1947 : Congress investigates Reds in Hollywood
On October 20, 1947, the notorious Red Scare kicks into high gear in
Washington, as a Congressional committee begins investigating
Communist influence in one of the world's richest and most glamorous
communities: Hollywood.
After World War II, the Cold War began to heat up between the world's
two superpowers--the United States and the communist-controlled Soviet
Union. In Washington, conservative watchdogs worked to out communists
in government before setting their sights on alleged "Reds" in the
famously liberal movie industry. In an investigation that began in
October 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
grilled a number of prominent witnesses, asking bluntly "Are you or
have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?" Whether out of
patriotism or fear, some witnesses--including director Elia Kazan,
actors Gary Cooper and Robert Taylor and studio honchos Walt Disney
and Jack Warner--gave the committee names of colleagues they suspected
of being communists.
A small group known as the "Hollywood Ten" resisted, complaining that
the hearings were illegal and violated their First Amendment rights.
They were all convicted of obstructing the investigation and served
jail terms. Pressured by Congress, the Hollywood establishment started
a blacklist policy, banning the work of about 325 screenwriters,
actors and directors who had not been cleared by the committee. Those
blacklisted included composer Aaron Copland, writers Dashiell Hammett,
Lillian Hellman and Dorothy Parker, playwright Arthur Miller and actor
and filmmaker Orson Welles.
Some of the blacklisted writers used pseudonyms to continue working,
while others wrote scripts that were credited to other writer friends.
Starting in the early 1960s, after the downfall of Senator Joseph
McCarthy, the most public face of anti-communism, the ban began to
lift slowly. In 1997, the Writers' Guild of America unanimously voted
to change the writing credits of 23 films made during the blacklist
period, reversing--but not erasing--some of the damage done during the
Red Scare.
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General Interest
1947 : Congress investigates Reds in Hollywood
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1935 : Mao's Long March concludes
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1944 : MacArthur returns
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