Presentation for POL 338 Dr. Kevin Lasher

1. Presentation for POL 338 Dr. Kevin Lasher

2. Hollywood, HUAC and The Blacklist

3. Caution • Very complicated topic • Modern “narrative” that Hollywood Ten and blacklisted were victims • Truth is ????

4. 1947-1991

5. Political Environment • Bolshevism/communism as threat since 1917 • US and USSR form “uneasy” alliance during WW2 • Cold War underway by 1947 • China falls to communists in 1949 • Korean War: 1950-1953 • Communists and communist-sympathizers in USA (10,000-100,000 ?)

6. Communist Party USA (CPUSA) • Complex organization which promoted trade unions, civil rights, progressive actions • Also partially (?) controlled by Moscow, assisted in domestic spying, and committed to communist revolution in the USA 1919

7. Communist Party USA (CPUSA) • Partly dedicated to undermining, damaging and overthrowing US political system • Partly loyal to a foreign power • Treasonous organization ? Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies. 1919

8. Criminal Communists? • 1940 Smith Act made it a crime to advocate overthrow of US government • Around 100 or so individual communists were jailed under Smith Act (after 1949) • Dennis v. US (1951) upheld convictions of American communists • Yates v. US (1957) said it was not a crime to be a communist – only if advocating explicit overthrow of US government (prosecutions stop) • Was it a crime? --- MAYBE

9. McCarthyism • Sen. Joe McCarthy becomes well-known anti-communist crusader • 1950-1954 sponsored Senate investigations into communist activity • Focused on communist penetration of U.S. government, especially State Dept. (there were some spies) • Did not focus on film industry • Censured by Senate in 1954

10. “Liberal” Hollywood • Studio moguls were Republicans, but many screenwriters, directors, performers were rather liberal • Creative process leads to liberal political views? • Many in Hollywood were “non-traditional” in their personal lives • FDR and New Deal policies were popular • Recognize mid-20th century “liberalism”

11. “Liberal” Hollywood • Why did “conservative” studio moguls employ communists? – talented screenwriters and actors • Attitude that these were “country club” communists

12. “Liberal” Hollywood • Pro-Soviet films • Song of Russia (1943) • Mission to Moscow (1943) • North Star (1943) • There were communists (315 says Giglio) in movie industry • High-profile industry • Potential damage to US society ???

13. “Liberal” Hollywood • Communist messages in mainstream Hollywood films would have been a VERY BIG DEAL • Little evidence of such messages in 1940s and 1950s • Studio heads and producers would eliminate any such messages

14. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) • 1938-1975 • Investigates communist subversion in American society • Major hearings into communist influence in Hollywood in 1947 and 1951-53 • Young congressman Richard Nixon gains prominence

15. HUAC and Hollywood Ten • 1947 HUAC subpoenas 41 filmmakers to testify • Friendly witnesses (Ronald Reagan, Walt Disney, others) warn of communist influence in film industry • Ten “unfriendly witnesses” refuse to testify based on 1st Amendment objections • Give strident and hostile speeches • Found in contempt of Congress and sentenced to jail • One-year jail terms in 1950 (not based on Smith Act)

16. HUAC and Hollywood Ten • All ten had been or were members of CPUSA • Nine screenwriters and one director • Difficult to see how their politics ended up on screen • HUAC did not really investigate the content of these men’s work • Viewed as heroes by some and traitors by others • Myth is true heroes and martyrs

17. “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party of the United States?"

18. Waldorf Agreement (1947) • Studio heads agree to ban all ten from further employment until they renounce communism • Pledge to eliminate communists from film industry • Informal blacklist begins • Discuss cooperation with HUAC

19. Dalton Trumbo Best known of Hollywood Ten Joined CPUSA in 1943 Wrote patriotic films during WW2 After jail, fled to Mexico and won two Oscars for screenwriting while blacklisted (using fronts) Broke blacklist in 1960 as credited screenwriter for Spartacus and Exodus Later said that everyone was a victim of blacklist

20. Edward Dmytryk Briefly a member of CPUSA from 1944-45? Already disenchanted but agreed to the overall strategy of the Hollywood Ten Changes mind near end of six month prison term Testifies before HUAC in 1951, rejects CPUSA and names “names” Removed from blacklist and resumes directing career Many in Hollywood viewed him as a traitor Post-blacklist career ended in early 1970s

21. John Howard Lawson Joined CPUSA in 1934; committed communist First to speak at HUAC, gave strident speech and removed from hearing Viewed as head of Hollywood’s Comm. Party; enforced party line among members Fled to Mexico and authored books on Marxist approach to film One additional screenplay following jail and blacklist Traitor ?

22. The Blacklist • Conservative journal publishes names of 151 individuals in entertainment industry with communist connections (1950) • American Legion has 128 names • Expands blacklist

23. The Blacklist • Blacklist expands through friendly witnesses’ testimony in 1947 and 1951-53 • Eventually 200-300 or so Hollywood/New York individuals are blacklisted • Maybe 10% return to their careers at some later point

24. The Blacklist • Blacklist begins to break down in late 1950s • Dalton Trumbo receives screenwriter credit for Spartacus (1960) • Gradually blacklist expires through 1960s

25. A Miscarriage of Justice? • Careers and lives were ruined • Studio officials went “unpunished” • Many were not communists and just liberals of that era • Was CPUSA membership a sufficient threat? • No evidence that any in Hollywood were SPIES • One modern commentator – jail for communists was wrong but lack of employment perhaps not

26. A Miscarriage of Justice? • Some/many on the blacklist were not members of the CPUSA • Distinguish between Hollywood Ten and 300 or so blacklistees • No “right” to employment in Hollywood film-making community • Many on blacklist were VICTIMS (IMO)

27. “The blacklist was a time of evil, and no one on either side who survived it came through untouched by evil. Caught in a situation that had passed beyond the control of mere individuals, each person reacted as his nature, his needs, his convictions, and his particular circumstances compelled him to. There was bad faith and good, honesty and dishonesty, courage and cowardice, selflessness and opportunism, wisdom and stupidity, good and bad on both sides. When you who are in your forties or younger look back with curiosity on that dark time, as I think occasionally you should, it will do no good to search for villains or heroes or saints or devils because there were none; there were only victims. Some suffered less than others, some grew and some diminished, but in the final tally we were all victims because almost without exception each of us felt compelled to say things he did not want to say, to do things that he did not want to do, to deliver and receive wounds he truly did not want to exchange. That is why none of us - right, left, or center - emerged from that long nightmare without sin.” • Dalton Trumbo in 1970 speech to the Screen Writers Guild

29. The End