Film Description: The Iron Curtain is a 1948 black-and-white thriller starring Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney, directed by William Wellman. The film was based on the memoirs of Igor Gouzenko, a Soviet intelligence officer who defected at the end of World War II. The film depicts Gouzenko’s work in the Soviet embassy in Canada and what prompted his decision to defect. Though he’s pursued by Soviet officials who are charged with bringing him back to the Soviet Union, he provides Canadian officials with key documents detailing the Soviet government’s efforts to obtain atomic bomb plans.
The clip here shows the final moments of the movie, and shows the Soviet official’s attempts to recover the documents that Igor had stolen from them. The officials attempt to do so through various sinister means, including threatening to harm Igor’s and his wife’s family in the Soviet Union. The movie not only depicts Soviet officials as murders, willing to kill to get their way, but also clearly shows the fear of secret communist circles in various sections of the government.