Anticommunism in Hollywood
09/10/14
Why Hollywood?
-‘Communist Oasis’ (Fried, 1990)
‘The committee was the tail on the Communist Party’s kite, following
wherever it flew. The party itself focused on Hollywood starting in 1936.’
Navasky, Naming Names, p.76
-The
Weapon of Mass Culture
Perhaps the greatest perceived threat for the proliferation of communist ideology and
a way to expedite anti-communist sentiment nationally.
Was there a threat?
‘Joseph Stalin had set out to make Hollywood an instrument of propaganda
for his program of soviet expansionism aimed at communizing the world.’
Ronald Reagan, An American Life, p.100
‘We can’t expect to put any propaganda in the films, but we can try and keep
anti-soviet agitprop out.’
William Z. Foster (1946)
The Iron Curtain (1948)
The Red Menace (1949)
The Hollywood Ten
-HUAC turned to Hollywood in Autumn 1947.
-Most of the witnesses were friendly, denouncing Communism and stating
that it had no influence in their work whatsoever:
‘I don’t believe it’s a political party, I believe it’s an un-American thing and what I
resent most is that they are able to get into these unions, take them over…and they
ought to be smoked out.’
Walt Disney, HUAC Testimony, 1947
-Others were not so friendly. These
uncooperative witnesses came to be known
as the Hollywood Ten and cited for
contempt of Congress.
Hollywood’s Reaction
Initially hostile towards HUAC:
‘As long as I live I will never be party to anything as un-American as a
blacklist.’
Eric Johnston, President of the Motion Picture Association of America
-However, eventually condemned the actions of the Ten and disaffiliated
themselves from them:
‘Members of the Association of Motion Picture Producers deplore the
action of the ten Hollywood men who have been cited for contempt…we will
not re-employ any of the Ten until such time as he is acquitted or has purged
himself of contempt and declares under oath that he is not a communist.’
The Waldorf Statement, 3 December 1947
High Noon (1952)
-Seen as many as a commentary on
blacklisting
-An allegory of HUAC’s investigation
into Hollywood, the persecution of
the Ten and the reaction of the
wider Hollywood community.
-Slightly ironic given Gary Cooper’s
testimony to HUAC.
The Blacklist Grows
-Extra-governmental blacklists. Many external organisations started to
produce blacklists of their own. (American Legion, MPAPAI)
-Red Channels, Counterattack (June 1950)
-’It temporarily (and sometimes permanently)
ruined the careers of almost every entertainer
whose name appeared in it. “Nobody has told me
not to use anybody listed in Red Channels”, an
executive in an advertising agency explained, “I
just know not to.”
Schrecker, Age of McCarthyism, p.218.
Clearance Process
‘No Hollywood Communist or ex who had ever been accused, or
called to testify, or refused to sign a studio statement would get
work in the business, unless they went through the ritual of
naming names.’
Navasky, Naming Names, p.84.
‘Many fine people were accused wrongly of being communists
simply because they were liberals.’
Ronald Reagan, An American Life, p.114
‘What writers might do to combat the rising hysteria in the
country, the fear of uttering any opinion that could be remotely
interpreted as left or even liberal, let alone pro-soviet.’
Arthur Miller, Timebends, p.310.
Decline of Blacklisting
-Faulk v AWARE (1962)
-Free lance blacklisters were made legally liable for any damage
they caused.