Cinema

Thr oug h
the D ec ades
Final Pro ject
 How did the
House Un-American
Activities Committee
(HUAC)
and
the “Red Scares”
of the 1940s & 1950s
affect Hollywood?
 What context?

Why Hollywood?

What ethical struggles?

What remaining effects?

What was the historical
context for the anti-
Communist agenda?

What set the stage?

 1930s

The Great Depression

Communism in Labor Unions

Competing Economic Ideologies

Xenophobia
Congressman Martin Dies (TX),
Chair

Temporary Special Committee

on Un-American Activities
1938-1944
 WWII

Cinema as Propaganda Tool

The 5th Column

 1940s

What was worth fighting for?

Unquestioned Patriotism

Film Venue as Meeting Place

Film as Social Equalizer
 Smith Act 1940

“knowingly or willfully advocate, abet, advise or teach the duty, necessity,

desirability or propriety of overthrowing the Government of the United States or
of any State by force or violence, or for anyone to organize any association
which teaches, advises or encourages such an overthrow, or for anyone to

become a member of or to affiliate with any such association. ”

 The Cold War
mid-1940s -- onward
President Harry S. Truman
Executive Order 9835
March 21, 1947
 HUAC

House Un-American Activities

Committee
J. Edgar Hoover testifies at HUAC, March 26, 1947.
Freshman congressman, Richard Nixon and J. Parnell Thomas, HUAC, 1948
Why was Hollywood
vulnerable?
Celebrity
 Economics of Entertainment
• 1930s Labor Disputes
• Blockade of US Films during WWII
• 1945-46 Hollywood Labor Strikes
• Post-war downward trend of filmgoing
• Rise of Television
• 1948 Consent Decree (anti-trust case)
What were the
ethical issues?
“Are you now, or have you ever
been a member of the
Communist Party?”
Informer Principle
Refusal = Guilt
 Friendly
vs.
Non-Friendly
witnesses

5th Amendment
The Hollywood Ten
(link to video 1 of 1)
The Hollywood Ten
(link to video 2 of 2)
U.S. Supreme Court refused to
review appeals of
The Hollywood Ten

Contempt of Congress
$1000 fine
1 year prison term
 What else was lost?
• Immediate jobs
• Respect of community
• Family position
• Long-term employment opportunities
• Freedom of Expression
• Freedom to Peaceably Assemble
• Peace of Mind
• Creativity in Film
The Waldorf Meeting

Birth of the Blacklist

 Was anti-Semitism an
underlying part of the attack on
Hollywood?
Beyond Hollywood
 1948-50 Alger Hiss Trial
(Rep. Nixon wanted Film to be clear about evils of Communism)
Loyalty Oaths
Scoundrel Time
McCarren Internal Security Act,
1950

McCarren-Walter Act, 1952

Communist Control Act, 1954

Shaking the Liberal Left

Dissent = Subversion

Everyone is suspect.
 Are there parallels to
HUAC and McCarthyism
in 2009?
 Sources
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Achatz, Bill. Nixon and Thomas, HUAC. Photograph. 1948. San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, CA.

Associated Press. McCarthy Private Talk. Photograph. 1954. Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, Madison, WI.

Geisel, Theodore. “After Him Sam.” Cartoon. PM 28 June 1942: 12. Dr. Seuss Went to War. 2000. Mandeville Library Special Collections,
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