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41 2 THE FBI’S SEARCH FOR COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR You should direct your investigation particularly toward determining the extent of the Communist Party’s influence and participation in the production of [propagandistic] motion pictures. —J. Edgar Hoover to his Los Angeles agents, 1943 Historian Eric Hobsbawm envisions the grand alliance of the Second World War as “a moment of historical paradox in the relations of capitalism and communism, placed, for most of the century—except for the brief period of antifascism—in a posture of irreconcilable antagonism.”1 It is no surprise, therefore, that despite a dramatic increase in American goodwill toward the Soviets, largely a product of the valiant efforts of the Russians against the Nazi foe, roughly a third of all Americans continued to distrust the Soviet ally.2 The Roosevelt administration sought to promote goodwill, but within the administration fears and doubts persisted . Theoretically under the control of the Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and its leader J. Edgar Hoover, secretly harbored deep concerns about the president’s policy, believing that the grand alliance entailed dangerous ramifications. Their focus, as ever, was on the home front; their fear was that American Communists would use their newfound standing to infiltrate important national institutions. To a significant degree these fears were directed at Hollywood. FBI concerns regarding the entertainment industry dated back to the years following the first red scare, but during World War II the bureau began a systematic investigation of the motion picture industry. Just as the FBI feared Communist “infiltration” of various labor and government posts, so too did it worry that Hollywood Reds were securing new positions of power within the film industry. But Hollywood was unique, for bureau policy operated on the assumption that “the motion picture industry is beginning to be recognized as one of the greatest, if not the very 42 J. EDGAR HOOVER GOES TO THE MOVIES greatest, influence upon the minds and culture, not only of the people of the United States, but of the entire world.”3 From the bureau’s point of view, the American way of life was at stake. Even as the grand alliance cooperated to defeat fascism, the G-men secretly began waging a cold war. These FBI files reveal that fears of propaganda motivated its massive investigation of the film industry during World War II. In this period, the FBI began an intense formulation of a body of “knowledge” that demands critical attention if one is to understand the origins of the postwar hearings.4 Insecurity was at the heart of bureau policy. As they surveyed the domestic scene, and particularly as they gazed upon Hollywood, the FBI fretted over the peril of “a gigantic worldwide conspiracy of control which has its origin and direction in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.” After the 1943 release of Mission to Moscow by Warner Bros, J. Edgar Hoover exclaimed that “recent events in the motion picture industry have caused me much concern regarding the spread of Communism.”5 In the context of a grand alliance he heavily suspected, and especially after the premiere of Mission to Moscow, a film that seemed an ominous indicator of the Communist grip on movieland, Hoover feared the production of more “films having a propaganda effect favorable to the Communist ideology.” In order to combat this dire cultural and political threat, Hoover sent his men on a mission of messianic proportions.6 Though its activities may be justly criticized, the bureau was by no means mistaken in recognizing the vital role that film plays in shaping and reflecting national identity. Indeed, historians and film theorists alike have utilized Benedict Anderson’s concept of the nation as an“imagined community”to argue that the “national cinema” plays a vital role in the process of constructing national identity.7 We may say that the FBI grasped this truth years before most scholars, but in doing so the bureau was by no means unique, for this historical moment witnessed a plethora of actors—including filmmakers, film commentators, and other agencies of the federal government, most notably the Office of War Information—who recognized the power of film in modern society. This pronounced acclaim for cinema’s social importance, so acute during the war years, provided the environment that gave birth to the FBI’s investigation. But the bureau departed from its contemporaries in labeling the motion picture as a possible national security threat. Even if the...

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