IWCF 007 - Traitors for Hire

I was a Communist for the FBI, starring Dana Andrews in an exciting tale of danger at espionage. I was a Communist for the FBI. You are about to hear a strange story. Names, dates, and places are, for obvious reasons, fictional, but many of the incidents are based on the authmatic experiences of Matt Sivitic two four nine fantastic years lived as a Communist for the FBI. Yes, for nine years, I posed as a Communist for the FBI. I was one of them, lived with them, did their dirty work. It was a strange life, being friends with people I hated and being hated by people I would have liked to have had as my friends. For nine years a communist for the FBI. This is a story of my work and why it had to be done. In a moment, listen to Dana Andrews as Matt savedic undercover man. Now here is Dana Andrews as Matt savetic undercover man. This story from the Confidential file is marked Traders far hired. The Kamis wanted a man in the United States Employment Service, and they wanted it bad. My job to find out why. So temporarily I found myself nine to fiving it as an employment counselor. It was pretty dull. Until I got a call to visit a certain sporting goods store. Yes, sir, I show you a new ship and a fishing tackle, a spinning reel. Perhaps the winter is the time to catch a red trout? How many times do red trout fight on flies? Seven in the morning, before at noon. And seven at night. Step in the back room. Please, hello, man, what's up? Morgan? Your message sounded urgent? It is when the FBI helped you swing that new job with the US Employment Service. We apparently did you a bad turn. Why the party seemed tickled, if you'll pardon the pond pink. Oh party wants a man in that spot, no doubt. But your quick promotion made some comrade suspicious. We got a report from my agent in New York the entire communist records being checked by Red secret police. Oh that's just well, it's worse. Your slated to be called up before Communist Control Commission investigation. When when the MVD agents have finished checking you. How about the application cards of the communists at place? I better get them back in the file. Okay, and do you get them back only after we've made photostats of them, and any new ones must continue to be sent to us. The Reds don't check your office. You'll be okay. But if they do, I know. Please, I'm at the Flowers. United States Employment Service. That's a Sevetics office. Yes, sir, notification has been made. Goodbye, Yes, sir, can I just a moment, sir? Have you an appointment? Sure? Do not be a fool. I need no appointment. Ah, good morning, Monsieur Sevetti. Good morning, I am p Levsieur. You will place me, I. Said Barbara at the Victoria Aircraft Plan. They have a shop for the executives. I understand. Well, yes, but head Barber, no, I'm sorry. But I want to begin work on Monday. You're a dreamer, mister leaves. Sir, the position at Victoria is not open. It will be, it will be. It seems that a few minutes ago there was a tragic accident. A man was injured. A head barber. Yes, the poor man was struck by a company vehicle while returning from the plant commissary. You'd better give me a fast reason why I shouldn't call the CAPS, But. Certainly it will suffice if I introduce myself properly. Comrade Sidetti, you have identification. Of course, but not on my person. Obviously you will be shown them at a special meeting tonight. Comrade, what meeting I'm taking over this territory, camerat You will find my methods different than I am sure much more efficient. For example, a party inspector will check your office and files to make certain. Of your efficiency. Inspector who when you'll introduce himself at the proper time. If you are wise, you'll be ready. For his inspection at any moment. And now about the job for yere, Thank you, monsieur, you have been most kind. Very mister Lavasseur is to be placed in the executive barbershop at Victoria starting as a Monday. Drop five copies. And have them on my desk for signature this evening. You're really going to place that? Yes, mister Sevedic, I'm going out for a while to my dentist. Is is there a number where I can reach you? No? No number, mister Burns. Yes, mister Swetick. Is something wrong, mister Swetick. They're in charge of this outer office, mister Burns. But it would be nice if you could see that it's more like an office and less like a quilting being. Yes, sir, I'll put out a memo right away. We put out too many memos. Tell them they can discuss their social lives somewhere else, but it'll work. And uh put out that pipe. Oh yes, mister sweedtick, not in. The way paper basket, you idiot. Oh you want to set the place on fire? All right, what are you all gaping at? Get to work Mary about this, of course, I'm sure if that barber dies, Levasir is a murderer, we'll. Get to work on the barber's case and advise the local authorities when and if they can move in. If you nail Lavas Sir, let me know I'll help with the embalming. You better keep your mind on your own problem. Whoever the comrade is that has a knife out for you, he's close, how close? Right next to you? According to our last report, someone in your office. Probably they don't miss any bets. Look, we'll continue to use this shop for meeting when you can get away and think it's safe. Otherwise, we'll use a car picker and you'll have a new phone number to call what is it? Number will be Brighton nine one, nine five. Oh, my name will be Wooster, Harry Wooster. Identification golf score use a low score for all's well, a high score for urgency or danger. Got him except for one thing. I've never played golf. How the devil do you score it? I left the FBI man Morgan, and returned to the office to find things running normally. The girls were busy chattering about last Saturday night's failure and next Saturday night's hope, except one named Carol, who was batting her blue eyes at wally Burns until the nervous little office manager was ready to jump right out of his chair. Waiting in my private office was a two hundred pound man with a one ounced brain. Well, I comrades, Verdick, I need a new job. When I can I get get out of my chair? Oh sure, I'm right. Only thought I never thought in your life, Sago, you've been fired from eight jobs already because you can't keep quiet about being a party member. Only I didn't get fired this time because I'm a party member. I was fired because I carried out the orders our new leader. Your leader, What are you talking about? I was kicked out of Victoria because I had an accident. They said I was careless, if only they don't know how careless. So you drove the truck that hit the barber. That's right, an instruction from Comrade Levs Sir, And that ain't all. He wants me to get together a police unit firm. I see Lavas, Sir is here representing the party's control commission, and you're going to hit his private goon squad. Well you fit, Sago? Yes, get me the personnel manager, mister Lewis at the Marshall plant. Yes, Sir. A few minutes of talk and I have Comrade Sago placed again, this time in the Marshall Plant. The rest of the day I spent examining my office force, wondering which one was the commie spy Betty, my impulsive but efficient secretary, Wally Burns. Maybe now was it Carol or some other typist? Whoever it was, I had to find out soon. When I got off at five thirty, I was picked up by Comrade Sago. He took me to the special meeting in a shabby hotel room. I'm giving me no chance to contact the FBI as to what's where. About the. Camera. Hello, Comra lover, sir, whe are the others? There are no others. This is a special meeting for postree us. I prefer that what we discussed. Remains with us. That way, any leak can be. Quickly traced to one of us. I understand. Then, to business, how I am bringing in hundreds of loyal Communist workers from all over the country. You will see they are placed in vital positions, and I want them in every plant. That's quite an order. You must do it, Comrade Syretic. With our name in key positions, we can disrupt the war production of this area. It will. Hello, Hello, Harry Wooster speaking my golf game's lousy, Harry shot one hundred and fifteen. Everything's clear, Matt, go ahead. It's big Morgan Lavasa is planning on flooding the war plants in this area with commis from all over the country. What that's great, Matt, go ahead and place them. We can pick them up with the first sign of trouble before they can sabotage so much as a pole. All right, but I'll have to stop sending in the application cards. With this bigger plan on, the party's bound to send an agent to inspect my file sometime. Sorry, Matt, right now, we need those cards more than ever. But Morgan, if the Party's spy in my office checks my file, I'll be cold. Here's a locked file. Keep the only key. That'll stop him, But not a Soviet secret police investigator. I'm sorry, Matt, I'm afraid that's a chance. You're just gonna have to take. Now back to Dana Andrews starring and I was a Communist for the FBI and the second act of our. Story, one hundred and forty six communists I placed in the war plants, and still they kept coming. My locked file at the office became more and more of a threat, with its empty sections, sections that were in FBI hands always over my head, hung the fear of the surprise inspection by a Soviet agent. And to make life just that much worse, I had the knowledge of a Communist spy being in my office staff, a spy that had me facing an inevitable trial by the Control Commission, the Party's equivalent of a Gestapo. Yes, mister Sargo, may I help you? Oh? I don't know, baby, Try and see mister Svedik is out at the moment, will you. Wait for sure you it might be fun. Honey. The name is miss Ward to you. It well me, I got just a remedy for a snooty little doll like your little kiss. Let go of me, you big eight, Let go, I'll see you pay your face, little fascist. I'll teach you some respect for the party. Go let it go. No, not until I teach you. Something I felt a communist. N Go ahead, I said, let go. Why why are you what? Wait? No, wait, don't don't be again. I'll show you to man handle a decent girl. You come it, climb, you're not out of dirty red. Get up and get out of here. Take your smelly coming astide is a decency wad you get out? All right? On me? One, just give me a chance. Get off? Good heavens, what was. All right about, mister Spedick? Nothing? Get back to work, all of you quick? Why of course, mister Speddick. I'm sorry, mister Spedik with the nooids and all. I gee, thanks, mister Sedick. I hope this fight won't get you in any trouble. Sorry, go ahead, that one coming, Betty, I sure did funny. You know, for a long time I thought you might be a communist. It was a bad mistake. I knew the spy had heard me spouting off, and I knew it was coming. It came at four in the morning, when I was asleep in my hotel room. Eh yeah, so I owe you money. I'm coming. Good morning, mister Sevetic. What do you want? Sago? Who are those guys with you? Don't actually scared, tough man. We just come to invite you to party four in the morning. Go back to the store and slip it off. Get your pants on, Comrade, The party wants to ask you a few questions. Now here is comrade love us? Sir? Right? And shiney? Did you search him? We did better? We watched him dress. The Control Commission has been checking the record, Comrade Sevetic. We've been quite so. Yes, and unfortunately for you, the record shows only the best service. To the party. Well I wants the idea. Let does not mean you are free of suspicion. Your promotion to counselor in the US Employment Service? Did you manage it so easily? You got it for you? I worked for Perhaps the FBI have little I've told you. I have no connection with the FBI, But. You have changed you lost your faith in the party. No, but you did detect a comrade today. Well, yes, and during this attack you said thing, may I speak. By all means? Camera? First of all, I'm surprised that you would listen to an idiot like Comrade Sargo. What do I understand by this that you deny his accusation. If he says I haven't any way been disloyal to the party, yes. You've made a mistake. I was waiting for comrades vetic, because not. Only Comrade salgoes Worth, another comrade testified to your comments. Open the door. Yeah, come. H well, comrade Seti. Burn Swally Burns. Yes, yes, it's me, you rock and spy me, Wally Burns. I knew you were a traitor when they put you in as counselor. That was my job. You stop camerat Burns. Well, comrade, do you still persist in your lies? I repeat, I have never been disloyal to the party. Explain my proof lies in common sense, comrade of us, Sir, if I've done anything else except throw Sago out of my office and make a big pretense of hating communism, how long do you think I'd have kept my job? Mm hm, as you say, come common, not just a moment. You're not going to swallow that. That hogwash. That hogwash, Comerade Burns makes a great deal of logic. If I were you, I would exact. I'm in my own loyalty to the party, my hetty. Jealousy over a fascist job is a grave weakness for you. Comrade Sargo, your stupid behavior jeopardized months of work. I'm recommending you to be. Transferred to another district for proper disciplinary actions. No, no, please, that's all, comrades, good night. Just a moment, Comrade Levas, Sir, if I'm cleared, I want to request that Comrade Burns leave my office at once. I prefer he stay. He's the logical choice for your position in case anything should happen to you. When Lavasser smiled that sly wet smile at me, I knew I had own it partially one He was reserving judgment and waiting waiting for me to be over confident enough to make that one slip. I had an idea, so I called my FBI contact, and in half an hour, a sleepy Morgan pick me up in his car. As we rode around. The dark street we talked, Matt, you know I want to pin that barber's accident on Sargo and laves sir. But Sarga leave me, Morgan. He's ready to crack wide open. I know he looks tough, but he showed a yellow streak a yard wide in our fight, and now that he's in bad trouble with the party, he's ripe. All right, we'll pick him up. Do it now while he's off balance. Throw a scare into him about having a witness, and when he starts talking, he'll. Talk himself into prison and love a sure with him. Okay, Matt? Is that all? Oh? What do you want from one night's work? Stalin? I didn't get much sleep, but I felt good going to work the next morning, for I was sure Sargo would sing and loud. I could even stand the sight of Wally Burns back in his role as the nervous little office manager who always forgotten knocked his pipe out waste baskets. He had reason to be nervous that morning, and so did I. Only I didn't realize it until I was in my private office and found Pierre Lavassa waiting for me. Good morning coming. It set something wrong with your plant. No, you will intrigued me last night's comrade. That is why I decided to look at your record this morning instead of waiting to have a regular inspector coming. Well, well, the files locked, the keys I seem to have misplaced it. I hope you find it. I'm going to see those files. Yes, naturally, Oh, here's the key. The files in the other room. I'll go open it and bring you those. I'll go with you, Comrade, you may need tell. This was the payoff. One glance to that file and Lavasa would know I was an FBI agent. I led the way to the outer office, trying desperately to think of some way out. Seeing while it burns gave me one faint hope as I remembered his habit of knocking out his pipe in waste baskets. It was a thin chance. But as I passed the wastebasket, I palmed my lighter, snapped it into a flame, and dropped it unnoticed into. The pile of crumpled papers. The file is over here, mister Lavas, sir. Open it quickly. Good, let's take it into your private. Opistatic fires. Semita, give me that fire. The burning waste basket made a lot of smoke, and the excited clerks helped the confusion. But Pierre Lavasseur was not to be distracted. He yanked the file drawer from me and headed for the outer door. I knew if he reached it, I was finished, So with my right foot I hooked his ankle going by, causing him to fall head along against a desk in a snowstorm of open files and papers. Sir, now, mister la Varsieur, let me help. I'll take care of him. Burns. Get those girls and the others out of here. Mister Speck, he's uncoind, I said, get these people out of here, Yes, all right. Outside, everyone outside, I said, move outside. Clear the room. Once the room was empty of people, I went to work fast, seeing to it that the waste basket fire destroyed enough of my file cards and papers to make Pierre's investigation useless. Then a few minutes with a fire extinguisher, and the fire was a wet and smoldering mass of papers. Then I dragged the limp Pierre la Vasseur after the sidewalk and fresh air. It took a while to clear away the crowds and assure everyone things were all right. But by the time Pierre was recovering, he and I and Wally Burns were alone while inside the office staff was starting to clean up the debris. Oh take it easy, comrade. He had a bad fall in there. What heaven? There was a fire. You were running with a file and tripped over a phone card. I tried to catch you, but I missed. I see, it's too bad. I suppose it cannot be up now, only I. Did such a fire start? Ask Wally Burned me why I had nothing to do. He has the habit of knocking his pipe calls into a waste basket. It would seem he did it once too often, Is. That true, comrade burn Well, yes, that is I did forget once or twice, but I swear I didn't do it today. You've got to listen to that la. I've listened to you too often. You'll pay for your bungling, comrade. The party will see today. No, no, you won't get me in that cellar. I'll quit first, I'll go away. You won't fight me, got me? We'll find you coming at thence when we want you. Hit me up. Sure this time I am going You. Are not going anywhere, mister, except to jail. James. Who are you? What are you talking Daniel's homicide? You are Pierre Lavas, Sir, May no butts, just. Come along, coping, Frank, you hired the wrong boy, and my red friend Sargo told us the whole thing. Hey, now wait, Lieutenant, Day out of it, Fella, take it on. This punk reads assault and battery with intent to commit murder. Come on coming. You got a date with a new cell, the prison kind. I'm sorry, mister Lavas, Sir, it looks like I can't help you now. They went off friend and enemy and I started for my office. No, my job wasn't ended. This was just another part, a part of my undercover war against communism. As long as communists tried to murder freedom, I would be in battle, a strange battle and a stranger battlefield across which I knew I would always be walking alone. Our star Dana Andrews will return in a moment. This is Dana Andrews. All over America, people like Matt Savedic are fighting to win over the four is of communism in our country. It's a never ending fight, one that concerns you and me and all loyal Americans who love this country and hate the subversive forces that threaten to destroy our American way of life. Next week we bring you another strange and fantastic story based on the true life experiences of Matt Sevedic plan to be with us at that time, won't you