TRUTH IS STRANGER : 'TRAITOR' TO HERO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000400390015-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 23, 1998
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: April 8, 1962
• Content Type: NSPR

ruth Is :;Stranger:
Traitor't0. Hero
~A preview of "The Counterfeit Traitor," open -
"ing at the DeMille on April 17, was held re
cently for the film's most knowledgeable and
~Perlberg-Seaton spy thriller. The Brooklyn-born
CPYRGHT
Swedish business man who: became a spy
weighs his film image and finds it not wanting.
By Joseph Morgenstern
Among the unforeseeable pitfalls
that a man must face when he signs
on as a spy is the possibility that no
one will make a movie of his exploits.
His mission may go haywire, as in the
case of Messrs. Powers and Abel, who
are aliie"but nocinematic, or he
may succeed in becoming an unsung
hero, which is less remunerative than
~being;a; sung he
?'x Erickson, ,one of the more
audacious. 1 -dealers employed by
the United States in World - War II,
had the manifold good . fortune of
emerging from his adventures alive,
intact, successful and celebrated. One
day last week, Mr. Erickson sat him-
self down in a screening room in the
Paramount Building to see, for the
first time, the, Technicolored fruits of
his efforts, a film called "The Coun-
terfeit Traitor" In which he is in-
carnated by William Holden.
Director's Query.
As soon as the lights went up after
the preview, :Geode Seaton, the, di-'
rector and author of-` the screenplay,,.
Lw~ Still talking to me, Eric?"
Momentarily subdued and 'obviously{"
moved, Mr. Erickson said:
"It's a remarkable picture, George,"
Certain events had been embellished;
rearranged .or, .,barrowed,__from otherl
espionage cases;- - Mr. Erickson said. .
later, but he thought the movie was
entirely authentic in spirit and "85
per cent correct" in the specifics of
the story.
The Right Circles
Based on Alexander Klein's book,
"The Counterfeit Traitor" recounts
Mr. Erickson's experiences as a Swed-
ish oil executive . who. adopted a_
pro-Nazi attitude in public, Ingrati-
ated himself with German officials in
Stockholm, made frequent visits to oil
refineries in the German heartland,
and supplied the Allies with detailed'
information on how to bomb them
out of existence. For . his labors, he
suffered the opprobrium of the. Swed-
ish press and of most of his friends
for the duration.of.the war,..until the
real nature of his activities could be
revealed.
.Born in Brooklyn. ,72.:, years ago
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R00040039001?-3