Congress investigates Reds in Hollywood
On October 20, 1947, the notorious Red Scare kicks into high gear in Washington, as a Congressional committee begins investigating Communist influence in one of the world’s richest and most glamorous communities: Hollywood.
After World War II, the Cold War began to heat up between the world’s two superpowers–the United States and the communist-controlled Soviet Union. In Washington, conservative watchdogs worked to out communists in government before setting their sights on alleged “Reds” in the famously liberal movie industry. In an investigation that began in October 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) grilled a number of prominent witnesses, asking bluntly “Are you or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” Whether out of patriotism or fear, some witnesses–including director Elia Kazan, actors Gary Cooper and Robert Taylor and studio honchos Walt Disney and Jack Warner–gave the committee names of colleagues they suspected of being communists.
A small group known as the “Hollywood Ten” resisted, complaining that the hearings were illegal and violated their First Amendment rights. They were all convicted of obstructing the investigation and served jail terms. Pressured by Congress, the Hollywood establishment started a blacklist policy, banning the work of about 325 screenwriters, actors and directors who had not been cleared by the committee. Those blacklisted included composer Aaron Copland, writers Dashiell Hammett, Lillian Hellman and Dorothy Parker, playwright Arthur Miller and actor and filmmaker Orson Welles.
I’m glad all that silly red-baiting nonsense hasn’t a place in this country anymore. I couldn’t imagine that an elected official would run around screaming about his or her fellow countrymen being “un-American” in this day and age. /snark
11 Comments
Communism; bad.
Socialism/Fascism; Okiedokie.
America is a fond memory.
Perhaps oaths should now be sworn on a copy of the DSM-IV.
I couldn’t imagine that an elected official would run around screaming about his or her fellow countrymen being “un-American” in this day and age.
Hey… If you’re also ‘Hockey Mom’ you get a special dispensation on that.
surprised this post hasn’t drawn your friend sonia-belle out of her cave…
The Klanservatives have to pander to the basest elements of the inbreds in order to even have a chance of pulling this one off. The Supreme Inbred, Caribou Barbie, has been working the ‘tards HARD-but ultimately it may not matter this time.
I was talking with a co-worker about Bachmann’s comments today. He said that individuals of her stripe – good ol’ ignorant American folk – don’t even know who Joe McCarthy was, hence the necessity of having a HUAC every 30 years or so…
calling for an investigation as to whether or not someone is American enough for whomever decides to launch the investigation is perhaps the most anti-American idea ever conceived.
I don’t live in a cave
you know, frederick, ever since you mentioned your suspicions about someone masquerading, i can’t shake the feeling that you’re right….
And somewhere, in some universe, Dalton Trumbo kicks an old man in the nuts.
Actually, Gary Cooper didn’t name any names, nor did he name any scripts. He appeared because, as he put it, he wanted to assure the committee that Hollywood was not a nest of Communists. Why he has been tarred ever since with naming names is something of a mystery. Especially given the fact that, in 1951, when making High Noon, he put his career on the line defending ex-Communist Carl Foreman. He threatened to walk off if Foreman’s name was removed as screenwriter. He publicly called Foreman the finest kind of American after Foreman appeared at HUAC in the middle of the High Noon shoot. Cooper even formed a company with Foreman after the film was finished.