03 Nov Betrayal from the East
(1945) A carnival barker (I’m serious) who used to be in the army is recruited by the Japanese to steal military secrets. The movie was based on a 1943 book Betrayal from the East: The Inside Story of Japanese Spies in America by Alan Hynd.
The movie demonstrates the workings of active Japanese spy rings in 1941, just before Pearl Harbor. Newspaper columnist Drew Pearson, in the opening scene, warns the viewers that “This is a true story. It really happened.” Of course, there were Japanese fifth columnists in America, as there were Germans. And Russians too.
I was shocked to see the blatant slurs and caricatures of the Japanese. But then, it was 1945, and we were still at war when the movie came out.
It’s a good movie to watch while you’re doing something else. The love interest segment is ridiculous.
Mr. Pearson comes on again at the end. “The war against underground enemies never begins and never ends. We must not relax again. It can’t happen here again.”
Betrayal from the East [VHS] at amazon.com
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