P2P-Zone - FBI Considered "It's A Wonderful Life" Communist Propaganda

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FBI Considered "It's A Wonderful Life" Communist Propaganda

Wisebread

Quote:

FBI thought Life smeared American values such as wealth and free enterprise while glorifying anti-American values such as the triumph of the common man.

The FBI specifically detested the way Mr. Potter was portrayed:

The casting of Lionel Barrymore as a "scrooge-type" resulted in the loathsome Mr. Potter becoming the most hated person in the film. According to the official FBI report, "this was a common trick used by the communists."

"What's interesting in the FBI critique is that the Baileys were also bankers," said Noakes. " and what is really going on is a struggle between the big-city banker (Potter) and the small banker (the Baileys). Capra was clearly on side of small capitalism and the FBI was on the the side of big capitalism.

The FBI misinterpreted this classic struggle as communist propaganda. I would argue that 'It's a Wonderfil Life' is a poignant movie about the transition in the U.S. between small and big capitalism, with Jimmy Stewart personifying the last hope for a small town. It's a lot like the battle between Home Depot and the mom and pop hardware store."

..More

I understand that the McCarthyists were no fan of the director, Frank Capra, despite the WWII propaganda he made for the government. But It's a Wonderful Life is all about the American dream. If members of the FBI really held contrary opinions then they were severely bent.

Imagine if the transition of a work to the public domain within a reasonable time was as effectively fictional in the early to middle 1970s (when copyright would--shockingly--run out every 27 or 28 years or so, we remember) as it is today. Would so many of us have had a chance to appreciate the film and reaffirmed our appreciation for the values espoused? Hmmm...

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