Who
is Matt Cvetic? Hero? Scoundrel? Mole? The man who loosely provided
the inspiration for the B-Grade cult movie I Was a Communist for
the FBI had a life that was marred by alcoholism, damaged expectations,
and greed.
Cvetic, at the request of the FBI, joined a Pittsburgh branch of
the CPUSA in 1943. He became one of many plants in the Party during
that decade and gained the nickname "Pennsylvania's most significant
mole." However, because of his erratic behavior, the FBI fired him
in 1950, at which time he surfaced and suddenly became a celebrity
through his testimony before the HUAC hearing. Journalist Richard
Rovere described Cvetic as a "kept witness," a term that fits those
who "made a business of being witnesses," thereby "befouling due
process."
Cvetic was the subject of a multipart series in the Saturday Evening
Post. The articles bordered on fiction, but they gave Cvetic the
national exposure he needed to secure a screen deal. Warner Brothers
bought the story, made the movie, and enhanced Cvetic's celebrity
as pop icon. In the mid-1950s, Cvetic was discredited as a witness
by the courts. His career ended and he found a new niche on the
Radical Right, yet he died in 1962 after years of fighting to uphold
his image with the media. Today Cvetic's image is dimly remembered
as he continues to fight "the Red Menace" on late-night television.
Leab juxtaposes Cvetic's real life with his reel life. He chronicles
his fall from grace, yet admits that Cvetic's life offers fascinating
and useful insights into the creation, merchandising, and distribution
of a reckless professional witness. Leab also writes about Cvetic's
life prior to his involvement with the FBI, his glory days, and
shows that there is much to be learned from the story of an "anti-Communist
icon."
"A compelling account of the grubby life behind the gleaming mask
of the Communist-hunter Matt Cvetic. The maze of hysteria, opportunism,
and deceit that made up Cold War America is freshly illuminated
by Leab's study of Cvetic's career. This book stands as an eloquent
testimony of the depths to which America sank in the 1950s and is
a timely reminder of the dangers of the media culture of celebrity."
—Nick Cull, University of Leicester
"Meticulously researched, scrupulously fair-minded, and consistently
enlightening, Dan Leab's study of the strange and fascinating career
of Matt Cvetic-communist for the FBI and professional anti-communist
thereafter-is an invaluable contribution to American history. Drawing
on newly available research materials and his own unmatched expertise
in the culture of Cold War America, Leab paints a vivid portrait
of a troubled man within the context of his no less troubling times."
—Thomas Doherty, Brandeis University
