Ferreting Out Stateside Spies

Heed Italian Poster Warning: Communists May Be Watching You!

Walk East On Beacon! (1952) Raises Red Alarm

Cold warriors for the FBI track communist moles down Boston and other New England-locationed streets, all under producer baton of Louis De Rochemont, whose nod to realism keeps us happily outdoors for much of action. I like how Soviet agents are to large extent trapped rats compromised since 30's mislead into radical groups. Many want out, but dare not for fear of liquidation. Were spies snuffed for switching sides? You wonder how many actual ones were silenced in this way, with no one ever knowing whys of their demise. A lot of what goes here is surveillance: cars followed, houses bugged ... all to joyful low-tech 50's accompaniment. How did we get goods on disloyals at such primitive and plodding pace? The big brains on so-called "Falcon Project" lack smarts as to surveillance in their midst --- she's parked right outside their meetings. Feds grab concealed camera shots of surreptitious meetings and result is like a Columbia feature ready for theatrical play. Microfilm is again slid under postage stamps. Did unknowing collectors ever peel one off to find atomic secrets beneath rarity just purchased? FBI agents are interchangeably efficient, a consequence no doubt of Hoover-approved depiction of the Bureau and technique of spy-busting. Darryl Zanuck at 20th Fox knew to hypo De Rochemont's stuff with star presence or plentiful bang-bang. This could have used more of both. Still, Walk East On Beacon! ranks way over cruder espionage pics of the period, a bulk of which were far less subtle, even if occasionally more fun (Big Jim McLain). It's understood that most Red Scare shows lost money, but Walk East On Beacon! took $1.1 million in domestic rentals, probably an OK return provided negative costs ran reasonable.