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Joseph Stalin was descending into madness in the years before his death in 1953. Some would argue that he had been insane for many years before that!
It was recently discovered that Stalin in his later years around 1952 had ordered the KGB to assassinate the actor, John Wayne. According to this source (see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3618310/Why-Stalin-loved-Tarzan-and-wanted-John-Wayne-shot.html ) Stalin saw Wayne's rabid anti-communism as a threat and wanted him eliminated. Nikita Krushchev said he later rescinded the order. But what would have happened if that order had been actually implemented.
Below is my take on what would have happened. I hope you will enjoy it and please be kind this is my first attempt at a TL. (Some of you may have noticed this is the TL I published on another thread with some additions. I have been told republishing it here is not double entry.)
October 5, 1952: Los Angeles, California At 2 p.m. [all times listed here are Eastern Daylight Time] a car pulls up outside of Warner Brothers Studios. Two men in the car, show identification to the studio guard at the front gate purportedly claiming to be FBI agents. They ask to speak with John Wayne claiming it is an important matter. The guard looks at their ID and after checking with Mr. Wayne whom is presently in his trailer waves the men through. Several minutes later shots ring out from John Wayne’s trailer. One of the two “FBI agents” leaves the trailer, bleeding from a gunshot wound to his shoulder. He quickly gets in his car and barrels out of the studio complex before anyone can react. Studio workers quickly enter Wayne’s trailer and discover a terrible sight. John Wayne lies on the floor of the trailer with three gunshot wounds to his chest and one to his shoulder. Near the door of the trailer is one of the men who shot him, bleeding severely from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The man is alive but dying. John Wayne however, is dead.
By 3 p.m. the man who was found in John Wayne’s trailer is in intensive care. Rigorous (and some will later say brutal) interrogation by LAPD detectives and FBI agents whom have been called in has revealed that this man is an agent for the KGB. He and his partner were part of a team of KGB agents who entered this country for the purpose of assassinating John Wayne. The two killers had not accounted for the fact apparently that their target could shoot back though. The assassin however will not live to reveal much more information. He succumbs to his wounds at 8 p.m. that night.
By 6 p.m. the LAPD, the FBI and other state and local law enforcement agencies have launched a major manhunt for the surviving gunman. On radio and the infant TV channels throughout the country the news is flashed—John Wayne assassinated by Red agents. By morning these words will be in bold headlines in every major newspaper in the U.S.
At 6:23 p.m. the getaway car used by the assassins is discovered abandoned ten blocks away. Blood on the driver’s seat indicates that the second of the two man team is still alive but wounded, possibly seriously. J. Edgar Hoover orders every available agent in California to Los Angeles to conduct the manhunt. The LAPD in the meantime sets up check points at all major roads as well as public and private airports around the city and the port of LA as well. LAPD and the FBI send men to private and public hospitals both in and around the Los Angeles metropolitan area to see if anyone matching the (admittedly vague) description of the man given by the security guard at the studio has checked in or been treated for gunshot wounds.
October 6, 1952: Los Angeles, California At 1:37 a.m. a team of FBI agents and LAPD officers are led by an anonymous tip (the source of this tip has never been revealed) to a house seven blocks from where the getaway car was found. Inside they discover a man whom is suffering from a severe gunshot wound to the shoulder unconscious from lack of blood lying on the sofa. The man is arrested immediately when a gun matching the caliber of gun used to kill John Wayne is discovered in the house during a search. The owner of the house – who will later be found to be a KGB agent himself, is also arrested.
By 6 a.m. that morning bold headlines throughout the nation are proclaiming what has already been reported on radio and TV. Wherever there is a working radio or TV people gather to hear the latest bulletins out of Los Angeles.
At 7 a.m. a formal statement is made by the joint LAPD/FBI task force which has been formed to investigate the murder. The man arrested earlier this morning has been identified as Dmitri Komolev [fictional name] and has been formally charged with the murder of actor, John Wayne. The name of the owner of the house that Komolev was found in is not released.
Washington, D.C.: 8 a.m. J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI holds a news conference where he confirms the findings of the LAPD/FBI task force in Los Angeles. He announces a full and complete investigation will be conducted into the extent of the plot to kill John Wayne. The investigation will focus, says Hoover, on the possibility of other “red cells” existing in the Los Angeles area.
Los Angeles: 9 a.m. An emergency meeting is held of representatives from the Screen Actors’ Guild and all of the heads of the major Hollywood studios. Fearing that other actors and actresses may be targets of a larger plot, as was hinted by Hoover in his statement one hour earlier, the heads of the major studios demand police protection for all of their major stars. Several off-duty police officers are called in to supplement the current force and the studio heads even go so far as to hire private security guards, as well as private investigators to act as body guards for their most valued actors and actresses.
At 10 a.m. Jimmy Stewart emerging from the emergency meeting delivers a brief statement to the press. Barely containing his emotions, Stewart praises his friend, John Wayne, and says that “Hollywood has lost a big man, with a big heart.” Stewart’s words are carried by radio and TV to the rest of the nation.
Washington: (also at 10 a.m.) J. Edgar Hoover arrives at the White House to give President Harry Truman a preliminary report on the investigation. President Truman asks Hoover if it is confirmed that the murderers were KGB agents. Hoover informs him that they were. President Truman then immediately places a call to the Soviet ambassador, Georgy Zarubin to come to the White House immediately.
Washington: 11 a.m. President Truman meets with Soviet Ambassador Zarubin who assures the President that the government of the U.S.S.R. has no knowledge of this plan. He suggests that this could simply be the effort of some “shadow group” trying to create further tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. As Ambassador Zarubin is preparing to leave the Oval Office a call is put through from the Embassy. A large and very angry crowd is gathering outside of the Soviet embassy in Washington. The ambassador is urged to be cautious as he returns. After Zarubin is escorted from the Oval Office J. Edgar Hoover reenters. Hoover has been listening to the conversation between Truman and Zarubin through a small microphone planted under the President’s desk via a receiver in a nearby secretary’s office. Truman wants Hoover’s opinion whether Zarubin was lying about not knowing. Hoover expresses his belief that it is unlikely. Such a “black operation” would be coordinated in such a way to give the embassy and its staff plausible deniability. It is likely Zarubin does not know but is already trying to engage in diplomatic damage control. Truman tells Hoover to do whatever he has to do to get to the bottom of John Wayne’s murder. “If Stalin has gone so dingbat crazy that he is willing to order something like this, what’s to keep him from trying something in Germany or Korea, maybe with atomic weapons?”
Washington, D.C.: 11:23 a.m. Ambassador Zarubin arrives back at the Soviet embassy in Washington to see a large crowd outside the embassy yelling obscenities and epithets. As Zarubin’s car approaches demonstrators in the crowd start pelting it with eggs, rocks, and anything else they can throw. By the time Zarubin is safely inside the embassy the front windshield of the car is cracked. Badly shaken, Zarubin hurries to the embassy communication center to confer with Moscow. Meanwhile outside the crowd continues to become larger and more vocal. Soon they are pressing against the fence of the embassy and trying to climb over onto embassy grounds. Embassy guards and plain clothes security agents begin to eject the protestors but a rock strikes one of the embassy guards seriously wounding him even as several protestors are also wounded. By this point Washington police, whom the Soviets will later claim have been present but doing next to nothing, enter the crowd and begin to break it up using nightsticks and tear gas. As the demonstration ends 2 Soviet embassy personnel are wounded as well as 13 protestors. In addition 20 protestors are charged with varying charges from trespassing to assault.
Los Angeles: 1:00 p.m. Director, John Ford arrives at the police station where Dmitri Komolev is being held. He is clearly drunk and wielding a large shot gun. He demands to see Komolev and give that rotten red s-b what he deserves. After several tense minutes Ford is calmed down by the police on duty and relieved of the gun. Ford is quietly taken out through the back of the station and driven home. News of this incident leaks to the general public later that evening prompting the police to move Dmitri Komolev to another location for his own safety and for that of the officers guarding him. Word has already reached the LAPD and the FBI office in Los Angeles that Komolev is to be protected at all costs. J. Edgar Hoover wants answers that only Komolev has.
Washington, D.C: 1:30 p.m. Chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), John Stephens Wood, speaking before the press, offers his condolences to the friends, family, and colleagues of John Wayne whom he calls a “true patriot.” He then declares that a subcommittee will be formed that will investigate the Wayne murder and determine if the assassins had any inside help. Wood goes on to say that given the beehive of communist activity that has been seen already in Hollywood he is concerned for the safety of those artists there who espouse true American values.
Mid Afternoon to Early Evening: Across the U.S. Outside theaters that are showing his latest film, “Big Jim McLain” fans of John Wayne gather to remember the fallen actor. Although the film received very bad reviews initially, it will in the next few weeks become one of Warner Brothers’ biggest grossing films ever. Many fans carry signs demanding that Truman “nuke the Russian bastards that did this.”
Moscow, U.S.S.R.: 3:00 p.m. A shaken Nikita Khrushchev emerges from a Politburo meeting where Stalin has announced the successful conclusion of a major intelligence operation. “One of the chief representatives of the corrupt, imperialistic, propaganda film industry in America has been killed by a brave son of Russia.” Khrushchev is sweating. He knows the U.S. will be furious over this action. There is some good news in this catastrophe. Stalin has agreed with the Politburo that for now Soviet involvement in this plot should be played down if not denied. Khrushchev hopes this will buy time for him and others such as Zhukov to take action. Stalin has clearly gone too far and something must be done and soon before he launches any more such actions.
Washington, D.C.: 6:00 p.m. J. Edgar Hoover boards a plane in Washington to fly out to Los Angeles. There he will supervise the on going investigation.
Los Angeles: 6:00 p.m. On his nightly news program, Walter Winchell raises the question of whether the agents who killed John Wayne had inside help from someone in the studio. On the news it is also announced that there are as of yet no plans for Wayne’s funeral.
Washington, D.C.: 7:00 p.m. President Harry Truman speaks to the nation by radio and television. He calls John Wayne’s death, a senseless loss and continues: “We mourn a patriot who thought of his country first last and always. We mourn a star whose true light was only now starting to shine. We will pursue those responsible for this deed wherever they may be found. We will pursue them to the very doors of the Kremlin if we must. Let those who ordered this murderous attack take note, we will find you, and America will see justice done.”
Los Angeles: 8:00 p.m. In a news conference for Warner Brothers, Jack Warner publically offers a $25,000 reward for any further information leading to those responsible for John Wayne’s murder. Later it will be claimed that Warner did this on urging from J. Edgar Hoover, but no proof has ever emerged for this claim.
Los Angeles: Early Evening Throughout the evening friends of John Wayne from the film industry and elsewhere are interviewed on the radio. All of them express their outrage at what has happened and their hope that those responsible are brought to justice.
Los Angeles: 9:00 p.m. The guard on duty when the two assassins first drove onto the Warner Brothers lot is taken into “protective custody” by the LAPD. Over the next three days he will be subjected to intense questioning by the LAPD and the FBI.
October 7, 1952: Los Angeles, 12 p.m. Dmitri Komolev escorted by FBI agents and LAPD officers and wearing a bullet proof vest to protect him from some over zealous patriot is hustled into an LAPD courtroom to be formally arraigned and charged with the murder of John Wayne. Komolev enters a plea of “not guilty.” After the hearing which lasts only a total of 15 minutes, Komolev is hustled back out of the courtroom and out the back entrance to a waiting armored van which will take him back to the secret location he has been incarcerated at. The hearing is only reported to the press later. Hoover does not want a media circus building around Komolev and has ordered the strictest possible security. Hoover is concerned that there may be an attempt to shut Komolev up by other enemy agents who may have “deep cover” in the U.S. or equally concerning by patriotic citizens who may want to take the law into their own hands. After the hearing, Hoover personally talks with the press and commends both the local FBI office in Los Angeles and the LAPD for their quick work to apprehend the people responsible for this “heinous crime”. Hoover also reveals the name of the owner of the house, a Walter Pleshkin [fictional name]. Pleshkin, it is revealed, is an immigrant who came to the U.S. in the 30’s. Hoover believes Pleshkin is part of a deep cover operation and that his house was meant to be a safe house for KGB agents in the U.S. who needed a place to lie low. Pleshkin is presently undergoing interrogation by both the FBI and the LAPD and will be arraigned and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, aiding and abetting a criminal, and possibly treason (Pleshkin is a naturalized American citizen). When asked if either Pleshkin or Komolev have seen lawyers yet Hoover replies two are being provided. He does not tell the press that neither Komolev nor Pleshkin have spent more then ten minutes with their lawyers at this time.
Los Angeles: 12 p.m. Jack Warner personally makes an announcement on behalf of John Wayne’s family and announces that John Wayne’s funeral will take place in three days. Warner has already ordered the recall of all of the copies of “Big Jim McLain”. He intends to add in an epilogue highlighting the fact that Wayne was murdered only a few months after completing this strongly anti-communist film. The epilogue will speak of Wayne in glowing terms as a patriot and martyr for liberty.
Washington, D.C.: 12 p.m. Ambassador Zarubin visits the White House and demands a formal apology for the outrageous threats made against him and his embassy staff, as well as payment for the damage done to his car, to the embassy, and as remuneration for the Soviet guard injured during the “disgraceful” demonstration outside of his embassy yesterday. President Truman listens politely to Zarubin’s 20 minute tirade then tells him that he will take what Zarubin has said, “under advisement”. Meanwhile he advises Zarubin to remember that John Wayne was a much beloved film star and “Americans have a way of making their anger known when something or someone they love is abruptly taken from them.” No apology will ever be issued by the White House, nor will there be any attempt to pay for damages caused by the demonstration. ---------------------------