COLD WAR: SPIES, 1944-1994 {PART 21 OF 24} (TV)

Summary

Part twenty of twenty-four in this documentary series examining the events of the Cold War, from 1917 to the early 1990s. This series consists of interviews and archival footage, accompanied by historical narration by Kenneth Branagh. This episode explores the use of espionage by both the Soviet Union and the United States throughout the Cold War. Markus Wolf, head of East German foreign intelligence, begins with the premise that spies were the soldiers of the Cold War. Among the scientists assembled at Los Alamos in 1945 for the test of the first atom bomb were the spies who helped the U.S.S.R. develop its own bomb by 1949. Spy Ted Hall explains his motives for giving atomic secrets to the Russians. David Murphy of the CIA then states that the U.S. had no real information on the Soviet system because the Eastern bloc was closed to the West, and spies attempting to infiltrate the area were routinely betrayed. Yuri Modin, British agent Kim Philby's KGB controller, recalls Philby's work for the KGB, which led to the capture of many Western intelligence agents entering the Soviet bloc; and CIA agent Mikhail Kudriavtsev recalls his own 1953 arrest and trial by the KGB. The U.S. suffered from lack of intelligence in the Korean War, but CIA senior analyst Melvin Goodman argues that failure in Korea prompted the Pentagon's National Security Agency to develop technical and communications intelligence. The documentary discusses the secret American and British tunnel built under Berlin to intercept Communist communications: Double agent George Blake describes his work for the Soviet Union and the experiences that led him to spy for both British and Soviet agencies; Lieutenant General Sergei Kondrashev, Blake's KGB officer, speaks about the risk of counteraction against the Berlin tunnel; and Major General Oleg Kalugin, KGB Chief of Counterintelligence, states that Blake denies his role in the deaths of Western agents. The U.S. government compensated for its lack of intelligence agents with the technology of satellites and U2 planes to provide information on Soviet missile sites. Joe Bulik of CIA Soviet operations remembers one key American agent -- Oleg Penkovsky -- who delivered the intelligence essential during the Cuban Missile Crisis and other pivotal moments, however. KGB investigator Alexander Zagrozdin recalls Penkovsky's interrogation and execution in KGB custody. After KGB agent Colonel Mikhail Luibimov comments on spymania and the excitement of espionage, CIA director Admiral Stansfield Turner discusses the importance of surveillance and spying in peaceful endeavors. A profile follows of Vera Wollenberger, a member of the East German Peace Movement arrested and imprisoned by the Stasi, the East German secret police. The program concludes with the following: CIA counterintelligence agents Jeanne Vertefeuille and Sandy Grimes reflect on the contributions of CIA agent Dmitri Polyakov and recall their work in the 1980s to capture a KBG "mole," double agent Aldrich "Rick" Ames discusses his work spying for two countries, and double agent Oleg Gordievsky sheds some light on the fate that awaits many spies. Also included is footage of Polyakov's capture and interrogation. Commercials deleted.

Cataloging of this program was made possible by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, 1999.

This selection from the Alan Gerry Cable Collection has been made available by the Gerry Foundation, Inc.

Details

• NETWORK: CNN
• DATE: March 14, 1999 Sunday 8:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:46:32
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T:58763
• GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
• SUBJECT HEADING: Cold War; Espionage; She Made It Collection (Pat Mitchell)
• SERIES RUN: CNN - TV series, 1998-1999
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Pat Mitchell … Executive Producer
• Jeremy Isaacs … Executive Producer
• Vivian Schiller … Senior Producer
• Martin Smith … Series Producer
• Jonathan Lewis … Producer
• Isobel Hinshelwood … Series Associate Producer
• Alison McAllan … Series Associate Producer
• Margaret Kelly … Editor
• Dunja Noack … Research
• Svetlana Palmer … Research
• Ben Steele … Research
• Miriam Walsh … Film Research
• Max Hastings … Writer
• Carl Davis … Music by
• Kenneth Branagh … Narrator
• Aldrich Ames
• George Blake
• Joe Bulik
• Melvin Goodman
• Oleg Gordievsky
• Sandy Grimes
• Ted Hall
• Oleg Kalugin
• Sergei Kondrashev
• Mikhail Kudriavtsev
• Mikhail Luibimov
• Yuri Modin
• David Murphy
• Oleg Penkovsky
• Harold Kim Philby
• Dmitri Polyakov
• Stansfield Turner
• Jeanne Vertefeuille
• Markus Wolf
• Vera Wollenberger
• Alexander Zagrozdin