Apparently, the FBI thought Its A Wonderful Life was communist propaganda because it portrayed bankers and the wealthy negatively.
The memo is pretty funny, but it missed an important point: Red Ryder would be a great codeword for the operation to put some nuclear armed subs off of Long Island.
On a more serious note, I would point out that bankers seem to be quite good at discrediting themselves without Soviet assistance. The best bit:
[redacted] related that if he made this picture portraying the banker, he would have shown this individual to have been following the rules as laid down by the State Bank Examiner in connection with making loans. Further, [redacted] stated that the scene wouldn’t have “suffered at all” in portraying the banker as a man who was protecting funds put in his care by private individuals and adhering to the rules governing the loan of that money rather than portraying the part as it was shown. In summary, [redacted] stated that it was not necessary to make the banker such a mean character and “I would never have done it that way.”
If we were to make movie today portraying bankers as fine upstanding gentlemen who followed all laws and whose primary interest was in protecting the funds in their care, it would be laughable.
At any rate, lest you think the Tea Party is on to something new, this shows us that screaming communist at anyone who says something mean about a wealthy person is a long, proud tradition.
In Soviet Russia, eye shoots out you!
520 Chestnut 
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