1 / 14

The Red Scare & The Hollywood Blacklist

The Red Scare & The Hollywood Blacklist. Modern details behind The Crucible. 1 st Red Scare – 1917-1920. WWI & The Bolshevik Revolution (Russia/USSR) Xenophobia – fear of foreigners or strangers April 1919: bomb plot uncovered June 2, 1919: 8 bombs deploy in 8 cities within one hour

kaleb
Download Presentation

The Red Scare & The Hollywood Blacklist

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The Red Scare &The Hollywood Blacklist Modern details behind The Crucible

  2. 1st Red Scare – 1917-1920 • WWI & The Bolshevik Revolution (Russia/USSR) • Xenophobia – fear of foreigners or strangers • April 1919: bomb plot uncovered • June 2, 1919: 8 bombs deploy in 8 cities within one hour • US Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer a target

  3. “Palmer Raids” • 10,000 immigrants arrested in 2 years • J. Edgar Hoover in charge • May 1, 1920 – government overthrow • Nothing happened – Palmer lost credibility

  4. 2nd Red Scare – 1947-1957 • After WWII – Communist activity • Soviet Union (USSR) controlled most of Eastern Europe • Korea, China, Italy • Soviets had nuclear bomb • Americans feared nuclear attack

  5. Josef Stalin & Mao Tse Tung (Zedong) • Dictators of USSR (Stalin) & China (Tse Tung) • Murdered millions of countrymen • Stalin arrested political dissidents and put them in gulags (forced labor camps).

  6. Communist organizations in the US • Fear of communist sympathizers (pinks) & spies • Julius & Ethel Rosenberg • Smith Act: passed by Congress in 1940 • Illegal to be a part of a “subversive” organization • Communist or Marxist organizations considered subversive

  7. Suspicion turns to Investigation • 1946: birth of HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) • 1947: Pres. Truman creates Federal Employees Loyalty Program • Wisc. Senator Joseph McCarthy led many investigations

  8. Other Red Scare Effects • Fallout shelters • “Duck-and-cover” drills • Cincinnati Reds became the “Redlegs” to avoid association to communism

  9. The Hollywood Blacklist • CPUSA attracted many young people in show biz • October 1947: 43 people called as witnesses in an investigation to see if Communist messages were in movies • 19 refused to testify; 11 were called before HUAC • Bertolt Brecht – YES, I’m a communist!

  10. The Hollywood 10 • The other 10 refused to speak; citing 1st Amendment rights • Arrested for contempt of court • Ronald Reagan & Walt Disney testified that there were communists in Hollywood • Hollywood 10 were fired & denied any more work

  11. The Blacklist • Edward Dmytryk – admits & gets job back • American Legion & Red Channels • Together, name ≈ 225 “communists” in show biz • All denied employment (blacklisted); many called before HUAC • Defendants pleaded the 5th – immediately blacklisted

  12. Witnesses • Either “friendly” or “unfriendly” • Elia Kazan (director of two of Arthur Miller’s plays on Broadway) • Budd Schulberg (screenwriter) • Lee J. Cobb • On the Waterfront • Unfriendly: Arthur Miller

  13. Ruined results of the Blacklist • Blacklisted workers had to leave the US to get work • Salt of the Earth • Richard Collins (friendly) divorced wife Dorothy Comingore (unfriendly) • Died at age 58 of alcoholism • suicides • Premature strokes & heartattacks

  14. Things die down… • Edward R. Murrow works to censure Sen. McCarthy • 1957: John Henry Faulk, radio personality, sues CBS for firing (wins) • 1958: Blacklisted names fade, but some don’t work until 1960s or later • HUAC loses power; is disbanded in 1968

More Related