to find you here. I didn't expect to be here Maro. I have some bad news. Oh What is it? They've approved my parole. I Told me I'm leaving in two days. Well the parole is all right. It's just that our agency can't get you a job Why not weren't the tests all right? Well it has nothing to do with your qualifications Mara You can fill any job you want and what is it look Mara? Take a tip Stay away from the progress employment agency for your own good. Stay away In fact tell all the other men to stay away too. We We can't help you Well, I'm sorry. I don't understand this The other day forget it Mara. The whole thing was just a little stunts a publicity gag Now just forget the progress agency. We can't help you through anything but trouble. Is that clear? No, no, it's not But maybe it'll clear up later Good morning Siddique. Oh Morning Hastings. What's that you're eating? Oh the list of new parolees men about to be released from state prison Warden sent them down. Good. Good. I suck at it. Who's on it? Well, there's Anderson, Bledsoe, Domenico, King, Maro. Maro? Mm-hmm. Bless tomorrow. You know him? Of course, I don't know him. Kamar Mara has been the party's number one informer at the prison Mara? Red informer? And a good one. And I see him again. He's found out plenty of useful information for us Something the man has said? No, everything's okay. Everything's just fine Now back to Dana Andrews starring as Matt Sevatic and I was a communist for the FBI And the second act of our story You can't let your conscience get in your way when you deal with the Reds My conscience led me to drop my guard and help less tomorrow To save his neck I put my own neck on the commie chopping block only to find that the axe was held by Maro himself Two, three, four days went by The longest days of my life as we waited for Kamar Mara to show up at the employment agency Then one morning I climbed the long flight of stairs, opened the door That's exactly the sort of thing the party will not tolerate, Maro. I won't put up with that. That's the point, Hastings I thought it was in the best interest of the party to tell you that Good morning, comrades. Sveta, get out of here. We're busy. What? Get out. Get out. I'll deal with you later Nice to see you again, comrades Sveta. Yeah, welcome to the outside world, Maro. Get out, Sveta. Now I was glad to get out. It's no joyous occasion to eat up on the plans for your own execution Maro was obviously sharpening the axe for me and I knew I'd be hearing from him soon But he found me sooner than I expected. All right. All right. Oh, comrade Let me in, Sveta. I've got to talk to you. What for, Maro? You've probably done enough talking for one day. Please, Sveta, it's important. All right. Come on in. Well, Sveta, you've got to help me. Me? Help you? You're out of your mind Perhaps when you do a double stretch in prison, you have time to do a lot of thinking You make changes in your basic philosophies. Many changes. What are you talking about? I've made too many mistakes, Sveta. I can't afford to make any more I, uh, I want to leave the party. You are out of your mind. Sveta, I know I can trust you from the way you spoke when you visited me at the prison, the way you tried to warn me from the very beginning. I knew you were concerned worried about my well-being. All right, Maro. It's a great speech. Great what? A fine performance. I'm sure comrade Hastings would appreciate it too. I'm not interested in Hastings, Sveta. I need help. I need help. That... Oh, you'll need help. Plenty of it, all right. No, you don't understand. This is my last chance, Sveta. Look, I can't throw it away. I promised myself and my wife that I'd cut my ties with the reds and start all over again. That's enough. Well, I... Cut up! You don't cut your ties with the party, Maro. The party cuts its ties with you. And it gives me great pleasure to be able to wield a knife. Sveta, I... Look, I thought I could trust you. You can. You can trust me to act like a loyal member of the Poletarian Army. You can trust me to be worthy of the exalted aims of the Communist Party. No, no. You've shown yourself to be a weak, disloyal, sniveling coward hiding behind bourgeoisie skirts. No, no, wait, Sveta. My duty to report your disloyalty to comrade Hastings. Sveta, please. You violated the faith of your comrades. Now, feed it. You tell Hastings about this. I'm finished, Sveta. Get out! You traitor. I had to do it that way. Maro's act was standard, calming procedure. The final test of my loyalty to the cause. It was the only way I could clear myself. Sure, it was brutal, but reds lived in a world built on brutality. I'll admit, though, that I almost believed Maro was sincere. That he hadn't reported me to Hastings at all. But remember, Maro had comrade Hastings' endorsement as a good commie. And good commies are good actors, men of many faces, all of them, false. The next step, up the stairs, through the door, to prove my faith to comrade Hastings. What is it, Sveta? It's comrade Maro, Hastings. He wants to quit the party, ask me to conspire with him against the party. And he really meant it after all. What? That's what we were arguing about a while ago. He told me he wanted to release from his duties as a communist. Wait a minute. You mean, you mean he actually meant what he said? I thought he was just a bit unstrung after his time in prison, the excitement of being parole. But he meant it? He was really serious about leaving the party? Yes, yes, he was serious. I thought he'd get over it, but if he went to you for help, well, we'll just have to put an end to comrade Maro's misgivings. Now, wait a minute. Maybe I'd better talk to him again. Maybe he's still just a little upset, unstrung. If he still feels that way, he's a menace to the welter of the cause, Retic. He's got to be eliminated. Eliminated? How? I don't know yet, but I'll think of something. Remember, Maro carries a large brass monkey, very large. This was great. In an effort to clear myself of suspicions that weren't there, I'd sealed the doom of the man who had trusted me. I couldn't ignore my conscience now. I had to help Maro now. I had to. Got good for you, Maro. Evidently, colored Hastings had daughters. The brass knuckle boys were at work on Maro in the next room. Two stretches in prison, and now, because he wanted to start clean. Got a job for you, Setic. No, thanks. I'll leave the bloodshed to your biceps brigade in there. They've accomplished their mission. Maro has decided to sign the note. What note? This one to his wife, telling her he can no longer divide his loyalty between her and the party. He's chosen the party. What's the money for? Train fare. I'm delivering them to party headquarters in Hill City. But he's on parole, Hastings. Hill City's across the state line. He leaves this state without the permission of the parole board. Yes, he goes back to prison for keeps. I told you that brass monkeys can be useful. But the poor guys had two stretches already. He's a traitor to the party, Setic. I think it's rather ironic that we should be able to punish him with the laws of the bourgeoisie, don't you? When do you leave? The seven o'clock train tonight. I'll deliver him to our comrades in Hill City. And then he's free to go back to prison, huh? Mm-hmm. Now, if you'll be kind enough to deliver this note to Mrs. Morrow... Me? Why me? Why not? Give Mrs. Morrow my best, will you, comrade? I didn't think you were a red two, Mr. Sphetic. You've been wrong on many counts, Mrs. Morrow. You even trusted your husband. Yes. Even my husband. The funny thing is, I still do. I don't believe he wrote this note. Then you're a fool. Sure. Sure, I'm a fool, all right. I'm full enough to trust my husband more than I trust you. What are you going to do? Hey, just a minute. Put down that phone. No. No, I'm calling the police. Let go. Let go of me. Put it down. Put it down, I said. Yeah. Now, warn you, Mrs. Morrow, don't call the police. Don't call the FBI. Don't call anyone for help. If you do, your husband will suffer for it. Maybe I was defeating my purpose, playing the role to that extent, but I couldn't let her call the cops or the FBI or anyone now. Not now, not yet. I had to get Hastings and Morrow on that train first, and I had no time to explain things to Mrs. Morrow. Is the luggage on the train yet, Sphetic? Yeah, sure. It's in your compartment, Hastings. Our compartment. Morrow and I. I wouldn't think of letting our wayward comrade out of my sight for a moment. I'm flattered, but if you did, Oh, Hastings, you'd better get on the train. No, we have three-four minutes yet. Get on the train, hurry up. What right have you to talk to me like that? Go on, go on. Take Morrow and get into your compartment. Hurry. Why hurry? I've got plenty of... Hastings, get on the train. Why? Look, over there. Oh, oh, yes. Goodbye, Sphetic. Come on, Morrow. Come on. They got aboard the train just in time. Coming toward us at a determined pace was Mrs. Morrow, with a man I'd never seen before. They stopped to ask some questions of a porter standing on the platform. Men of the two wasted there, then Mrs. Morrow spotted me. I had to keep her off that train. There! There's that Sphetic man. He's no... Mrs. Sphetic, my husband's on that train, isn't he? Tell us, hurry. Oh, sorry. I wouldn't know. You're lying. I'm from the Furold Board, Sphetic. Mrs. Morrow was told me about you and your friend. Did she tell you that her husband prefers my friends to her? Mr. Sphetic, please. Where is he? Hurry! The train's going. Please! I can't hear you. He's on that train, Mrs. Sphetic. He's in Morrow on that train. What? Oh, no. No, it's no use. He's gone. He's gone. It's no use. He's gone. This is Red. Oh, hi. What's up? You got my reports on Lester Morrow, didn't you? Yeah. Any new developments? Plenty. Hastings is taking him across the state line to violate Morrow's parole. Send him back to prison. The train arrives in Hill City at 10 after midnight. They're in Car 14, Compartment C. Why don't you tell us sooner? I wanted the evidence to work against Hastings. This way, you have proof that he actually forced Morrow to take the trip. Should be room for a tidy little kidnapping charge. Mrs. Morrow will be happy to file charges, I'm sure. Good. That'll get you off the hook. Commies will blame her. Will the charge of kidnapping hold up? Sure it will. And there's also a fraud charge that'll pull that commie employment agency down around their ears. Good. Hastings will have a few brass muggies of his own now. What? Never mind. Well, thanks, Flynn. Thanks to you, Matt. And we'll meet that train. Don't worry. I left the phone booth and headed away from the railroad depot. I knew that the FBI would nab Hastings and clear Morrow. But in the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Morrow, I'd never be cleared. I'd always be the red conspirator, the man of treachery and deceit. And I'd never be able to tell him the truth. Never. For there's no one to talk to when you walk the way of the commies. No one to listen when you walk alone. Dana Andrews will return in just a moment. This is Dana Andrews, friends. The next time you read of an aggressor nation flexing its muscles in the face of the rest of the world, remember these lines from Ecclesiastes. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroy it much good. Let's pray that in our world, the wise will outnumber the sinners. And this story, as in all others, names, dates, and places are fictitious to protect innocent persons. Next week, another fantastic adventure. Join us, won't you?