Red Nightmare

Red Nightmare
Jack Webb introducing Red Nightmare
Directed by	George Waggner
Produced by	William L. Hendricks Jack Webb
Written by	Vincent Fotre
Starring	Jack Kelly Jeanne Cooper
Music by	Howard Jackson William Lava
Cinematography	Robert Hoffman
Edited by	Folmer Blangsted
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	1962 (1962)
Running time	29 min./60 min. (1985 video release)
Country	United States
Language	English

Red Nightmare is the best known title of the 1957 Armed Forces Information Film (AFIF) 120, Freedom and You. It was an anti-communist short presented as an educational film about the nature of Communism. The film's chief use was to mold public opinion against communism. The film was later released to American television and as an educational film to American schools under the Red Nightmare title.

The film is a Cold War-era drama short subject starring Jack Kelly and Jeanne Cooper. Red Nightmare was directed by George Waggner (The Wolf Man) and narrated by Jack Webb. Though made for the Department of Defense, it was shown on American television on Jack Webb's GE True in 1962.

A man takes his American freedoms for granted, until he wakes up one morning to find out that the United States Government has been replaced with a Communist system. The basis for this short film, narrated by Jack Webb, is the alleged Soviet re-creation of US communities for the purpose of training infiltrators, spies, and moles.

The film begins in what looks like a typical American town. The camera moves back to reveal barbed wire, barricades, and soldiers in Soviet Army uniforms. Narrator Jack Webb informs us that there are several places behind the Iron Curtain used for training Soviet espionage and sabotage forces prior to infiltrating America.