Walk East on Beacon!

Egomaniac, Hypocrite, and Big Brother J. Edgar Hoover's stain is all over this Red Scare Movie. Another McCarthy Era Propaganda Piece that the Government, in League with Hollywood, pushed on the Public in the early Post War Years. It is a Movie that is Cold and without Emotion, ironically just like the Commies.

Among its many Sins, one is the way it inaccurately equated the Russians with the Nazis for nothing more than analogous Angst. Did anyone remember that it was just a few short Years prior that Germany invaded Russia, and Russia invaded Germany. They hated each other. But in the World of Government Mind Control, that memory is wiped.

This is an interesting Artifact of the Time to be sure, and a reflection on the Temperament. As Entertainment it is so stilted that the whole thing barely has a Heartbeat although it tries, so seriously, to make its case that anything resembling a Human Being is lost in the Fog of the Cold War. If there's still any doubt about the Evil of Hoover and his Megalomania, check out all the dismembered Head Shots of J. Edgar floating about in quite a few of the office Scenes.

Worth a view for Cold War Historians and "Safety for Freedoms" researchers. It is a Movie masquerading as your Friend. Early on the Film mentions how in the USA Citizens go about their Daily Lives freely because of the Bill of Rights. That creepy, prying TV Camera in the Shop was just the beginning. A Harbinger for sure.

PLOT: Commy spies attempt to gain secrets.

a docu-drama style movie~ This starts as the FBI receive a hot trip about a Communist cell in Boston. WE see the newly arrived KGB contact played by Karl Stepanek who urges the spies to even more ruthless means to get secrets. Finley Currie as the Professor Kefer who is being black mailed by the spies with his son being captive in Berlin by the REDS. MADE with the cooperation of the FBI. Some of the men are actual FBI agents. BASED on story by J Edgar Hoover himself the Crime of the Century a short story in the Readers Digest. BETTER than I expected. Moves along very well and the ADDED "dedication" of the spies to the RED commy cause at times is comical and interesting. MADE at time of the RED SCARE (COMMUNIST) days of the 1950s. I give this 7 out of 10 for interesting COMMY spies inside the USA. Also recommend is the HOUSE on 92nd STREET.

Know how I feel about film noir? Love it to death! To me, it's not so much a genre, more a way of life. The inescapable reality, however, is that in the natural, universal scheme of existence, there is inevitably a percentage of crud at the bottom of the barrel. Indeed, the grating noise of a barrel being scraped, would provide a pertinent soundtrack for this dreary movie.

'Walk East on Beacon!' is a truly dour, dull docu-noir. A movie entirely devoid of personality. There are no strong characters, smart one-liners or wittily deadpan ripostes. In short, a gaggle of good grey men seek to smoke out a gaggle of gruesome greyer men (and women), who, despite being on the same page, exude as much warmth as a Siberian snowstorm in their dealings with each other. The sole striking performance comes from Finlay Currie as the ageing, vulnerable scientific genius, who has defected to the U. S. and is anxious about the plight of his son in East Berlin. Currie is fairly sound, but this is no Abel Magwitch and hints of native Scottish can be detected within his generic Eastern European brogue.

If one scene personifies the movie's relentlessly lacklustre tone, it's a conference room adorned by a group of middle-aged, largely bespectacled Communists, glumly listening to a reel to reel tape recording of Currie waxing lyrical about his revolutionary, life changing breakthrough, at the end of which they exit, with the same blank, glum indifference.

Released when blacklisting was at its peak: As a tirade against the rising tide of Communism, it makes for pretty tedious viewing. A missed opportunity, a damp squib of a picture. Not so much a film noir, more a film gris!

"Walk East on Beacon!" is a product of the times. Following WWII, the good will between the US and USSR bottomed out quickly and instead of being friends, the Soviets took over Eastern Europe and parts of East Asia. In response, the US became very paranoid about communism and the notion of communists infiltrating the county....so a movie like this isn't the least bit surprising. Some of the movies are fun to watch...some, like this one, are surprisingly ordinary.

The film is about an attempt by communist moles to capture a top scientist and force him to work for the USSR. Professor Kafer (Finlay Currie) is worried because his son disappeared. Apparently, the communists have kidnapped him and say they'll return him IF the Professor cooperates. Fortunately, American FBI agents are on the case and hope to not only rescue the son but break up this network of spies.

The story was interesting. But it also was surprisingly low energy considering the subject matter. Also, having George Murphy anchor the film didn't help, as he always seemed more passive than most actors....and here he gives a typically bland performance. Overall, not a bad film....but I would have expected more fireworks considering the topic.

An hysterical anti-communist screed dolled up in the drag of a police procedural, Walk East On Beacon simply isn't up to the task of alerting us to the dangers of a Fifth Column in our midst. Well filmed but weedily written (and based on a magazine article by the Dark Prince of the F.B.I., J. Edgar Hoover), the film stars Republican senator-in-waiting George Murphy as a G-Man hot on the heels of a Red sleeper cell. Murphy was never much of an actor, and here he's strictly in Jack Webb just-the-facts-ma'am territory. Location photography in Boston gives the film a boost, but overall Walk East On Beacon! can't match either the red hot emotional power of Pickup On South Street or the creepy intensity of My Son John, two other Red Menace films of the period.