It
is a shame William F. Buckley is no longer with us, for many reasons, but
especially because he was so effective at ejecting fringe elements from the
Conservative movement. He was decidedly critical of Joseph McCarthy, especially
in terms of his strategy and demagogic style, but his judgement on the HUAC
committee was much more measured. Even today, Buckley’s books are required
reading for anyone looking to really understand the era now derisively referred
to as the “Red Scare.” The truth many hoped to obscure was the fact there
really were many active enemy agents under the direct control the USSR trying
to infiltrate and sabotage American institutions. Herbert A. Philbrick became
the FBI’s most famous counter-spy. He successfully infiltrated the infiltrators
and lived to write a memoir about it. Since we’re all stuck inside, let’s binge
something different, I Led 3 Lives, the syndicated 1950s TV show based
on his book, which is currently available online (at least for now).
If
you enjoy dramatic voiceovers, then the IL3L pilot will be your catnip
or caviar. In it, we meet Herbert Philbrick, a mild-mannered ad executive, who
is secretly a member of a Communist cell (it is pretty clear from documents
declassified from the Venona Project and the old Soviet archives, members
involved in political organizing for the CPUSA were also expected to serve intelligence
gathering functions for the Soviet intel agencies). However, he was secretly spying
on them for the FBI. His handler, Special Agent James Adams does not seem so
protective, but he has knack for appealing to Philbrick’s sense of duty.
Frankly,
IL3L is a pretty cool snapshot of 1950s noir. Yes, the voiceovers get a
bit overwrought, but the pilot definitely captures a vivid sense of Philbrick’s
ever-present paranoia. Teleplay writer Donn Mullally turns a particularly
memorable phrase when Philbrick uses the term “Party Stomach” to describe the
sensation he and his “comrades” feel during a cell meeting, where they expect
their local leader will denounce a traitor. Richard Carlson, best known as the hero
of the original Creature from the Black Lagoon, is appropriately tense
and sweaty as Philbrick. However, Jeanne Cooper is a kick to watch chewing the
scenery as the villainous cell leader, Comrade Sally. She is almost too
diva-ish to be a proper Commie.
Philbrick,
who appears as himself in each episode’s epilog would be horrified to see a
candidate who lavished praise on Cuba and participated in a propaganda trip to the
USSR at the height of the Cold War could come so close to winning a major party’s
nomination for the presidency—and well he should be. We should all be alarmed. Frankly,
the Democratic Party never should have allowed an extremist like Sanders into
their Senate caucus and until they make it clear his brand of authoritarian politics
is not welcome in their party, they will have to keep fighting its corrosive influence.
Say no extremism, say yes to democracy, capitalism, and human rights (the first
two are necessary for the third to exist), and join the social distancing I
Led 3 Lives binge.
