 I was a communist for the FBI. Starring Dana Andrews in an exciting tale of danger and espionage. I was a communist for the FBI. The events and the story you're about to hear are based on the actual records and authentic experiences of Matt Sevettik, who for nine fantastic years lived as a communist for the FBI. Here is our star, Dana Andrews, as Matt Sevettik. I spent nine years in a prison, a prison of ideas. And nine years is a long time to be barred from all normal contact with your fellow Americans. I watched you working in playing, building a better life for your family and yourself, the ringly unconscious of the jailer in your midst, the jailer who held me, the jailer called communism. That jailer will get you too, Mr. if you commit one crime, the crime of lethargy. The crime of refusing to recognize and take appropriate action against the danger surrounding you. It's the danger of communism. In a moment, listen to Dana Andrews as Matt Sevettik, under cover man. This story from the confidential file is marked, the flames burned red. The communist for the FBI finds life full of surprises, and most of them are unpleasant. I get one of them when I return to my room to see a movie. As I close the door behind me and switch on the light, I see a piece of paper lying on the floor. I pick up the note that obviously has been pushed under the door and read, Prepare to leave town for several days. It's signed with the initial N, and a comrade named Morgan is my cell leader. Apparently, so that I can get away before anyone calls for me, I throw a few things into my bag and go out to phone the FBI. This is the outside man you saw this afternoon. I'm calling from a phone booth. Go ahead, I know you. I just found out that I'm leaving town for a few days. Where are you going? I couldn't even guess. No one's talked to me. When I got home a short time ago, I found a note had been shoved under my door. What did it say? Prepare to leave town for several days. Nothing else? No. It doesn't sound exactly routine, does it? Not when they put it in a note that automatically marks it urgent. I'm calling now because I may not get another chance before I leave. If you don't, I will if I can. I better get back to my room. Good luck. Thanks. Yes, comrade Morgan. If it's getting so late, I thought the plans must have been changed. They were not comrade Sabetik. Hey, comrade Sabetik, this is comrade Rimer. How do you do, comrade? How do you do? Comrade Rimer has had considerable success in certain mining areas and is now investigating party possibilities in lumbering districts. You talk too much without saying anything, Morgan. I was simply giving him your background. My background's no concern of his. All he needs to know is that he's under my orders. Now, just a second. The orders came from New York, comrade Sabetik. Oh, I see. They'll still be my orders. I understand that, comrade Rimer. And I understand how to take orders. Good. Then we'll get along. Of course we will. Now, where do we go and what do we do? I'm sorry, but a project of this type and importance must be kept secret in its details. I'll tell you all you need to know as the situations arrive. When do we leave, comrade Rimer? Immediately. I have a car we can take turns driving. I want to be at our destination by noon tomorrow. This is the car. Oh. Get in on this side and throw your gear in the bag. I'll take the first trick at the wheel. Okay. The town we're heading for is Arden. That's right in the middle of the big woods, isn't it? It is now. What are we going to do? Move the town or remove the woods? You'll know the answer to that before you get home. That gives me something to look forward to. You're not very enthusiastic about this project. How are you coming at CIVILIC? I'm not enthusiastic about being treated like an idiot child. I like to know what I'm trying to do. And if something goes wrong, I can try and straighten it out. Nothing's going to go wrong in this project. If there is a slip-up, I'll straighten it out. Okay. I'll tell you this much. Our mission in Arden is a test. If we're successful, we'll have set a pattern for completely disrupting the laboring communities of the entire country, with no possibility of any blame being charged against the party. You say, if we're successful, where's our possibility of failure greatest? That, Comrade, is something I'll keep to myself. Okay. You're the boss. That's right, Comrade. And if this works out as I believe it will, I'll be a much bigger boss in the future. I didn't like Rimer when I first met him. Now, I'm afraid of him. Because he's more than just a red fanatic. He's an ambitious gangster who wants to be a big boss. I'm driving when we reach Arden, and Rimer directs me to stop at a little white house on the highway at the edge of town. It's a good spot for a getaway, Sevetik, just in case. Sounds as though you expect serious trouble. There's always a good chance of it in this kind of an operation. Someone's coming out of the house. That's Joe Krenz. He's been working in the wood screw laying the groundwork. He's a big ape, isn't he? I call him Gorilla Joe. It fits. Are we getting out of the car? I am. You're driving on into town. Why don't I just wait for you? Because I'm staying here out of sight, and you're staying in town at the hotel. Well, I've been getting here just in time. Things will bust wide open with just one little push. Save it, Joe. This man's going on into town. You can talk later. Yeah. Okay, boss. Now, where's your baggage? In the back seat. The sound bag belongs to Sevetik here. Leave it in the car. Okay. Let's get moving. I've got a lot to tell you. Go into the house and wait for me. I have to give Sevetik his instructions. All right. Any comments, Sevetik? Just give me my orders. That's what I like to hear. I can see that. And we won't have any trouble. If we do, Joe likes to handle troublemakers. Is that a threat? Oh, no. Just a reminder that you're a long way from party headquarters, and that up here I give orders the way I like to give them. And you take them, whether you like them or not. What do I do? Drive into Arden. It's less than a half mile, but the timber hides it. Check into the commercial house hotel and make friends with Jed Wade. Well, I find him. He owns and operates the hotel. What do I do after that? Handle the propaganda end of this operation through Wade. Is he a party member? No. Just a local gossip and rumor monger. You'll pass along to him anything I want the local people to believe. It's as much as you need to know at this time. I'll see you later. When? When I have something more for you to do, I'll let you know. So don't try to get in touch with me. I'm not anxious to be identified with this operation publicly. I'll get going. Oh, okay. So long. As I leave Rimer and Kranz, I congratulate myself on the way things are breaking for me. Being under orders to stay away from them I have plenty of opportunity to check into what's happening and phone the information to the FBI without worrying about being caught. At least that's what I think as I drive into Arden and check into the commercial house. Then after coming down from my room, I talk with Jed Wade. Are you planning on staying long, Mrs. Vedic? I'm not sure yet, Mr. Wade. Too bad you didn't come at some other time. This is usually a pretty nice and peaceful little town. You say you're usually nice and peaceful. Is it different now? Well, nothing's broken to open yet. Well, but there's trouble brewing and big trouble. What kind of trouble? Between the woods crew and the owners. Oh? You can't understand it either. They've always been the best of friends so lately. There must be something behind it. Yeah, don't know what it could be. Haste tops. Company furnishes good houses. Company stores charge the same price as the city chain stores. Has there been any trouble in the woods? Serious accidents or fires? No. Well, there might have been grumbling about their equipment. Just the other day, I heard Joe Kranz beefing. He was saying that one of these days, men would be getting hurt, maybe killed, because they're having to work with worn-out equipment. Who was saying that? Joe Kranz. He hasn't been here long, just a whistle-funk. But ever since he beat up the foreman, he's been full of the woods. A lot of the new men jump whichever way he points. That's it. It's what? Oh, nothing. I was just talking to myself. Where's the nearest phone? Yeah, right here, behind the desk. No, I mean phone booth. Well, there isn't a phone booth in Arden, Mrs. Vedic. Oh. Well, where can I make a phone call and have some privacy? We're too far out to be able to afford private phones. A five-party line is the most privacy you'll find in Arden. Oh. Well, I think I'll ride instead of phoning. Thanks anyway. Oh, say, say. Yeah? Just remember, here in someone's say, there is a private phone. How did Joe Kranz house? It's out the edge of town. Uh, just take the road you're coming on. No, no thanks. I'll, uh, I'll write. I was phoned the FBI. So I wrote a report giving all the information I had and urgently requesting that an agent or agent be sent to Arden. Then there was nothing to do but wait for events to develop. The next afternoon as I was walking down Arden's short main street, Joe Kranz passed me without even looking at me. But as he passed, he muttered, The boss wants to see you tonight. So, at the docks, I drove out to Kranz's house to see Comrade Reiner, the boss. Yeah, come in, Zavedic. Come on, hurry up so I can close the door. The boss is in the other room. Go ahead. As you've found it nicely, Comrade Zavedic, I understand that you and Jed Wade are already cronies. We talk. Good. I have something for you to say to him. Go ahead. When you get back to the hotel, tell Wade that you heard on good authority that the lumber company has been buying condemned equipment. Do I give him a reason for that buying it? Certainly. They're doing it to save money at the expense of their workers. I want that story all over town by tomorrow morning. I'll do my part. Oh, by the way. Yes? Don't write any more letters while we're up here. What do you mean? Maybe nothing. I'm just taking no chances. If you have to get in touch with someone at home, come here at night and use the phone. Thanks. It's the only single-party phone in town. But then you know that, don't you, Comrade Zavedic? Sure. Jed Wade told me. I know. He told everybody in town about the guy who wrote letters rather than use the party line. Thanks. I'll remember that. Sure. Also remember, no more letters. That's good this time. The town the size of Arden come at Reimer, whose Joe Cran can check on anything they do or say. And I've just had proof that he's doing exactly that. So when I get back to the hotel, I tell my story and tell it good. The next morning, just as Reimer ordered, the whole town is talking about the company using condemned equipment. And that afternoon, the story gets its proof in the woods. You're absolutely right, Mr. Zavedic. And the men are real grateful to you. Grateful? What? Well, because of your warning. They were watching for trouble, so nobody got hurt. What happened? The overhead drag cable parted and dropped a log weighing tons. Completely demolished the bulldozer that Joe Clance was operating right under it. But Joe didn't get hurt. No. As a matter of fact, Art Brown said Joe was watching the cable as though he expected it to part. Well, anyway, that accident sure made believers out of the few people who refused to pay attention to me. Could be a coincidence, of course. Well, a few of the die-hards are still saying that. I suppose it'll take a couple more accidents to convince them. Yeah, the men especially. The women I've talked to want their men to quit right now. That's good news, Comrade Zavedic. Everything's going exactly the way I planned it. Good. Is there anything in particular that you'd like to have me mention in my report? Report. What report? I always make out a daily report when I'm on a special mission, Comrade. It goes direct to the Central Committee. Oh. Was it the report that you mailed the first night? Yes, Comrade. My next one includes the information, but you, as project leader, ordered me to make no more reports. I didn't say anything like that. You told me to mail no more letters. I didn't know they were reports for the Central Committee. Am I free to resume making those reports? Certainly. What's your next order? Go back to the hotel and keep Wade talking. Kranz is working on the men. And if Wade can keep the women worked up, we ought to have a strike by tomorrow night. Tomorrow's accident should be the clinching. What kind of accident? You'll know when the men walk out of the woods. And remember, no matter what happens when you're talking to Wade, blame the bosses. Don't make sense, Mr. Zavedic. Why should the owners want to destroy equipment and take a chance on injuring men? According to the story I heard, it's strictly a case of saving money. These men have built up a lot of seniority, and a new crew would cost a lot less. I just can't believe that men would do such things for money, Mr. Zavedic. I wish the owners was here. If I could talk to them, I'd get to the bottom of this, I'll betcha. Where are the owners? Up in Alaska, looking at some timber. Hey, that's probably it. What's probably? What? They took their old superintendent, a couple of the foremen with them. These new bosses they left here are probably trying to make a record for themselves. I'm going to talk to that new super. The owners should hear about this. Why didn't you talk him out of it, Zavedic? Well, how could I? Without exposing myself. And you, too. I suppose you're right. Now, this means we're going to have to bring everything to a head right now. Joe! Yeah, boss? Come in here. Get into town and leave the men down to the company offices and start trouble. What kind of trouble? A hot argument. A riot. Any kind of trouble that'll force the men to quitter the bosses to fire them. Yeah. Okay, boss, I'm on my way. There'll be trouble in sign an hour. Now, Joe's doing what he likes best. Making a fight with the bosses. What happens after the fight? The men quit or get fired. And I move in an entirely new crew of party members. By tomorrow morning we'll control this timber and it won't be of much value to the warmongers. Yeah, we can shut it down tight whenever we want to. We're going to do better than that, Comrade Zavedic. We're going to burn it to the ground. And the old crew is going to be blamed for that fire. Before I leave to go back to the hotel, Joe Kranz has returned with the news that the workers are separated from the job. And Reimer has put in a call ordering his crew of reds to arrive in Arden the next morning. When I drive back to the hotel, a man steps out under my headlights beam and signals me to stop. I step on the gas to get past him. Then I recognize Carter, my FBI contact. I slam on the brakes and stop and he runs over to the car. I give him more information I have and warn him that he'd better arrest Reimer and Kranz before anything more serious happens. But Carter doesn't agree. Get under the rules of evidence, Matt. A smart lawyer could have everything you've told me barred from the record as hearsay. He couldn't bar from the record the fact that Reimer is a known communist with a background of labor disruptions in mining areas. Probably not. But could you prove that he's here? Has anyone seen Reimer except you and Joe Kranz? Guess not. Our best chance to break the case is to watch the arsonists in the act of setting fire to the woods. If you can find out when and where that'll take place, I think we can put Reimer and Kranz away for a long time. Nothing in that line will happen before tomorrow. Because Reimer's new red crew won't get here before morning. Get back to your hotel, go to work on it first thing in the morning. I'll report to you. Right here. I have a pair of field glasses. If I see anyone in the car with you, I'll stay out of sight. That won't give you any information. If you know where the fire is going to be set, stop here and check your tires. I'll follow you. Right. Okay, see you tomorrow. I'm driving out to see Reimer the next morning when Carter steps out into the road again to give me some encouraging news. He's been in touch with the Bureau through his two-way car radio and a group of agents will arrive in Arden that night. Meanwhile, if he can do it without arousing Kranz's suspicions, he's going to try to talk the old woods crew into a calmer mood. It's news that makes me feel a lot better as I finish my drive to meet Reimer. But that good feeling ends when I see the boss. Well, everything is set, Comrade Trident. When do things start to happen? At one o'clock this afternoon, Comrade Kranz will lead the local crew into battle against our new crew. While most of the men from town are engaged in fighting, the timber will begin to blaze. All this at one o'clock, huh? Right. Well, in that case, I'd better go back to the hotel and get my thing. No, Comrade Sivetic, that would never do. Why not? Well, for one thing, it might call attention to the fact that you arrived in town just as the labor dispute became serious and left just as it reached its climax. I'll take that chance, Comrade. You undoubtedly would, Sivetic. But I won't. What do you mean? I don't believe in taking chances. You are going to set the fire. At 12 noon, Reimer and I leave the house to set the fire that will destroy the most important stand of timber in the state. Reimer's plan is to force me to set the fire so that there'll be no evidence against him whatsoever. And I have no chance to communicate with or even signal Carter, the FBI agent, because Reimer directs me to drive down a different road. At 12.30 we stop. In the middle of the timber at a spot far removed from where the men are to be fighting. What do you think of this spot, Comrade Sivetic? Well, it's far enough away from where the men will be fighting to keep them from being burned without warning. I didn't pick this place to save the men. I picked it because it's so remote that by the time they can break off their fighting and get over here, the fire will be beyond control. You've overlooked nothing in your planning, Comrade Reimer. Nothing. I'll show you where to set the fire so that the wind will carry it away from us. By the time it's dangerous, we'll be miles along the road. Where do we pick up crime? I'm afraid we don't. In this operation, poor Joe must be counted as an expendable. I see. Well, what plans have you made for after this... What? Reimer! Reimer! It's Crans. Something must have gone wrong. Get out of the car and start the fire. Well, hadn't we better wait until we find out what happened? Get out of the car and start the fire. Okay. Reimer! Reimer! I'm not glad to see you. What happened, Crans? What do you don't hear? I came to warn you, Reimer. Someone got to the men. We'll wait or someone. Talk to them about a fight. They're having a meeting with the bosses this afternoon. You should have stopped them. Well, I tried to, boss, but they turned on me. Even the guys who'd been on my side. In fact, they ran me out of town. You let them out here, Al. I thought I told you to get that fire started, Savannah. Sure you did, but you didn't tell me how to do it. And setting timber fires is a little out of my line. I thought you were intelligent. Get those cans of oil out of the back of the car. Help them, Crans. Yeah, all right, boss. Idiots! Get out of each other's way! Get back both of you off of it! This stuff's dry, boss. Once you're lighted, it'll go awful fast. I know that. I'll see if you two can get in the car without falling all over each other. As soon as I spread this oil and light it, we'll be on our way. Stop it, Reimer! Run for it! I got the license number. Concentrate on the two in the woods and be careful you're not trapped by fire. All right, I guess so. Well, it's a close chapter now. Where'd you get Reimer and Crans? The Vox Canyon, about 600 feet from where we jumped you. Trapped themselves, huh? Yeah, trapped themselves. The smoke got to them before we did. Knowing what Reimer had planned for the others, I couldn't feel sorry for him, but my attitude toward Crans was different. Reimer was a man of intelligence, a deliberate slaughter against his fellow Americans. Crans was the stupid follower of a faith he could never understand. Those are the communists, the plotting, self-seeking leaders, and the unthinking followers. Since I was neither, I was forced to walk alone. It isn't very dramatic. No bands will play when you pay your taxes to help pay for fighting this cold war. But you'll get your reward when the war is won, the reward of continuing freedom. Although to protect innocent persons, the names, places, and dates are fictitious. The danger is terribly real. Next week we'll bring you another Spain's adventure based on the fantastic experiences of Matt Svedik. Join us, won't you?