Dzerzhinsky's organization "The Trust" needs Western funding, so he guarantees Sidney's safety in Russia in return for his help in raising funds.Dzerzhinsky's organization "The Trust" needs Western funding, so he guarantees Sidney's safety in Russia in return for his help in raising funds.Dzerzhinsky's organization "The Trust" needs Western funding, so he guarantees Sidney's safety in Russia in return for his help in raising funds.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode takes place in 1925.
- Quotes
Sidney Reilly: ...create new funds.
Army officer on the Trust: How?
Sidney Reilly: Rob banks.
Army officer on the Trust: The banks have no money.
Sidney Reilly: Then sell art treasures.
Army officer on the Trust: But they're our national heritage!
Sidney Reilly: Then you must mke a decision. Are you interested in the past or the future?
The British Secret Service was anxious to thoroughly vet The Trust, which held itself out to the world as a credible anti-Bolshevik alternative government waiting to take over Russia and depose the Communists. Actually (and unknown to England), The Trust was a fake organization under the total control of Cheka head Felix Zherzhinsky. Captain Cumming of the Secret Service asked Reilly to make a quick clandestine trip to Russia to clarify The Trust situation. Reilly agreed to go because he believed The Trust was not legitimate, and he wanted to completely discredit it.
Notwithstanding his seven year old in absentia death sentence, Reilly and Cumming both believed that the trip involved little personal risk to him, since at the same time The Trust was also seeking international credibility and monetary support. What neither apparently realized was the full extent of Stalin's megalomania, his rage at not initially being told of The Trust's existence and his overarching fear of Dzerzhinsky's encroaching power.
The episode emphasizes Reilly's compulsive hatred of the Bolsheviks, his obsessive belief that they murdered his friend Savinkov while in Cheka custody and his driven need to test The Trust by seeking its commitment to launch anti-government terrorist activities including the assassination of Stalin! It is rich in largely unfamiliar historical detail, and suggests that Stalin's absolute focus on Reilly clearly influenced the events that followed.
This episode provides a clear example of how one can actually be entertained and educated at the same time! Highly recommended.
- malvernp
- Jul 28, 2023
Details
- Runtime50 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1