Journey to Freedom
Cast & Crew
Robert C. Dertano
Jacques Scott
Geneviv Aumont
George Graham
Morgan Lane
Jean Ann Lewis
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Stephan Raikin, a Bulgarian journalist, is captured by the Communist Party police and imprisoned for his underground activities against the Party. Tortured and beaten, Stephan escapes from prison with the help of the underground resistance organization. With his friends Louie and Pete, Stephan flees on a ship to Istanbul, where he is permitted to work, playing piano in a bar, but warned that many Turks harbor resentment against Bulgarians. One night, he is attacked by a large Turk, who claims his grandfather was killed by Bulgarians. The Communist Party police track Stephan down and kill both Louie and Pete. Stephan then seeks refuge in Paris, where he meets Nanette, falls in love and applies for a visa to America. He intensifies his efforts against the Communists, attacking them in printed articles and in his broadcasts over Radio Free Europe. Unrelenting, the Communist secret police make another attempt on Stephan's life. Barely managing to escape, Stephan flees to the United States, where he works hard to establish himself in New York. While laboring on a construction job, Stephan suffers a hand injury and is admitted to a hospital where he meets Mary, a nurse, and begins to court her. After Stephan and Mary are wed, they move to Los Angeles and have a baby daughter, while Stephan continues his crusade against Communism. Stephan's speeches are broadcast over the pro-democracy Voice of America radio program, and win him much acclaim. One night, after celebrating an honorary award presented to him for his valiant efforts over several years, a slightly drunk Stephan drives home with his Bulgarian friend Nick Popov. After Stephan's car strikes and kills a man changing a tire, he is arrested for manslaughter and, if convicted, faces deportation. Stephan posts bail and states that he remembers nothing of the drive home. Although the evidence is strongly against Stephan, his lawyer, James Wright, investigates and proves that the accident was a frame-up by Popov, who was driving the car at the time of the accident. During an inquiry at police headquarters, Popov tries to escape, but is shot by the police. As he dies, Popov confesses that he was an undercover agent for the Communist Party and was forced to frame Stephan. Once exonerated, Stephan is happily reunited with his family and becomes an American citizen.
Director
Robert C. Dertano
Cast
Jacques Scott
Geneviv Aumont
George Graham
Morgan Lane
Jean Ann Lewis
Peter E. Besbas
Don Mcart
Dan O'dowd
Tor Johnson
Barry O'hara
Fred Kohler
Don Marlowe
Miles Shepard
Crew
Stephen C. Apostolof
Stephen C. Apostolof
Charles Arrico
Bill Crewe
Armand Delmar
Bob Dertano
Ed F. Finney
George Graham
Stephane Grouef
Stafford B. Harrison
Dale Knight
Herbert F. Niccolls
Herbert F. Niccolls
Lyle B. Reifsneider
William C. Thompson
Josef Zimanich
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were Escape to Freedom and The New Refugee. A Hollywood Reporter production chart includes Pete Welkoff in the cast and a Hollywood Reporter news item adds Joe Weston, Audrey Lowell, Janet O'Shea and Danny Herman, but their appearance in the released film has not been confirmed. The film has intermittent narration spoken by a fictitious member of the Bulgarian Communist party's secret police. A document in the file on the film in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library states that the film had a negative cost of under $47,000.
