Hollywood blacklist
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The document summarizes the Hollywood Blacklist that occurred in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s. The House Committee on Un-American Activities began investigating links between the film industry and communism in 1947. Ten screenwriters, directors, and producers who refused to answer questions about communist affiliations became known as the Hollywood Ten and were cited for contempt. This led film studios to create blacklists that prevented those who had been accused of communist ties from finding work in the industry, effectively ending their careers. The blacklist expanded greatly over the next decade as people were compelled to testify and name others. By the early 1960s, lawsuits and public pressure helped bring an end to the blacklisting, though the stigma continued for some
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Hollywood blacklist
- 1. The Hollywood Blacklist Clorissa Lepe Jared Zuanich Jeannette Castro
- 2. The Hollywood Ten As the fear of Communism and it’s spread into the United States. With the rise of unions and other liberal institutions in the entertainment industry that where thought to have communist ties, the government began turning its attention to the links, real and imagined, between Hollywood and the party. 1947 - The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) began to summon certain Hollywood entertainment professionals on the suspicion that their work included Communist propaganda. “The Hollywood Ten” were mainly screenwriters as well as actors, director, and producers who refused to answer the question "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” citing their First Amendment rights. These people where cited for contempt. The Waldorf Statement - The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) then announced that they would be fired and denied work. This was the First Blacklist.
- 3. The Hollywood Ten 1947 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJzV6-wJ3SQ
- 4. The Blacklist Grows The HUAC was unable to produce any evidence of communist intentions through propaganda, or otherwise during their hearings. The Hollywood Ten all received one year in jail for contempt. This is because they would not cooperate with the HUAC and their investigations. One of the Ten, Director Edward Dmytryk then confessed that he was a communist and was released early. He testified about his membership, then named names, and recovered his career. Many nongovernmental organizations enforced and expanding the blacklist. They pressured the entertainment industry to exclude those of political sympathies they disagreed with.
- 5. The Blacklist Grows People were forced to sign loyalties or asked to spy on coworkers and where afraid to speak out against these aggressions. Many of those who did were slandered and sometimes blacklisted. In 1951, with the U.S. Congress now under Democratic control, HUAC launched a second investigation of Hollywood and Communism. In these mass hearings, people who had past Communist affiliations were compelled not only to testify about their own activities but also to "name names" of others who had also participated. Many witnesses were willing to http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FN98eHvI0Yg/TO126PCklfI/AAAAAA discuss their own activities but refused to name AABy4/HsNZQw9beh0/s1600/Huac.jpg names. After the Supreme Court ruled that individuals could not invoke the Fifth Amendment if they had already testified about themselves, witnesses had to choose between explaining their own past actions and being compelled to implicate other people.
- 6. The Blacklist Grows Witnesses were expected to state that they had been misled or confused in the past and were now regretful. They could prove their sincerity by naming others who had been with them in Communist organizations or at Communist functions. In 1951, with the U.S. Congress now under Democratic control, HUAC launched a second investigation of Hollywood and Communism. In these mass hearings, people who had past Communist affiliations were compelled not only to testify about their own activities but also to "name names" of others who had also participated. Many witnesses were willing to discuss their own activities but refused to name names. After the Supreme Court ruled that individuals could not invoke the Fifth Amendment if they had already testified about themselves, witnesses had to choose between explaining their own past actions and being compelled to implicate other people. Witnesses were expected to state that they had been misled or confused in the past and were now regretful. They could prove their sincerity by naming others who had been with them in Communist organizations or at Communist functions.
- 7. The Blacklist’s Victims In 1952 Charlie Chaplin was exiled form the country while on a trip back to England. His Visa had been revoked; he decided not to fight it. He only returned once, and that was in 1972 to accept his Academy Award. As the Hollywood blacklist continued strong into the mid 1950’s, The Screen Writers Guild gave permission for movie studios to leave out the names of those who had not been cleared by Congressional investigations, and those http://chaplin-gifs.tumblr.com/ already on the blacklist. It was difficult for blacklisters so shake the stigma even after they were cleared and many of them never came back to the industry. Toward the end of the 1950’s, certain blacklisters began to get work in the industry again mostly under pseudonyms or used the names of friends as “fronts”.
- 8. The Blacklist Ends John Henry Faulk was a key figure to ending the blacklist. Faulk was blacklisted and was fired by CBS for being an alleged communist sympathizer. His radio and television career destroyed. Faulk sued, and in 1962 the courts ruled in his favor. His successful lawsuit against blacklisters of the entertainment industry helped to bring an end to the Hollywood blacklist. In 1960, Kirk Douglas credited blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, of the Hollywood Ten, as the movie’s writer, using Trumbo’s real name. Currently, The Writers Guild has gone back and given credit to all who helped in movies where their names were taken out.
- 9. The Hollywood Blacklist Works Cited http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1850.html http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/mccarthy/blacklist.html http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FN98eHvI0Yg/TO126PCklfI/AAAAAAAABy4/HsNZQw9beh0/ s1600/Huac.jpg http://www.kingsacademy.com/mhodges/03_The-World-since-1900/09_The-Cold- War/pictures/EVN-440-1_Hollywood-protests-HUAC's-actions.jpg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJzV6-wJ3SQ http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/30/reviews/chaplin-obit.html http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/faulkner_john/
- 10. The Hollywood Blacklist Works Cited http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hollywood-10-cited-for- contempt-of-congress http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/mccarthy/blacklist.html http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/mccarthy/blacklist.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_blacklist http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/newsite/index/articles/articleph otos/mpaa-emblem.jpeg http://comptalk.fiu.edu/huac.htm http://comptalk.fiu.edu/blacklist.htm