La Viola:
Thank you Viola for your detailed comments about the HUAC committee activities that created a devastating situation for the film industry. The issue with communistic events indeed interfered with the lives of many and destroyed the careers of actors, especially those who firmly refused to cooperate with that committee. The film Spartacus is one of the most successful films in the history of Universal Studios not only in terms of box office appeal, but it also received six Oscar nominations and was accredited for breaking the Hollywood blacklist. This film was based on Howard Fast's novel, which narrates the story of professionals who refused to collaborate with HUAC committee officials.
Please allow me to clarify my comments by using some information that I found important regarding Dalton Trumbo and Douglas. In his book, “Spartacus: Film and History” Martin M. Winkler discusses important points about the blacklist. For instance, “In the long run, then, the breaking of the blacklist was a paradoxical triumph of capitalist economy over both capitalist and Communist ideologies. In 1957, attempts to maintain the blacklist degenerated into farse, but thirteen years during which it had been maintained were a grim era for many, including Trumbo.
The legacy of fear did not stop when the Trumbo’s name appeared in the credits for Spartacus and Exodus. Five years later the black list ended, Kenneth McGowan’s influential Behind the Screen: The History and Techniques of the Motion Picture was published. There is not a word in the book that offers her slightest hint that there ever had been a HUAC, a blacklist, or the Hollywood Ten. The two chapters on censorship deal exclusively with the control of sexual imagery and language in...
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... who starred in and produced Spartacus. Did Douglas overstate his comments about the blacklist? Did he want more credit, more than he already had? Why did he claim to have to have been responsible for the breaking of the blacklist? Or did he distort the facts to inflate his ego? Dalton indeed refuses to answer questions about his political associations with other listed in the Hollywood Ten. The fact is that regardless of what all these people tried to say about this subject, the film Spartacus proved to be a film that puts a mark on the film industry by emphasizing on the importance of justice.
Thank you for as always providing us with insightful comments.
Respectfully,
Mari
Work cited: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/aug/09/features.features11 http://www.openroadmedia.com/kirk-douglas
Winkler, Martin M. “Spartacus: Film and History.” Willey Publishers.
However, after the dust settled, it was widely accepted that the blacklist was unjust, which enabled many film workers to pursue the movie studios in civil courts through the 1950’s for unpaid contracts and wages (Lewis, 2008). While the studios were initially impacted by the Paramount decision, the breadth of competition and independent successes of smaller studios gave rise to the advancement of innovative filmmaking that may not have been possible if it were not for the Paramount decision. Filmmaking is one of the riskiest and most profitable ventures in modern day society, and without these events, the studios and the film workers may not share the successes that they do
To get a clear view and understanding of the book, first must review the time period in history. The book was written in the mid 1950's during the cold war. Former General McCarthy, then U.S. Senator started a fire ball of suspicion, suppression, and incarceration. This had a very huge impact on the entrainment industry, which included everyone from playwrights to filmmakers, as well as writers and actors. If anyone in that time period was suspected of being a communist, the government could come and pull them out of their home. At the least a suspected communist would be banned, or put on a black ball list. Printed in the Times, McCarthy's First Slander, "Overnight, his speech sparked a media firestorm that played to the basest fears of Americans swept up in a frightening cold war and triggered loyalty oaths, blacklists and personal betrayals that cost an estimated 10,000 Americans their jobs and some shattered innocents their lives." (Johanna McGeary 28) This happened to a number of actors and film makers during that time period. The black ball list was a list of names of people who were believed to be communist. The people on this list came from the movie industry as well as writers. These people would no longer be able to get work ...
In today's day and age, it's rare to see famous historical events and societal disasters not be picked apart by film directors and then transformed into a box office hit. What these films do is put a visual perspective on these events, sometimes leaving viewers speculating if whatever was depicted is in fact entirely true. I have never felt that feeling more than after I finished watching Oliver Stone’s JFK.
In Hollywood political conflict was also paving the way for what would later occur in Hollywood as the HUAC would attack the industry. Big business controlled the lucrative industry and the companies that controlled the market were eight major studios in Hollywood. The Metro-Goldw...
Nichols, John. ""Counbtering Censorship: Edgar Dale and the Film appreciation movement (critical essay)."." Cinema Jouranl. Fall 2006.
There is no secret that films in the genre of biopic can often stretch the truth. These types of movies are frequently mere depictions of myth that is loosely based on factual accounts rather than being accurate representations of history. Many ethical dilemmas arise from these circumstances. Among those are the damaging representations that may skew a viewer’s perception of how history may have actually played out. Should filmmakers warn viewers that certain historical details of their forthcoming motion picture have been changed for the purpose of film? What are the editorial ethics when important details pertaining to vital pieces of history are left on the proverbial cutting room floor? The brand new film “Cesar Chavez” does a lot of work to bring about the often untold story of the California migrant farmworkers labor activism and organizing, yet in the process, manages to erase the pertinent contributions of the Filipino who many consider as the pioneers of these movements.
Schaefer, Eric. 1999. "Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!": A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959. Duke University Press.
The tendency to go soft on McCarthyism has been evident in popular culture as well. The presentation of a special Lifetime Achievement Award to director Elia Kazan at the 1999 Oscar ceremony is the most flagrant and controversial example. Another example of the current vogu...
Sparta valued power more than its citizens which lowered their chances of living longer than 300 years, which they didn’t. They’re ego overpowered their thoughts letting the Spartan society to crumble. Any society abusing children, and taking them away from families at a young age shouldn’t last long. They lacked education and didn’t believe in the importance of the intellect Sparta’s weaknesses outweighed the strengths because Spartans lacked education, abused their own citizens which forced families to separate, and killed innocent Helots.
This essay explores Wes Anderson as an auteur director and how race and class are dealt with in his work. The narrative and unqiue hybrid genre of Rushmore will also be discussed.
...ctual roles, or adding in exciting events that revise the storyline. These changes are beneficial to producers because they engage a large audience and generate massive profits. In contrast, they do not always have a positive effect on viewers. Although they are entertaining which is an important aspect of theatre culture, they also are often misguiding. Many spectators take movies at face value, without considering that they may not exactly qualify as primary source material. Even when an historical event is fabricated to teach or enhance a moral message, it still doesn’t compensate for bending the truth. Moviegoer’s may have a positive experience and gain some skewed historical perspective, perhaps better than what they knew before the movie, but they loose out on the truth and therefore, a genuine understanding of the historical event, and its significance.
There was a time when America was suspicious of loyal communists and gathered anyone who was suspected of being one. It did not matter if such people were targeted for aiding Soviet Russia or other enemies of the state, but simply for believing in communism; the belief that assets should be distributed equally in the nation. When people with such a belief were caught, they were called into martial court for questioning. A certain Hollywood screenwriter, James Dalton Trumbo was one of these people. The book TRUMBO was written by Bruce Cook and published by the Grand Central Publishing, a reissued edition, in September 8, 2015. In the book, Cook explains the early life of Trumbo, the blacklist from Hollywood films, and how Trumbo broke it.
As stated in American Culture, American Cinema, “In the Vietnam and Watergate era, the movies dramatised the essential hostility that lay beneath the relationship between the individuals and the system.” (Belton, 2005,
While hundreds, even thousands of excellent movies have been made over the years since motion pictures were invented, there are some movies that stand out among the best. There are various reasons for these standouts, sometimes incredible acting, sometimes impeccable story lines, but in many cases, it is the issues addressed by the movie. Most of the greatest movies contain commentaries or analyses of certain issues, be they moral, social, or otherwise. John McTiernan directed one of these films, The Hunt for Red October, based on the similarly titled best-selling novel by Tom Clancy. The Hunt for Red October, a product of the anti-communist attitudes of the 1980’s, is above all a commentary on morality. It follows a critical moral decision made by one man, Soviet Captain Marko Ramius, portrayed by Sean Connery, and follows the consequences of that moral decision to their conclusion. While this is not the only instance of morality being questioned in this movie, it is the most important, as it is the decision upon which the story is based. Other characters, like Alec Baldwin’s character of Jack Ryan, and Scott Glenn’s character Captain Bart Mancuso also have to make moral decisions that will have important effects on Ramius’ decision.
The Iliad, the Greek epic documented by Homer that describes the battles and events of the ten year siege on Troy by the Greek army. Both Trojans and Greeks had their fair share of heroes and warriors, but none could match the skill and strength of the swift runner, Achilles. Achilles had the attributes of a perfect warrior with his god-like speed and combat abilities. However, even though he was Greek’s greatest warrior, he still possessed several flaws that made him fit the role of the Tragic Hero impeccably. Defined by Aristotle, a Tragic Hero is someone who possesses a high status of nobility and greatness, but must have imperfections so that mere mortals cannot relate to the hero. Lastly, the Tragic Hero’s downfall must be partially their own fault through personal choice rather than by an evil act, while also appearing to be not entirely deserved of their unfortunate fate. Achilles is a true Tragic Hero because he withholds all of these traits. Achilles proves to be a good man that puts his loved ones first, reveals his tragic flaws of pride and anger, shows dynamic qualities as a character when his flaws are challenged, and has a moment of clarity at the end of his rage. Achilles truly exemplifies the qualities of a Tragic Hero.