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Behold, "a noble cause": "On May 26, 1947, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a memo stating, 'With regard to the picture It's a Wonderful Life, [redac

Behold, "a noble cause": "On May 26, 1947, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a memo stating, 'With regard to the picture It's a Wonderful Life, [redacted] stated in substance that the film represented rather obvious attempts to discredit bankers by casting Lionel Barrymore as a 'scrooge-type' so that he would be the most hated man in the picture. This, according to these sources, is a common trick used by Communists. [In] addition, [redacted] stated that, in his opinion, this picture deliberately maligned the upper class, attempting to show the people who had money were mean and despicable characters.' Film historian Andrew Sarris observed as 'curious' that 'the censors never noticed that the villainous Mr. Potter gets away with robbery without being caught or punished in any way'." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life

Tabular-Iceberg 5y ago
That’s precisely my point. Going to the movies to look for something to act outraged about is safe, easy and cheap. Doing actual counter-intelligence is dangerous, hard and expensive. The FBI being distracted with this nonsense is probably the greatest gift the real spies could have hoped for.
baryphonic 5y ago
At that time, McCarthy had been in the Senate for all of five months, not nearly long enough for him to start grilling people for having associations with the Communist party. Of course, few communists openly come out and say they are making communist propaganda. It's a bit silly to think Capra would have been one of them, or that "It's a Wonderful Life" doesn't also celebrate the banker George Bailey (portrayed by conservative Republican Jimmy Stewart), but I can understand why the government would want to monitor communist groups, even if they get it laughably wrong from time to time.
- selimthegrim 5y ago
  Capra was tarred as one and as a reaction became a right wing sympathizer for the rest of his life.

Tabular-Iceberg 5y ago

That’s precisely my point. Going to the movies to look for something to act outraged about is safe, easy and cheap. Doing actual counter-intelligence is dangerous, hard and expensive. The FBI being distracted with this nonsense is probably the greatest gift the real spies could have hoped for.

baryphonic 5y ago

At that time, McCarthy had been in the Senate for all of five months, not nearly long enough for him to start grilling people for having associations with the Communist party. Of course, few communists openly come out and say they are making communist propaganda. It's a bit silly to think Capra would have been one of them, or that "It's a Wonderful Life" doesn't also celebrate the banker George Bailey (portrayed by conservative Republican Jimmy Stewart), but I can understand why the government would want to monitor communist groups, even if they get it laughably wrong from time to time.

selimthegrim 5y ago
Capra was tarred as one and as a reaction became a right wing sympathizer for the rest of his life.