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95-536: Walter Bernstein (August 20, 1919 – January 23, 2021) was an American screenwriter and film producer who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios in the 1950s because of his views on communism . Some of his notable works included The Front (1976), Yanks (1979), and Little Miss Marker (1980). He was a recipient of Writers Guild of America Awards including the Ian McLellan Hunter Award and

190-686: A 65th-anniversary article in 2012, Wilkerson's son apologized for THR' s role in the blacklist and added that his father was motivated by revenge for his own thwarted ambition to own a film studio. In late September 1947, drawing upon the lists provided in The Hollywood Reporter , the House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenaed forty-two persons working in the film industry to testify at hearings. The HUAC had declared its intention to investigate whether Communist agents were sneaking propaganda into American films. Of

285-408: A conspiracy outside all the legal processes to undermine the very fundamental American concepts upon which our entire system of democracy exists. Stander was clearly speaking of the committee itself. The hunt for subversives extended into every branch of the entertainment industry. In the field of animation, two studios in particular were affected: United Productions of America (UPA) was purged of

380-725: A correspondent on the staff of the Army newspaper Yank , filing dispatches from Iran, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, Sicily, and Yugoslavia. He wrote of his experiences in Palestine in an article titled "War and Palestine". Bernstein wrote a number of articles and stories based on his experiences in the Army, some of which originally appeared in The New Yorker . These were collected in Keep Your Head Down , his first book, published in 1945. Bernstein first came to Hollywood in 1947, under

475-427: A famous pro- Loyalist speech by La Pasionaria about it being 'better to die on your feet than to live on your knees' into a pep talk delivered by a football coach." Others have argued that Communists did affect the film industry by suppressing production of works they politically opposed. In a Reason magazine article entitled "Hollywood's Missing Movies", Kenneth Billingsley cites a case where Trumbo "bragged" in

570-476: A form of suicide on the installment plan." For all that transpired in the HUAC hearings, the proof that Communists actually used Hollywood films as vehicles for subversion remained hard to come by. Schulberg reported how his manuscript for the novel What Makes Sammy Run? (later a screenplay also) had been subject to ideological critique by Hollywood Ten writer John Howard Lawson , whose comments he had solicited. But

665-521: A full year. Their hearts broken by their respective lovers, Connie and Lillian make plans to return home early. Connie, in a desperate last attempt to reach out to Eddie, follows him to a party where she tells him she is leaving Paris for good. Unwilling to lose her, Eddie decides to return to America to join Connie, but will follow in a few weeks as he needs to wrap up his affairs in Paris before leaving. Ram attends

760-442: A large portion of its staff, while New York-based Tempo was entirely crushed. HUAC investigations sometimes had the effect of destroying families. For example, screenwriter Richard Collins , after a brief period on the blacklist, became a friendly witness and abandoned his wife, actress Dorothy Comingore , who refused to name names. After divorcing Comingore, Collins gained custody of the couple's young son as well. The family's story

855-519: A man without any known political views or associations, suddenly had his career yanked out from under him because the American Legion confused him with Louis Pollack, a California clothier, who had refused to co-operate with HUAC." Orson Bean recalled that he had briefly been placed on the blacklist after dating a member of the Party, despite his own politics being conservative. During this same period,

950-497: A meeting with a record producer, Bernard, who dismisses a composition Ram has been working on, dashing his hopes of a more prominent and respected music career. However, he tells Ram that he has the potential to become a serious composer, if he works hard and truly studies music. Crushed, he tracks down Lillian, and agrees to leave for America with her. But as the women depart, Ram arrives late and tells Lillian that he will not be joining her, as he does not want to give up on his music. As

1045-463: A more committed relationship and move back to the U.S. with her. Ram, aware that she has two children from a previous marriage and lives in a small town, breaks off their relationship, telling her he is dedicated to his music. Meanwhile, Eddie and Connie declare their love for one another. They discuss getting married, but this falls through when Eddie states his refusal to live in the United States for

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1140-460: A number of powerful newspaper columnists covering the entertainment industry, including Walter Winchell , Hedda Hopper , Victor Riesel , Jack O'Brian , and George Sokolsky , regularly suggested names that should be added to the blacklist. Actor John Ireland received an out-of-court settlement to end a 1954 lawsuit against the Young & Rubicam advertising agency, which had ordered him dropped from

1235-584: A remake of the 1934 film based on the Damon Runyon story of the same name. He also wrote and directed one segment of the made-for-TV movie Women & Men 2: In Love There Are No Rules (1991). Bernstein served until his death in 2021 as an adjunct visiting instructor and screenwriting thesis adviser at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in the Department of Dramatic Writing . Bernstein also served as

1330-503: A scriptwriter in the early days of live television. In 1950, because of his numerous left-wing political affiliations and related activities, his name appeared in the publication Red Channels , resulting in his blacklisting by Hollywood studios as a part of the McCarthy era actions against individuals with communist affiliations. Throughout the 1950s, however, he managed to continue writing for television, both under pseudonyms and through

1425-673: A ten-week contract with writer-producer-director Robert Rossen at Columbia Pictures , working uncredited for All the King's Men . After that he worked for producer Harold Hecht , which resulted in his first screen credit, shared with Ben Maddow , for their adaptation of the Gerald Butler novel for the film Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948) for Universal . He subsequently returned to New York, where he continued writing for The New Yorker and other magazines, and eventually found work as

1520-460: A thing. The finished film briefly teases at the idea before abandoning it. Years after the release, Sidney Poitier stated "Cold feet maneuvered to have it twisted around - lining up the colored guy with the colored girl." and that United Artists had "chickened out" and "took the spark out of it." Paris Blues is a soundtrack album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington and composer Billy Strayhorn , recorded and released on

1615-706: A visiting screenwriting instructor at Columbia University School of the Arts in the 1990s. Bernstein's book, Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist , was published in 1996. In his memoirs, he recounts joining the Young Communist League at Dartmouth College in 1937, and the Communist Party itself the year after he left the U.S. Army. Bernstein was married four times, with the first three marriages to Marva Spelman, Barbara Lane, and Judith Braun , ending up in divorces. He married literary agent Gloria Loomis in 1988. In

1710-541: A witch hunter if the witches are Communists. I am a Red-baiter . I would like to see them all back in Russia." Unlike the friendly witnesses, other leading Hollywood figures—including directors John Huston , Billy Wilder , and William Wyler ; and actors Lauren Bacall , Lucille Ball , Humphrey Bogart , Bette Davis , Henry Fonda , John Garfield , Judy Garland , Sterling Hayden , Katharine Hepburn , Danny Kaye , Gene Kelly , Myrna Loy , and Edward G. Robinson —protested

1805-570: Is really sportsmanlike. I don't think this is American. I don't think this is American justice. Parks ultimately testified, becoming, albeit reluctantly, a "friendly witness", and found himself blacklisted anyway. The legal tactics of those refusing to testify had changed by this time. Instead of relying on the First Amendment, they invoked the Fifth Amendment 's shield against self-incrimination (although, as before, Communist Party membership

1900-471: Is today referred to as the Waldorf Statement . The statement said the ten uncooperative witnesses would be fired or suspended without pay and not re-employed until they were cleared of contempt charges and had sworn that they were not Communists. The first Hollywood blacklist was in effect. The HUAC hearings failed to turn up any proof that Hollywood was secretly disseminating Communist propaganda, but

1995-606: The Daily Worker about quashing films with anti-Soviet content: among them were proposed adaptations of Arthur Koestler 's anti- totalitarian books Darkness at Noon and The Yogi and the Commissar , which described the rise of communism in Russia, and Victor Kravchenko 's I Chose Freedom . Authors Ronald and Allis Radosh make a similar point in Red Star over Hollywood that prominent anti-Communist books were only influential "in

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2090-659: The Evelyn F. Burkey Award . Bernstein was born on August 20, 1919, in Brooklyn , New York, to Eastern European Jewish immigrants Hannah (née Bistrong) and Louis Bernstein, a teacher. He studied at the Erasmus High School in Flatbush, Brooklyn . After graduating from high school, he went on to study a six-month immersive language course at University of Grenoble , where he lived with a French family who were acquaintances of his father. It

2185-599: The FBI . The following year, the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals (MPA), a political action group co-founded by Walt Disney, issued a pamphlet written by Ayn Rand and entitled "Screen Guide for Americans". It advised film producers on the avoidance of "subtle communistic touches" in their films. The pamphlet's advice was encapsulated in a list of ideological prohibitions, such as "Don't Smear

2280-678: The United Artists label in 1961 and reissued on Rykodisc in 1996 with additional dialogue from the film and the film trailer on CD-ROM . It features performances by Ellington's Orchestra with Louis Armstrong guesting on two tracks. At the 34th Academy Awards for films from 1961, Ellington was nominated for the Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture but the award was given, rather expectedly, to Saul Chaplin , Johnny Green , Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal for West Side Story . The award

2375-603: The WGA Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen . Bernstein made a cameo appearance in Allen's film Annie Hall (1977). Bernstein was nominated for the WGA for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium for Semi-Tough (1977) and for a BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay for Yanks (1979). He stepped behind the camera as director of his only feature film, Little Miss Marker (1980),

2470-549: The "alien minded Russian Jews in Hollywood." Mississippi congressman John E. Rankin , an HUAC member, held a press conference to declare that "one of the most dangerous plots ever instigated for the overthrow of this Government has its headquarters in Hollywood ... the greatest hotbed of subversive activities in the United States." Rankin promised, "We're on the trail of the tarantula now, and we're going to follow through." Reports of Soviet repression in Eastern and Central Europe in

2565-424: The 1950s, he was also in a relationship with actress Maggie McNamara . He had two children with his first wife Marva Spelman, Joan Bernstein and Peter Spelman; three children with his third wife Judith Braun, Nicholas Bernstein, Andrew Bernstein , and Jake Bernstein . He died of pneumonia on January 23, 2021, at the age of 101. Hollywood blacklist Even during the period of its strictest enforcement from

2660-528: The Constitution of the United States by depriving artists and others of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness without due process of law ... I can tell names and cite instances and I am one of the first victims of it ... [This is] a group of ex-Fascists and America-Firsters and anti-Semites, people who hate everybody, including Negroes, minority groups, and most likely themselves ... [T]hese people are engaged in

2755-836: The Free Enterprise System", "Don't Smear Industrialists", "Don't Smear Wealth", "Don't Smear the Profit Motive", "Don't Deify 'the Common Man'", and "Don't Glorify the Collective." On July 29, 1946, William R. Wilkerson , publisher and founder of The Hollywood Reporter (THR), titled his front-page "Tradeviews" column, "A Vote for Joe Stalin ". In the column, Wilkerson named as Communist sympathizers Dalton Trumbo , Maurice Rapf , Lester Cole , Howard Koch , Harold Buchman, John Wexley , Ring Lardner Jr. , Harold Salemson , Henry Meyers, Theodore Strauss, and John Howard Lawson . Over

2850-501: The HUAC and formed the Committee for the First Amendment (CFA). A sizable CFA delegation flew to Washington, D.C. on a chartered plane in October to voice their opposition to the government's political harassment of the film industry. A few CFA members, such as Hayden, had privately assured Bogart they were not Communists. During the HUAC hearings, a local Washington paper reported that Hayden

2945-658: The HUAC released a report in 1938 claiming that communism was pervasive in the movie industry. Two years later, Dies privately took testimony from a former Communist Party member, John L. Leech, who named forty-two movie professionals as Communists. After Leech repeated his charges in supposed confidence to a Los Angeles grand jury, many of the names were leaked to the press, including those of stars Humphrey Bogart , James Cagney , Katharine Hepburn , Melvyn Douglas and Fredric March , among other Hollywood figures. Dies said he would "clear" those who cooperated by meeting with him in what he termed "executive session". Within two weeks of

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3040-608: The HUAC when it was discovered he had written some music reviews for a Communist newspaper. After he refused to name names, pointing out that he had never attended a Communist Party meeting, he found himself composing music for movies such as Cat Women of the Moon . While there were film artists like Parks and Dmytryk who eventually cooperated with the HUAC, other friendly witnesses gave damaging testimony with less apparent hesitation or reluctance, most notably director Elia Kazan and screenwriter Budd Schulberg . Their willingness to describe

3135-457: The Hollywood blacklist); they subsequently worked together on The Molly Maguires (1970), which Bernstein also co-produced with Ritt, and The Front (1976). The latter film is a drama about a restaurant cashier (played by Woody Allen ) with no real talent or political convictions who is hired to act as a "front" for blacklisted television writers during the 1950s. It earned Bernstein an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and

3230-565: The House committee's investigation as unconstitutional – political pressure mounted on the film industry to demonstrate its "anti-subversive" bona fides. Late in the hearings, Eric Johnston , president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), vowed to the committee that he would never "employ any proven or admitted Communist because they are just a disruptive force, and I don't want them around." On November 17,

3325-536: The May 1948 issue of Photoplay magazine, that vigorously denied he was a Communist sympathizer. The Tenney Committee , which had continued its state-level investigations, summoned songwriter Ira Gershwin to explain his involvement with the First Amendment Committee because involvement alone was sufficient to arouse suspicion. A number of non-governmental organizations participated in enforcing and expanding

3420-499: The Red-baiting activities of J. Edgar Hoover 's FBI. Adversaries of HUAC such as lawyer Bartley Crum  – who defended Hollywood Ten members in front of the committee – were themselves branded as Communist sympathizers and targeted for investigation. The FBI tapped Crum's phones, opened his mail, and placed him under continuous surveillance. As a consequence, he lost most of his clients and, unable to cope with

3515-520: The Screen Actors Guild voted to make its officers swear a loyalty pledge asserting each was not a Communist. On November 24, the House of Representatives voted 346 to 17 to approve citations against the Hollywood Ten for contempt of Congress. The next day, after a meeting of 50 film industry executives at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria hotel, MPAA President Johnston issued a press release that

3610-565: The Screen Writers Guild or CPUSA, citing their First Amendment right to freedom of speech , opinion, and association. Most of the Ten challenged the legitimacy of the committee itself. John Howard Lawson said during his testimony: "I am not on trial here, Mr. Chairman. This committee is on trial here before the American people. Let us get that straight." Among the questions they declined to answer

3705-407: The U.S. Congress now under Democratic control, HUAC launched a second investigation of communism in Hollywood. As actor Larry Parks said when called before the panel, Don't present me with the choice of either being in contempt of this committee and going to jail or forcing me to really crawl through the mud to be an informer. For what purpose? I don't think it is a choice at all. I don't think this

3800-447: The author was entirely free to accept it or reject it as he or she pleased without incurring the slightest "consequence" or sanction.'" Much of the onscreen evidence of Communist influence uncovered by the HUAC was flimsy at best. One witness remembered Stander, while performing in a film, whistling the left-wing " Internationale " as his character waited for an elevator. "Another noted that screenwriter Lester Cole had inserted lines from

3895-682: The best known actors to name names. Time Out Film Guide argues that On the Waterfront is "undermined" by its "embarrassing special pleading on behalf of informers." Paris Blues Paris Blues is a 1961 American musical romantic drama film directed by Martin Ritt , starring Sidney Poitier as expatriate jazz saxophonist Eddie Cook, and Paul Newman as trombone-playing Ram Bowen. The two men romance two vacationing American tourists, Connie Lampson ( Diahann Carroll ) and Lillian Corning ( Joanne Woodward ). The film also deals with American racism of

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3990-430: The blacklist were played out metaphorically on the big screen in various ways. As described by film historian James Chapman, " Carl Foreman , who had refused to testify before the committee, wrote the western High Noon (1952), in which a town marshal (played, ironically, by friendly witness Gary Cooper ) finds himself deserted by the good citizens of Hadleyville (read: Hollywood) when a gang of outlaws who had terrorized

4085-614: The blacklist; in particular, the American Legion , the conservative war veterans' group, was instrumental in pressuring the studios to ban Communists and fellow travelers. In 1949, the Americanism Division of the Legion issued its own blacklist – a roster of 128 people who it claimed were part of the "Communist Conspiracy". Among the names on the Legion's list was that of playwright Lillian Hellman . Hellman had written or contributed to

4180-429: The blacklisted Dalton Trumbo inadvertently received screen credit for having written, years earlier, the story on which the screenplay for Columbia Pictures ' Emergency Wedding was based. But "lapses" of that kind were not repeated. There were no more instances of film accrediting of blacklisted individuals until 1960. For example, the name of Albert Maltz , who had written the original screenplay for The Robe in

4275-461: The cases arrived before the Supreme Court . Among the submissions filed in defense of the Ten was an amicus curiae brief signed by 204 Hollywood professionals. After the court denied review, the ten men began serving their prison sentences in 1950. One of them, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo , said during an interview for the documentary film Hollywood On Trial (1976): As far as I was concerned, it

4370-416: The cast of the television sitcom The Aldrich Family , in which she had been cast as Mrs. Aldrich. NBC had received between 20 and 30 phone calls protesting her being in the show. General Foods , the sponsor, said that it would not sponsor programs in which "controversial persons" were featured. Though the company later received thousands of calls protesting the decision, it was not reversed. In 1951, with

4465-795: The committee in late September to testify about their Communist affiliations and associates. The contempt citation included a criminal charge that led to a highly publicized trial and conviction, with a maximum of one year in jail in addition to a $ 1,000 fine ($ 12,700 today). The Congressional action prompted a group of studio executives, acting under the aegis of the Association of Motion Picture Producers , to suspend without pay these ten film artists – initially labeled "The Unfriendly Ten" but soon changed to "The Hollywood Ten"  – and to pledge that "thereafter no Communists or other subversives would 'knowingly' be employed in Hollywood." The blacklist eventually expanded beyond ten into

4560-418: The couples grow closer, but Connie is angry that Eddie has abandoned America for France, insisting that the only way race relations can improve in the U.S. is if people stay and work together in order to change things. Eddie says he is content to stay in Paris, where he experiences far less bigotry and discrimination, is able to carve out a career as a talented musician. Lillian tries to convince Ram to enter into

4655-619: The decade until reaching 66,000 in 1939. Although the CPUSA lost substantial support after the Moscow show trials of 1936–1938 and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, the organization's membership was still well above its pre-1933 levels. With this as a backdrop, the U.S. government began turning its attention to possible links between the CPUSA and Hollywood. Under then-chairman Martin Dies, Jr. ,

4750-613: The editors of Counterattack had direct access to the files of both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and HUAC; the results of that access became widely apparent with the June 1950 publication of Red Channels . This Counterattack spinoff listed 151 people in entertainment and broadcast journalism, along with records of their involvement in what the pamphlet meant to be taken as Communist or pro-Communist activities. A few of those named, such as Hellman, were already being denied employment in

4845-511: The film industry was a serious one, and he named specific ex-employees as probable Communists. Reagan, who was then president of the Screen Actors Guild , testified that a small clique within his union was using "communist-like tactics" in attempting to steer union policy, but that he did not know if those (unnamed) members were Communists or not, and that in any case he thought the union had them under control. Adolphe Menjou declared: "I am

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4940-413: The four of them leave the club in the early morning. When Ram suggests that he and Connie go off to have a private breakfast together, she becomes offended, and Ram is angered at being rejected. However, Lillian, undeterred by Ram's attraction to her friend, convinces him to apologize before pursuing him. The two sleep together while Connie and Eddie continue to walk around Paris . Over the following weeks

5035-616: The grand jury leak, all those on the list except for actress Jean Muir had met with the HUAC chairman. Dies "cleared" everyone except actor Lionel Stander , who was fired by the movie studio, Republic Pictures , where he was under contract. Two major film industry strikes during the 1930s had exacerbated tensions between Hollywood producers and unionized employees, particularly the Screen Writers Guild , which formed in 1933. In 1941, producer Walt Disney took out an ad in Variety ,

5130-426: The hearings swept onto the blacklist those who had never even been politically active, let alone suspected of being Communists: [O]n March 21, 1951, the name of the actor Lionel Stander was uttered by the actor Larry Parks during testimony before HUAC. "Do you know Lionel Stander?" committee counsel Frank S. Tavenner inquired. Parks replied he knew the man, but had no knowledge of his political affiliations. No more

5225-399: The hearings – and (b) the graylist – those who were denied work because of their political or personal affiliations, real or imagined. The consequences of being on either list were largely the same. The graylist also refers more specifically to those who were denied work by the major studios but could still find jobs on Poverty Row : Composer Elmer Bernstein , for instance, was called before

5320-425: The hundreds. On June 22, 1950, a pamphlet-style book entitled Red Channels was published. Focused on the field of broadcasting, it identified 151 entertainment industry professionals as "Red Fascists and their sympathizers" who had infiltrated radio and television. It wasn't long before those named, along with a host of other artists, were barred from employment in the entertainment field. The Hollywood blacklist

5415-530: The industry trade magazine, declaring his conviction that "Communist agitation" was behind a cartoonists and animators' strike . According to historians Larry Ceplair and Steven Englund, "In actuality, the strike had resulted from Disney's overbearing paternalism, high-handedness, and insensitivity." Inspired by Disney, California State Senator Jack Tenney , chairman of the state legislature's Joint Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities , launched an investigation of "Reds in movies". The probe fell flat, and

5510-408: The industry was nonetheless transformed. The fallout from the inquiry was a factor in the decision by Floyd Odlum , the primary owner of RKO Pictures , to leave the industry. As a result, the studio passed into the hands of Howard Hughes . Within weeks of taking over in May 1948, Hughes fired most of RKO's employees and virtually shut the studio down for six months while he had the political views of

5605-433: The late 1940s to late 1950s, the blacklist was rarely made explicit nor was it easily verifiable. Instead, it was the result of numerous individual decisions implemented by studio executives and was not the result of formal legal statute. Nevertheless, the blacklist directly damaged or ended the careers and incomes of scores of persons working in film, television, and radio. Although the blacklist had no official end date, it

5700-421: The lead role in a TV series it sponsored. Variety described it as "the first industry admission of what has for some time been an open secret – that the threat of being labeled a political non-conformist, or worse, has been used against show business personalities, and that a screening system is at work determining these [actors'] availabilities for roles." The Hollywood blacklist had long gone hand in hand with

5795-475: The mid-1940s, was nowhere to be seen when the movie was released in 1953. As William O'Neill notes, pressure was maintained even on those who had ostensibly been cleared: On December 27, 1952, the American Legion announced that it disapproved of a new film, Moulin Rouge , starring José Ferrer , who used to be no more progressive than hundreds of other actors and had already been grilled by HUAC. The picture itself

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5890-466: The motion picture, TV, and radio fields; the publication of Red Channels meant that scores more were placed on the blacklist. That year, CBS instituted a loyalty oath which it required of all its employees. Jean Muir was the first performer to lose employment because of a listing in Red Channels . In 1950, Muir was named as a Communist sympathizer in the pamphlet, and was immediately removed from

5985-488: The names of friends who posed as the actual writers (those who allowed their names to be used in this fashion were called "fronts"). Of the 204 who signed the amicus brief on behalf of the Hollywood Ten, 84 were themselves blacklisted. There was a general chilling effect in the entertainment business. Humphrey Bogart, who had been a key member of the Committee for the First Amendment, felt compelled to write an essay, printed in

6080-536: The next two months, Wilkerson published more columns containing names of other suspected Communists and " fellow travelers " working in Hollywood. His daily column earned the moniker "Billy's Blacklist" or simply "Billy's List". When Wilkerson died in 1962, his THR obituary stated that he had "named names, pseudonyms and card numbers and was widely credited with being chiefly responsible for preventing communists from becoming entrenched in Hollywood production – something that foreign film unions have been unable to do." In

6175-402: The other committee members that "we oughta fold." Besides the twenty-three friendly witnesses, there were also nineteen "unfriendly" or "hostile witnesses" who announced they would not cooperate with the HUAC. Many of the nineteen were alleged to be CPUSA members. Thirteen of them were Jewish. When the hearings for the "Hollywood Nineteen" commenced on Monday, October 27, the nation's attention

6270-517: The people subpoenaed by the HUAC, twenty-three were deemed "friendly", some of whom had previously testified in closed HUAC sessions in Los Angeles. The October hearings in Washington, D.C. began with appearances by fourteen friendly witnesses, among them Walt Disney , Jack L. Warner , Gary Cooper , Ronald Reagan , Robert Taylor , and Adolphe Menjou . Disney asserted that the threat of Communists in

6365-577: The political leanings of their friends and professional associates effectively brought a halt to dozens of careers and compelled a number of artists to depart for Mexico or Europe to find employment. Director Jules Dassin was among the best known of these. Briefly a Communist, he dropped out of the Party in 1939. He was blacklisted after Dmytryk and fellow filmmaker Frank Tuttle named him at HUAC hearings. Dassin left for France, and spent much of his remaining career in Greece. Scholar Thomas Doherty describes how

6460-485: The rare intellectual atmosphere of the East Coast" but were kept apart from Hollywood's consideration. In 1952, the Screen Writers Guild – founded in 1933 by three future members of the Hollywood Ten – amended its screen credit rules to authorize the studios to omit the names of any individuals who had failed to clear themselves before Congress. This agreement prevented a recurrence of what happened in 1950. That's when

6555-481: The remaining employees investigated. Then, just as RKO swung back into production, Hughes made the decision to settle a long-standing federal antitrust suit against the Big Five studios . This was one of the crucial steps in the collapse of the studio system that had governed Hollywood for a quarter-century. In early 1948, all of the Hollywood Ten were convicted of contempt. Following a series of unsuccessful appeals,

6650-408: The screenplays of The Magnificent Seven (1960) and The Train (1964), and was one of several writers who worked on the script for the ill-fated Something's Got to Give , which was left uncompleted at the time of the death of its star, Marilyn Monroe , in 1962. Paris Blues was his first feature film collaboration with director Martin Ritt , a friend since the 1940s (and himself a victim of

6745-499: The screenplays of approximately ten motion pictures up to that point; she was not employed again by a Hollywood studio until 1966. Another influential group was American Business Consultants Inc., founded in 1947. In the subscription information for its weekly publication Counterattack , "The Newsletter of Facts to Combat Communism", it declared that it was run by "a group of former FBI men. It has no affiliation whatsoever with any government agency." Notwithstanding that claim, it seems

6840-628: The significance of such interactions may have been exaggerated. As historian Gerald Horne notes, many Hollywood screenwriters had joined or associated with the local CPUSA chapter not because of allegiance to communism, but because the CPUSA chapter "offered a collective to a profession that was enmeshed in tremendous isolation at the typewriter. Their 'Writers' Clinic' had 'an informal "board" of respected screenwriters' – including Lawson and Ring Lardner Jr. – 'who read and commented upon any screenplay submitted to them. Although their criticism could be plentiful, stinging, and (sometimes) politically dogmatic,

6935-503: The stress of ceaseless harassment, committed suicide in 1959. Intimidating and dividing the left is now seen as a central purpose of the HUAC hearings. Fund-raising for once-popular humanitarian efforts became difficult, and despite the sympathies of many in the industry there was little open support in Hollywood for causes such as the Civil Rights Movement and the opposition to nuclear weapons testing . The struggles attending

7030-442: The time contrasted with Paris's open acceptance of black people . The film was based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Harold Flender. The film also features trumpeter Louis Armstrong (as Wild Man Moore) and jazz pianist Aaron Bridgers ; both play music within the film. It was produced by Sam Shaw, directed by Martin Ritt from a screenplay by Walter Bernstein , and with cinematography by Christian Matras . Paris Blues

7125-501: The town several years earlier (read: HUAC) returns." Cooper's lawman cleaned up Hadleyville, but Foreman was forced to leave for Europe to find work. Meanwhile, Kazan and Schulberg collaborated on a movie widely seen as justifying their decision to name names. On the Waterfront (1954) became one of the most honored films in Hollywood history, winning eight Academy Awards , including Oscars for Best Film, Kazan's direction, and Schulberg's screenplay. The film featured Lee J. Cobb , one of

7220-400: The train carrying Connie and Lillian leaves the station, Ram walks away with Eddie. In the final shot, French workers cover a billboard advertising Wild Man Moore's appearance with a promo for Larousse publishing. While the first draft of the screenplay was primarily about interracial romance, United Artists demanded that aspect be changed, not believing the American public was ready for such

7315-506: The use of "fronts" (non-blacklisted individuals who would permit their names to appear on his work). In this manner, he contributed to television programs of the era, including Danger , the CBS News docudrama series You Are There , and the mystery series Colonel March of Scotland Yard . (It has been incorrectly stated in some sources that Bernstein's blacklisting resulted from "unfriendly" testimony given to HUAC in 1951, but, in fact, he

7410-559: The war's aftermath added more fuel to what became known as the " Second Red Scare ". The growth of conservative political influence and the Republican triumph in the 1946 midterm elections , which saw the GOP take control of both the House and Senate , led to a major revival of institutional anti-communist activity, publicly spearheaded by the HUAC but with an investigative push by J. Edgar Hoover and

7505-432: Was a completely just verdict. I had contempt for that Congress and have had contempt for several since. And on the basis of guilt or innocence, I could never really complain very much. That this was a crime or misdemeanor was the complaint, my complaint. In September 1950, Hollywood Ten member Edward Dmytryk announced that he had once been a Communist and was prepared to give evidence against others who had been as well. He

7600-442: Was based on the life of Toulouse-Lautrec and was totally apolitical. Nine members of the Legion had picketed it anyway, giving rise to the controversy. By this time, people were not taking any chances. Ferrer immediately wired the Legion's national commander that he would be glad to join the veterans in their "fight against communism". The group's efforts dragged many others onto the blacklist: In 1954, "[s]creenwriter Louis Pollock,

7695-579: Was generally recognized to have weakened by 1960, the year when Dalton Trumbo  – a CPUSA member from 1943 to 1948 and one of the "Hollywood Ten" – was openly hired by director Otto Preminger to write the screenplay for Exodus (1960). Several months later, actor Kirk Douglas publicly acknowledged that Trumbo wrote the screenplay for Spartacus (1960). Despite Trumbo's breakthrough in 1960, other blacklisted film artists continued to have difficulty obtaining work for years afterward. The first systematic Hollywood blacklist

7790-498: Was here that he was exposed first to communist ideas. He returned to the United States and attended Dartmouth College , where he gained his first writing job, as a film reviewer for the campus newspaper, and where he joined the Young Communist League . He graduated from Dartmouth in 1940. In February 1941, Bernstein was drafted into the U.S. Army . Eventually attaining the rank of Sergeant, he spent most of World War II as

7885-560: Was in fact a Communist. After returning to Hollywood, Bogart shouted at Danny Kaye, "You fuckers sold me out." The CFA was attacked for being naïve. Under pressure from Warner Bros. to distance himself from the purported Hollywood Reds , Bogart negotiated a statement, syndicated in Hearst newspapers under the title "As Bogart Sees It Now", which did not denounce the CFA but said his trip to D.C. had been "ill-advised, even foolish." Billy Wilder told

7980-519: Was instituted on November 25, 1947, the day after ten left-wing screenwriters and directors were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The ten men— Alvah Bessie , Herbert Biberman , Lester Cole , Edward Dmytryk , Ring Lardner Jr. , John Howard Lawson , Albert Maltz , Samuel Ornitz , Adrian Scott and Dalton Trumbo —had been subpoenaed by

8075-421: Was later dramatized in the film Guilty by Suspicion (1991), in which the character based on Comingore "commits suicide rather than endure a long mental collapse." In real life, Comingore succumbed to alcoholism and died of a pulmonary disease at age 58. According to historians Paul Buhle and David Wagner, "premature strokes and heart attacks were fairly common [among blacklistees], along with heavy drinking as

8170-639: Was mocked in Variety headlines. The wartime alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union brought the CPUSA newfound credibility. During the war, Party membership climbed back up to 50,000. As World War II drew to a close, however, perceptions changed again, with communism increasingly becoming a focus of American fears and hatred. In 1945, Gerald L. K. Smith , founder of the neofascist America First Party , began giving speeches in Los Angeles assailing

8265-477: Was not illegal). While this usually allowed a witness to avoid "naming names" without being indicted for contempt of Congress, "taking the Fifth" in one's HUAC testimony guaranteed membership on the industry blacklist. Historians sometimes distinguish between (a) the "official blacklist" – i.e., the names of those who were called by the HUAC and, in whatever manner, refused to cooperate or were identified as Communists in

8360-473: Was not subpoenaed by the committee until the late 1950s, and never actually testified.) Bernstein's screenwriting career began to rebound from the blacklist when director Sidney Lumet hired him to write the screenplay for the Sophia Loren movie That Kind of Woman (1959). From then on Bernstein was able to work openly on films such as Paris Blues (1961) and Fail-Safe (1964). He worked uncredited on

8455-518: Was part of the ten (10) Oscar juggernaut awarded to West Side Story that year. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars and stated: "Although not a classic, Paris Blues (both the film and the soundtrack) is worth owning by jazz collectors". A review in Jazz Times by Stanley Dance , however, was quite critical of the release stating: "both movie and music, in my opinion, were disappointing examples of how too many cooks spoil

8550-670: Was released early from jail. Following his 1951 HUAC appearance in which he described his past Party membership and named names, his directorial career recovered. The other nine remained silent and most were unable to obtain work in American film and television for many years. Adrian Scott , who had produced four of Dmytryk's films – Murder, My Sweet ; Cornered ; So Well Remembered ; and Crossfire  – was one of those named by his former friend. Scott's next screen credit did not come until 1972 and he never produced another feature film. Some blacklisted writers managed to work surreptitiously, using pseudonyms or

8645-410: Was released in the U.S. on September 27, 1961. On his way to see Wild Man Moore at the train station, Ram Bowen, a jazz musician living in Paris, encounters a newly arrived tourist named Connie Lampson and invites her to see him perform that night at Club 33. Connie is not interested, but her friend Lillian insists they go see him. After Ram finishes performing with Eddie, a fellow American expatriate ,

8740-430: Was riveted, especially given the presence in Washington, D.C. of movie stars from the First Amendment Committee. As it turned out, only eleven of the nineteen were called to testify. One of them, émigré playwright Bertolt Brecht , decided after legal advice to answer the HUAC's questions, though he did so evasively and fled the U.S. the very next day, never to return. The other ten refused to answer whether they were in

8835-633: Was rooted in events of the 1930s and early 1940s, encompassing the depths of the Great Depression , the Spanish Civil War , and the U.S.-Soviet alliance in World War II . The widespread economic hardships in the 1930s, as well as the rise of fascism in the world, caused a surge in Communist Party USA (CPUSA) membership. Levels had remained below 20,000 until 1933 and then steadily grew during

8930-448: Was said about Stander either by Parks or the committee – no accusation, no insinuation. Yet Stander's phone stopped ringing. Prior to Parks's testimony, Stander had worked on ten television shows in the previous 100 days. Afterwards, nothing. When Stander himself appeared before the HUAC, he began by pledging his full support in the fight against "subversive" activities: I know of a group of fanatics who are desperately trying to undermine

9025-558: Was the one now generally rendered as, "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party ?". The HUAC formally charged the ten men with contempt of Congress and began criminal proceedings against them in the full House of Representatives . In light of the Hollywood Ten's defiance of the HUAC ;– in addition to refusing to answer questions, they also tried unsuccessfully to read opening statements decrying

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