America's Communism Scare and the Hollywood Blacklist

BLACKLIST - A list of persons who are under suspicion, disfavor, or censure, or who are not to be hired, served, or otherwise accepted.

-- http://www.merriam-webster.com/

During the late 1940’s and throughout the 1950’s, there was a great fear of Communism in America and abroad. The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was created in 1938 as a means to investigate and weed out Communists and Communist supporters from American society. Its first major attack was on the Hollywood film industry. Blacklisting of Hollywood writers, actors, producers, directors and others suspected of Communist affiliations began with the committee's hearings in October of 1947, and flourished throughout the 1950s. Senator Joseph McCarthy conducted “witch hunts” in an attempt to find and eliminate suspected Communists. The Hollywood Ten, a group of distinguished writers and directors, were cited for contempt of Congress and jailed for failing to cooperate with the house committee.

As World War Two ended, and the once widely popular and accepted Communist movement began to fade away, Congress started becoming highly concerned with the possibility of a Communist revolt. People in influential positions, such as Senator Joseph McCarthy, believed that such an uprising would begin from within Hollywood, as there were many popular and powerful directors, producers and writers there, who had easy access in reaching people across over America (Cole Hollywood Red). The Senate committee believed strongly that left-wing ideas were a threat to traditional American society and its values. Meanwhile, the FBI was intent on crushing any possible skirmishes before they could start by infiltrating the communist party; dividing the party a...

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...h such a basic issue of free speech could be discussed (Rosenfeld A27).

WORKS CITED

Matwisky, Peter. The Red Scare In Hollywood. Web 23 Apr. 2015.

http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/redscare/hollywood.html

Bernstein, Walter. Inside Out. New York: Knopf, 1996.

Cole, Lester. Hollywood Red: The Autobiography of Lester Cole. Palo Alto, CA: Ramparts Press, 1981.

Dick, Bernard F. Radical Innocence: A Critical Study of the Hollywood Ten. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1989.

Georgakas, Dan. "Hollywood Blacklist" Web 23 Apr. 2015.

http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/blacklist.html

McGilligan, Patrick. Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997.

Rosenfeld. “Looking back on the Blacklisted.” The Washington Post. A27.

The Front. Dir. Walter Bernstein. Perf. Woody Allen. 1982.