0:02 [SPEAKER_00]: paranoia. 0:04 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the theme of today's episode. 0:07 [SPEAKER_00]: It's just like wildfire, spreading instantly and consuming everything in his path. 0:15 [SPEAKER_00]: You might have experienced how even the smallest doubt in your mind can make you question everyone and everything. 0:21 [SPEAKER_00]: And it never stays to 0:33 [SPEAKER_00]: Like I said, it's just like wildfire, and speaking of flames, let's see the one that turned Hollywood upside down. 0:50 [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back friend. 0:52 [SPEAKER_00]: Today we're looking at another important chapter in history. 0:56 [SPEAKER_00]: The infamous Hollywood Blacklist. 1:04 [SPEAKER_00]: in the mid-20th century, during the early Cold War years in the United States. 1:11 [SPEAKER_00]: The Hollywood Blacklist came up, basically as a tool of the entertainment industry. 1:17 [SPEAKER_00]: This list enforced in Hollywood and beyond, proven in actors, screenwriters, musicians, directors, and other American entertainment figures from finding work with major studios 1:34 [SPEAKER_00]: The question here is what did these people do to end up on this list? 1:41 [SPEAKER_00]: The main thing these artists were being accused of, were being members or sympathizers the Communist Party. 1:49 [SPEAKER_00]: And before we go any further, we should understand why that was a problem. 1:57 [SPEAKER_00]: Communism of course advocates for a classless society, where the means of production are commonly owned, rather than owned by private individuals or private companies. 2:09 [SPEAKER_00]: So, in a Communist society, 2:12 [SPEAKER_00]: There would be no private property, no hierarchies, and resources would be distributed according to need, rather than to the market, or based on individual ownership. 2:24 [SPEAKER_00]: These artists were basically supporting a society where wealth and resources would be shared equally among all members of the community. 2:33 [SPEAKER_00]: In theory, this could eliminate social and economic inequalities and promote solidarity among 2:41 [SPEAKER_00]: But it wasn't just about money, it was about the Cold War. 2:46 [SPEAKER_00]: The U.S. government and even most of the public viewed communism as a threat to democracy, individual freedoms, and capitalist economic systems. 2:58 [SPEAKER_00]: And in the context of the Cold War, the U.S. and Soviet Union were engaged in a political and ideological struggle for global dominance. 3:08 [SPEAKER_00]: Communism, as practiced by the Soviet Union and its allies, was seen as promoting totalitarianism, which is basically state control over the economy and society. 3:22 [SPEAKER_00]: So with all that, Communism became the enemy, and anyone who would support that idea was considered us such. 3:32 [SPEAKER_00]: Eventually there were fears within the US that communism could infiltrate and undermine American institutions, leading to the loss of personal liberties, and the erosion of democratic principles. 3:46 [SPEAKER_00]: It was this fear that led to the widespread paranoia and the prosecution of alleged communists within American society, and that included Hollywood 3:58 [SPEAKER_00]: getting back to our timeline. 4:01 [SPEAKER_00]: During the 1930s and early 40s, the US government started investigating any potential connections between Hollywood and the Communist Party. 4:12 [SPEAKER_00]: And then in 1938, things heat it up. 4:17 [SPEAKER_00]: the House Unamerican Activities Committee, or H.U.A.C., which was a committee designed for that specific purpose, released a report, led by Martin Dice Jr., the committee claimed that Communism was all over Hollywood. 4:35 [SPEAKER_00]: And to add to that, a former communist party member, John Leach, spilled the beans, naming 42 Hollywood people as communists. 4:49 [SPEAKER_00]: Now these names were revealed in secret to a lost angelist Grandjory, but many names were leaked in the media pretty quickly. 4:59 [SPEAKER_00]: So this news hit the press, and as you'd expect, it caused a stir 5:05 [SPEAKER_00]: To get a hold of things, Martin dies promise to forgive anyone who cooperated by meeting with him privately, which he called an executive session. 5:18 [SPEAKER_00]: Within just two weeks of a leak, all of those mentioned, except for the actress Jean Muir, an actor, Lionel Standard, had met with dies and were cleared. 5:30 [SPEAKER_00]: Lionel Standard was then fired by his movie studio, Republic Pictures, and this was the first of many terminations that were followed. 5:44 [SPEAKER_00]: After the initial media hype that year, World War II began, and that shifted the focus for a while toward that, but that didn't mean things would become an easier. 5:58 [SPEAKER_00]: In the years following World War II, tensions increased again in Hollywood as suspicions of communist sympathies swept through the entertainment industry. 6:10 [SPEAKER_00]: It all began in July 1946 when William Walkerson, the publisher of the Hollywood Reporter, published a column called A Vote for Joe Stalin. 6:28 [SPEAKER_00]: and this had a domino effect. 6:31 [SPEAKER_00]: It sparked a series of columns known as Billy's List and Billy's Black List, where more names were revealed. 6:41 [SPEAKER_00]: And this was not only limited to the media, accusing these individuals, the House and American Activities Committee, also capitalized on this. 6:52 [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever names popped up on that list, the H-U-A-C would subpoena and get them to testify about communist influence and films. 7:02 [SPEAKER_00]: And one of those people called was Walt Disney himself. 7:07 [SPEAKER_00]: He expressed concerns about communist infiltration, which was probably his way of avoiding any further problems. 7:16 [SPEAKER_00]: But that was not how everyone else responded. 7:20 [SPEAKER_00]: Other prominent figures, like director John Houston, and actors Humphrey Bogart, and Lauren Bacal, protested against the committee's actions, commenting on how it violated their rights as Americans. 7:35 [SPEAKER_00]: They even ended up forming the committee for the first amendment, an action group in support of those accused during the hearings. 7:47 [SPEAKER_00]: Now as the hearings progressed, tensions obviously escalated in the industry. 7:54 [SPEAKER_00]: It was a sensitive domain, and many people were now being monitored. 7:59 [SPEAKER_00]: Some Hollywood professionals who called themselves the Hollywood 10 refused to cooperate with the committee, citing their constitutional rights. 8:11 [SPEAKER_00]: Now you may or may not know these names, 8:17 [SPEAKER_00]: The group included Alva Bessie, Herbert Biverman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmitrick, Ring Lordner Jr, John Howard Lawson, Samuel Ornits, Albert Malts, Adrian Scott, and Dalton Trumbuh. 8:37 [SPEAKER_00]: They all refused to answer any questions about their involvement with the Communist Party, and because of that, they were accused of contempt of Congress. 8:48 [SPEAKER_00]: this led to criminal proceedings against them. 8:51 [SPEAKER_00]: Later on November 24th, the House of Representatives made a strong decision. 8:57 [SPEAKER_00]: Voting 346 to 17 to officially accused the Hollywood 10 of disrespecting Congress. 9:07 [SPEAKER_00]: The very next day, top movie industry leaders gathered at New York's fancy Waldorf 9:15 [SPEAKER_00]: After their meeting, the President of the Association of Motion Picture Producers released a statement now known as the Waldorf Statement. 9:26 [SPEAKER_00]: In this declaration, they announced that the ten artists were refusing to cooperate would be punished by either losing their jobs or being suspended without pay until they 9:45 [SPEAKER_00]: In addition, they had to serve one year in federal prison, and were charged to find of $1,000, which would be around $21,000 today, all because they were believed to support communism. 10:02 [SPEAKER_00]: And with this came the first Hollywood Blacklist, and it would only grow with time. 10:12 [SPEAKER_00]: So throughout the 1950s, more and more names were added to the blacklist. 10:18 [SPEAKER_00]: So most of these artists struggled to find work. 10:22 [SPEAKER_00]: Some still tried by writing scripts under pseudonyms, but those who couldn't use the same tactic just left the film industry. 10:33 [SPEAKER_00]: It was unfortunate to see their careers and like that, but that was the reality. 10:39 [SPEAKER_00]: the committee was adamant about weeding out artists whose values didn't align with America's more capitalistic society. 10:48 [SPEAKER_00]: Now those who cooperated, like Elya Kazan, and about Shawberg, managed to save themselves and maintain a career, but those who didn't were cast out. 11:02 [SPEAKER_00]: Now at this point it became a public spectacle, and several groups outside the government and media were influencing the making of the blacklist, 11:13 [SPEAKER_00]: One of them was the American Legion, a group of war veterans who pressured Hollywood to keep out anyone they thought was a communist. 11:24 [SPEAKER_00]: They even made their own list of 128 people, they accused of being part of the communist conspiracy. 11:34 [SPEAKER_00]: Lilian Helman, a playwright who worked on many movies, was on their list. 11:40 [SPEAKER_00]: and she couldn't find work in Hollywood until 1966. 11:46 [SPEAKER_00]: Another important group involved was American business consultants and corporate it. 11:52 [SPEAKER_00]: Now they said they weren't connected to the government, but they had access to the FBI and the HUAC files. 12:00 [SPEAKER_00]: And they used these files to create a pamphlet, called Red Channels, in June 1950. 12:07 [SPEAKER_00]: This listed around 150 people in entertainment and journalism, who they said were communist or pro-communist, some, like Lillian Helman, were already having trouble finding work, but Rut channels made it worse for many others. 12:27 [SPEAKER_00]: That same year, CBS made all its employees sign a loyalty oath, stating they would never 12:38 [SPEAKER_00]: One of the first people affected by red channels was Jean Muir, who immediately lost her job on a TV show called the Aldrich family. 12:49 [SPEAKER_00]: Those who loved the show, and Jean, did protest that the company was adamant. 12:57 [SPEAKER_00]: Even if they wanted to keep Jean, there was way too much heat from the government and groups like the American Legion. 13:06 [SPEAKER_00]: the paranoia was honestly something to be studied. 13:10 [SPEAKER_00]: Studios and executives didn't want to be anywhere near artists who showed even the smallest affinity to communism. 13:19 [SPEAKER_00]: And this wasn't even the worst of it. 13:22 [SPEAKER_00]: The peak of this mess would now come with a start of 1952. 13:31 [SPEAKER_00]: As the Blacklist reached its peak, so did the immense suffering for many in the entertainment industry. 13:38 [SPEAKER_00]: The screenwriters guild allowed movie studios to erase the names of anyone who didn't clear themselves before Congress from the credits. 13:49 [SPEAKER_00]: Dalton Tromba, a writer who was part of the Hollywood 10, and was still Blacklisted, saw his name vanish from movies. 13:59 [SPEAKER_00]: And you imagine putting all that effort into a project, just to see your name removed from the credits, it would be truly heartbreaking. 14:10 [SPEAKER_00]: Many had to go through that, but after a time, it wasn't just these people who refused to come before Congress. 14:19 [SPEAKER_00]: Soon it started to affect the people who supposedly cleared their names, too. 14:27 [SPEAKER_00]: For example, in 1952, Jose Ferrer starred in a film called Mulan Rouge, which if you've ever seen the movie, had nothing to do with politics. 14:40 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a biographical drama about a painter, and a discusses stuff like social alienation, physical disabilities, expressing yourself through art, 14:52 [SPEAKER_00]: But when the American Legion protested against it, Ferrer, fearing for his career, quickly joined their anti-communist fight. 15:02 [SPEAKER_00]: Innocent people were dragged into the Blacklist, too. 15:06 [SPEAKER_00]: Louis Pollock, a screenwriter with no political ties, lost his career because the Legion mixed him up with someone else. 15:15 [SPEAKER_00]: For the Legion, it was a simple mix-up. 15:19 [SPEAKER_00]: For Pollock, it was his life and career. 15:23 [SPEAKER_00]: Another example was Orson Bean, who despite being conservative, found himself blacklisted 15:37 [SPEAKER_00]: Newspaper columnists also fueled the blacklist by suggesting names to Anne. 15:43 [SPEAKER_00]: John Ireland even had to sue an advertising agency to get back his role on a TV show. 15:51 [SPEAKER_00]: It was almost like a witch hunt now. 15:54 [SPEAKER_00]: There was an irrational search for perceived enemies, with innocent people caught in the crossfire, and many in the entertainment industry were labeled as communist sympathizers, without fair trials or proper evidence. 16:11 [SPEAKER_00]: With that fear and suspicion, Reyn Rampett 16:15 [SPEAKER_00]: leading to the scapegoating of individuals who didn't conform to the anti-commonism ideology, or who were simply associated with those deemed suspicious. 16:26 [SPEAKER_00]: So the blacklist created a culture of fear, where people were afraid to express their beliefs or associate with others, for fear of being targeted themselves. 16:40 [SPEAKER_00]: And behind the scenes, the FBI's red-baiting tactics made life even harder. 16:47 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, the FBI conducted extensive surveillance, investigation, and intimidation campaigns against individuals and organizations suspected of being communist or sympathetic to communist causes. 17:03 [SPEAKER_00]: This included wiretapping phones, opening private mail, and monitoring the activities of suspected individuals. 17:12 [SPEAKER_00]: But this was not just paranoia. 17:15 [SPEAKER_00]: Bartley Crum, a lawyer who defended some of the Hollywood 10, was constantly harassed by the FBI. 17:23 [SPEAKER_00]: They monitored Crum by tapping his phones and keeping him under constant surveillance. 17:30 [SPEAKER_00]: This obviously led him to losing the majority of his clients, leading to another amount of stress could not cope with. 17:39 [SPEAKER_00]: He took his own life in 1959, and this struggle was reflected in movies of the time. 17:47 [SPEAKER_00]: For instance, Carl Foreman, who stood against the committee, 17:52 [SPEAKER_00]: wrote high noon in 1952, where a town marshal played by Gary Cooper, faces a abandonment by the people of the town. 18:03 [SPEAKER_00]: It was a reflection of how the industry had turned its back on those being accused. 18:10 [SPEAKER_00]: After that, Iliya Kazan and Bugshalberg collaborated with on the waterfront in 1954, a film often seen as justifying their decision to cooperate with authorities. 18:25 [SPEAKER_00]: It did win a number of awards, but received criticism for its portrayal of informers. 18:33 [SPEAKER_00]: So there were both perspectives. 18:35 [SPEAKER_00]: those who saw the informers as abandoning their fellows in the industry. 18:41 [SPEAKER_00]: And those who saw this as the need of the hour, in which ever perspective you may agree with, it begs the question, why did they have to be put in a position like that? 18:55 [SPEAKER_00]: Just like Larry Park said, as he was called before the panel. 19:00 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't present me with a choice of being either in contempt of this committee and going to jail, or forcing me to really crawl through the mud to be an informer. 19:11 [SPEAKER_00]: For what purpose, I don't think it's a choice at all. 19:15 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think this is really sportsman like, I don't think this is American. 19:20 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think this is American justice. 19:25 [SPEAKER_00]: Now even though the matter was as serious as it could get, it did not continue for much longer. 19:30 [SPEAKER_00]: After a while, in the late 1950s, cracks began to show in the Hollywood Blacklist. 19:40 [SPEAKER_00]: Jules Dassen, despite being named by many others of having communist ties, directed successful plays and films, like Rafifee which became a hit. 19:53 [SPEAKER_00]: Likewise, John Henry Falk, a radio host, fought back against blacklisting by using one of the firms behind it. 20:02 [SPEAKER_00]: He ended up winning the case, and this legal battle signalled a turning point. 20:08 [SPEAKER_00]: It showed that the people behind the blacklist could be held accountable. 20:14 [SPEAKER_00]: This helped shut down blacklist supporting publications like counter-attack. 20:20 [SPEAKER_00]: The accused were now able to challenge the blacklist and their victories led them to end that. 20:28 [SPEAKER_00]: A period of a great deal of struggle for the artists of their industry. 20:35 [SPEAKER_00]: Even on TV, this decline was obvious as CBS started to break the silence. 20:42 [SPEAKER_00]: Norman Lloyd and Edward Chaudarov worked on shows defying the blacklist 20:50 [SPEAKER_00]: Betty Hutton insisted on hiring Jerry Fielding, who was blacklisted as a musical director. 20:58 [SPEAKER_00]: With this, the blacklisted artists were returning to work, one project at a time. 21:06 [SPEAKER_00]: And the bait break through came when director Otto Primminger, an actor Kurt Douglas, openly 21:19 [SPEAKER_00]: They both were big hits, but most importantly, this was the first time Trump's name was credited openly after being blacklisted, representing a significant moment in his career, as well as the end of the blacklist. 21:37 [SPEAKER_00]: Things were getting better, but many blacklisted artists still faced struggles. 21:43 [SPEAKER_00]: Some like Lionel Standard couldn't find work for years after being involved in this mess. 21:50 [SPEAKER_00]: Others who initially cooperated with the committee and tattled on their fellow artists were now regretting their decisions. 21:59 [SPEAKER_00]: In 1963, actor Sterling Hayden gave a statement showing that 22:05 [SPEAKER_00]: quote, I was a rat, a stewardly, and the names I named of those close friends were blacklisted and deprived of their livelihood. 22:15 [SPEAKER_00]: So in essence, the Hollywood Blacklist had kind of faded away, but it's effect lingered for decades, haunting those who have been accused and dividing the entertainment industry. 22:30 [SPEAKER_00]: although in recent years, efforts have been made to acknowledge and correct the injustices of the Blacklist era. 22:39 [SPEAKER_00]: For example, in 2011, Trump finally received full credit for his screenplay for Roman holiday, nearly 60 years after it was made. 22:52 [SPEAKER_00]: It was true that he and others were now getting the credit they deserved. 22:56 [SPEAKER_00]: but is it enough to make up for the nightmare they went through back when the paranoia was at its peak? 23:07 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's it for today. 23:09 [SPEAKER_00]: The red scare of the late 1940s and 50s was definitely a difficult time for the industry and for many the Hollywood Blacklist was a sentence to anonymity. 23:23 [SPEAKER_00]: When we look at the names of those who were dragged into this, there are more than 200 of them, named by either the media or the anti-communist groups. 23:35 [SPEAKER_00]: We can only think about the countless voices, stories, and talents that were lost. 23:41 [SPEAKER_00]: I could have enriched the silver screen, and all of that is because assumptions 23:53 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to Home Town History, friend. 23:56 [SPEAKER_00]: Be sure to follow along for more stories from the past.
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