FBI film control activities and the «COMPIC» Program (1941–1943)

Abstract

The period of 19411943 became a time when the American art was rapidly rebuilt into war rails. Artists in every possible way reinforced the morale of American soldiers and were engaged in justifying various actions of the government with the help of a more accessible and understandable language of artistic storytelling to the wider masses. The paper will address specific films and their propaganda subtexts. A special role in this process was played by the USA Federal Bureau of Investigation, which quickly realized the propaganda potential of cinema and therefore quickly began building systemic work to control film production. As part of the paper, it will be examined on a specific example how the FBI was displayed in the cinema and how the Bureau began to build mechanisms for controlling the film industry through a special program COMPIC. This program was aimed at countering the communist influence in the cinema. The close connection between the development of the COMPIC program and the COMRAP program, which provided for the opposition of federal agents to the Comintern, was also considered and the CINRAD program developed at the same time was mentioned, designed to protect USA developments in the field of nuclear weapons. The paper is based on archival materials and literature on the history of American cinema and the FBI.