Farewell, America! (1951) Plot Summary Explained

Anna defects because she has become completely disillusioned with the embassy's methods. After witnessing her reports from Armenia and Ukraine being distorted for propaganda, watching her ally Armand Haward face a trial and then be murdered, and being ordered to write lies about Soviet oppression while falsely blaming communists for Haward's death, she can no longer participate in the deceit. The pressure to fabricate a book about oppression and blame communists for Haward's murder becomes the final straw that pushes her to switch sides.

Foreshadowing: Anna's growing disillusionment is foreshadowed early on when her truthful reports are twisted to fit propaganda narratives, showing her increasing discomfort with the embassy's work.

• anna bedford defection
• soviet union
• CIA
• embassy betrayal

After being tried and acquitted in Washington, Armand Haward is mysteriously murdered in a bar shortly afterward. His death remains shrouded in mystery but deeply impacts Anna, strengthening her decision to ultimately defect. The murder is never officially explained in the footage, and the embassy later tries to use it as propaganda by claiming communists orchestrated it.

Foreshadowing: The dangerous consequences of Haward's integrity are hinted at when he is recalled to Washington, suggesting the political stakes of his refusal to compromise the truth.

• armand haward murder
• washington trial
• mysterious death

General Walter Scott's arrival marks a dramatic shift in embassy operations. He declares that peace is merely a short interval for preparing the next war to establish American dominance worldwide. This directive forces all staff to abandon diplomatic work and focus exclusively on intelligence gathering and anti-Soviet activities. The policy creates a paranoid atmosphere that drives Anna's disillusionment and sets the stage for the moral conflicts that follow.

Foreshadowing: Scott's hardline stance foreshadows the escalating Cold War tensions that will consume the embassy and shape Anna's trajectory.

• ambassador walter scott
• CIA policy
• cold war
• intelligence gathering

Anna refuses because writing the book would require her to betray everything she has learned and witnessed. The embassy asks her to create false narratives about oppression in the Soviet Union and to falsely claim that communists murdered Armand Haward. Having seen the truth firsthand during her travels and witnessed the corruption within the embassy itself, Anna cannot bring herself to produce propaganda that would further distort reality.

Foreshadowing: Anna's earlier refusal to compromise her reports foreshadows her ultimate refusal to fabricate propaganda.

• fabricated book
• propaganda
• soviet oppression
• anna refusal

Armand Haward, the embassy's information department head, is recalled to Washington because he refuses to compromise the truth in his reports. His integrity and refusal to distort information for propaganda purposes clash with the embassy's new hardline directives under Ambassador Scott. His principled stance makes him a liability to the CIA's operations, leading to his recall and subsequent legal troubles.

Foreshadowing: Haward's integrity has been established throughout his work, making his recall a predictable consequence of the embassy's shifting priorities.

• armand haward recall
• washington
• integrity
• information department

Anna learns of her mother's death while she is still in Moscow, coinciding with Haward's recall to Washington. The dual loss, her ally and her mother, deepens her isolation and emotional vulnerability. This tragedy occurs during her growing disillusionment with the embassy, intensifying her sense of disconnection from the American side she nominally represents.

Foreshadowing: The timing of this loss, occurring alongside Haward's departure, accelerates Anna's isolation from the embassy community.

• mother death
• anna grief
• emotional impact

After defecting, Anna finds a new homeland in the Soviet Union where she can work and live freely according to her conscience. Having witnessed the corruption and propaganda within the American embassy, she sees the USSR as a place where she can publish the truth about American diplomatic activities without distortion. Her defection represents both a personal escape from the lies she was forced to participate in and an ideological shift toward the side she now believes represents honesty.

Foreshadowing: Anna's growing alignment with truth and her rejection of embassy propaganda foreshadow her ultimate choice to embrace Soviet citizenship.

• soviet citizenship
• defection
• exposé
• new life

Ambassador Scott's statement reflects the hardline Cold War mentality that peace is just a temporary pause for rearming before the next conflict to spread American influence globally. This philosophy underpins the embassy's shift from traditional diplomacy to aggressive intelligence operations. It establishes the ideological framework that drives the embassy staff to prioritize espionage over genuine diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

Foreshadowing: This philosophy foreshadows the escalating tensions and spy operations that define the embassy's activities throughout the film.

• ambassador scott
• cold war philosophy
• peace war quote

Anna's reports from her travels to Armenia and Ukraine are distorted because the embassy has predetermined narratives they want to promote. Rather than presenting the objective truth about conditions in these regions, leadership twists her factual observations to fit anti-Soviet propaganda purposes. This manipulation forces Anna to deliver information she knows to be false, beginning her moral crisis and disillusionment with the embassy's mission.

Foreshadowing: Anna's initial assignment to gather intelligence through her connection with Professor Gromov establishes the pattern of using her reporting for propaganda.

• armenia ukraine reports
• distorted reports
• propaganda

After defecting and becoming a Soviet citizen, Anna publishes an exposé about the activities of American diplomats in the Soviet Union. This work presents a counter-narrative to American Cold War propaganda, revealing what she witnessed inside the embassy. The exposée represents her transformation from a CIA asset to a voice within the Soviet system, using her firsthand knowledge of American espionage to challenge the U.S. government's version of events.

Foreshadowing: Anna's defection directly enables her to publish this exposée, as she now has both the motivation and the access to reveal the truth.

• exposé american diplomats
• publication
• soviet union

The film was never finished because Dovzhenko abandoned the project partway through production. Only about half of the planned footage was ever completed. The existing footage concludes with Anna's defection, while the script reveals the intended ending would have shown her marching through Red Square during a national holiday, mirroring the iconic scene from the Soviet film Circus. The reasons for abandonment are not detailed in the provided materials.

• oleksandr dovzhenko
• unfinished film
• production halt