Introduction
The term Hollywood Ten was used in America to refer to a group of movie producers, screenwriters and directors who allegedly objected to cooperate with the House of Un-American Activities Committee in the year 1947 in relation to communist affiliation. The group comprised of: –
- Alvah Bessie
- Herbert Biberman
- Lester Cole
- Edward Dmytryk
- Ring Lardner Jr.
- John Howard Lawson
- Albert Malz
- Samuel Ornits
- Adrian Scott
- Dalton Trumbo
The crew was tried and convicted for over six months. Additionally, the members of the team were barred from participating in the creation of any Hollywood movie as a way of shunning their bad influence in the industry. The group of ten was denied any possible opportunities of working in the industry as a result of their political affiliations and beliefs. This was inconsiderate of whether the accusations made against them bore any facts in them or not.
This was, therefore, a move to reduce the influence communism had on the people of America by then. It was believed that movies, especially the Hollywood movies, played an imperative role in swaying the beliefs of the natives. This statement, to some extent, bore some truth in it because a substantial population of the Americans had direct access to these movies and this would undoubtedly influence their thinking.
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The historical background of the Hollywood ten
The blacklisting of the ten professionals in the movie industry had its roots back in the years between 1930 and 1940. This was the period that marked great depression brought about by the World War II in the United States of America. It was during this time that the communist party had an overwhelming number of followers, most of whom were idealists especially from the famous platform of arts and entertainment.
The party was not ideally a political party in the United States of America but it fought for the rights of the marginalized people. It played an imperative role in the campaigns for the betterment of people’s welfare and social security. Despite its influence, the party lost sizeable backing immediately after the famous Moscow Show trials which were done between 1936 and 1938.
The administration of the United States, therefore, turned its undivided attention to identifying the links, be they real or imaginary, between the party and Hollywood during that period. This then brought about the rounding up and jailing without trial of the ten Hollywood young idealists.
The inception of Hollywood ten
Soon after the end of World War II (1939-1945), the United States of America and the Soviet Union entered into profound economic and political conflict known as the Cold War (1945-1991). The Soviet Union’s communist and their attempt to influence and promote their system of government around the world caused high tensions and suspicion amongst the American people.
Many perceived the Communist Party as the greatest enemy to American democracy. Quite a number of politicians expressed their concern that Communism was a threat to the nation. In order to protect the United States from the Communist threat, the Congress formed a special committee to probe the activities of persons suspected to be affiliated, in any way, with Communism.
As a direct result, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was formed to investigate persons believed to be part of the “Red threat” against America. For decades, the pursuit of suspected Communists was the focus on public discussions. The HUAC, and its later Senate counterpart lead by the infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy, was credited with destroying the lives of many people in the motion picture and entertainment industries.
In the course of their crusade, several hearings were held throughout the years of 1940s and 1950s in which many Hollywood witnesses were enquired to denounce any communist activity within their circles. This, therefore, resulted in the coming of hundreds of “friendly” witnesses who both publicly and privately denounced film industry employees as members of the American Communist Party.
This was a big blow to the industry not only because a section of members in the industry had betrayed their friends but also because most of the members were barred from participating further in the film industry. Virtually all the employees whose names were mentioned by the witnesses were blacklisted and barred from conducting any business in the field of Hollywood movies.
Most of them were incriminated for merely refusing to provide their assistance in the ongoing investigation on the communist party and its alleged activities. Others were also incriminated because their names mistakenly appeared in the list that contained the names of those who supported communism. The inclusion of such names in the list was not accidental. The names appeared as a result of betrayal from friends. Others also saw this as an opportunity to kick their competitors out of the field of Hollywood movies.
The blacklist
The blacklisting of Hollywood stars was the darkest period in America’s film history. This was because it was during this time that most of the professionals at the helm of the film industry were barred from participating any further in the field of movies. It is undoubtedly true that this move played a significant role in the poor qualities of movies experienced during those times. The very first blacklist was set up on November 25th in the year 1947.
This was just a day after the ten famous movie writers and directors were rounded up and tried for allegedly refusing to give testimonies concerning the communist party. It is believed that a cluster of studio senior managers made an announcement of the sucking of the great artists who were later called the Hollywood ten.
This announcement has since been known by people as the Waldorf Statement. In late June of the year 1950, a booklet that was also a big blow to the broadcasting industry was released. This book, the Red Channels, contained an approximated number of 151 names that belonged to some of the experts in the Hollywood movie industry. Soon after the release of the book, the owners of the names contained in the book were also barred from participating in any activity of the movie industry.
They were denied employment in quite a number of places that were affiliated to the entertainment industry. However, this blacklist became ineffective in 1960. This was the year when Dalton Trumbo, one of the members of the Hollywood ten, was recognized in public as the screenwriter of Spartacus, a movie series that attracted overwhelming attention. Despite the fact that some artists, movie directors and writers were reinstated, some remained blacklisted.
In spite of the fact that the hearings of the HUAC had failed to provide substantial evidence that Hollywood was involved in the secret dissemination of communist propaganda, the series of appeals of the Hollywood ten bore no fruits. They were then compelled to begin serving one year jail terms.
The appeals even reached the Supreme Courts but review was denied without any valid reason. The month of September in the year 1950 was another bombshell to the Hollywood movie industry. This was brought about by the public denouncement of one of the Hollywood ten members, Edward Dmytryk, that he was a communist.
This statement sparked a lot of discussions. Dmytryk was then released after which he made a public confession at the HUAC in 1951. He even named other broadcasting professionals whom he believed were communists as well but had not been convicted. As a result of his confession, Dmytrk got back his old job and dignity but his friends remained in prison.
The confession and subsequent release of Dymtryk gave rise to a series of activities that expanded the blacklists. Quite a number of nongovernmental organizations, particularly the American Legion, played a significant role in exerting pressure on the entertainment and broadcasting industry to stop incorporating politics in entertainment. The American Business Consultants Inc. was also significantly placed in the fight.
A second investigation on Hollywood celebrities was commenced by the HUAC in 1951. This second vetting also saw the blacklisting of a number of Hollywood stars. In this second vetting, the legal technique applied to those who had completely refused to testify was different.
Instead of the previous amendment used, they used the shield that was against self-incrimination. Just like in the previous arrests, the second investigation also had people who offered their full cooperation to the authorities and testified as asked.
Their undivided collaboration to provide names of their fellow Hollywood stars who were communists apparently resulted to the loss of quite a number of jobs. People were arrested and convicted as they subsequently lost their jobs. Others were also compelled to flee the country as a move to keep their dignity and possibly qualify to work for television broadcasting and movie organizations in other countries.
It is amazing how the cases at HUAC had impacts on the lives of those whose names were mentioned. This was inconsiderate of whether the victim was found guilty and convicted or not.
For instance, Lionel Stander’s name was mentioned briefly in one of the hearings at HUAC that involved Larry Parks. Larry was only asked before the testimony whether he knew Lionel or not. In spite of the fact that he agreed to have known Lionel, he categorically stated that he did not know the political wave that Lionel was affiliated to.
This discussion ended without further mention of Lionel’s name but the repercussions were grave. Lionel had technically lost his job because of the slight mention of his name at the hearing. His numerous endorsements to work on television shows had stopped with immediate effect. The list of those banned from participating in the film industry continued to grow after a series of events until 1057 when it came to an unexpected end.
The breaking of the blacklists
The blacklisted famous movie directors and writers had to take a drastic action as a move to overcome the influence of the HUAC. This was because their careers would be drained completely if they stayed put and waited for fate to take its course of action.
Numerous efforts made by these people to restore their dignity and possibly earn jobs in the movie industry yet again were thwarted by the consistent efforts by the HUAC to derail their fight. However, the Hollywood ten and other members of the industry whose names appeared in the blacklist did not lose heart. They went on with the struggle until much later in the 1950s when their fight began to bear significant fruits.
The most significant figure in the ending of the blacklist was a host at a comedy radio show, John Henry Faulk. After a thorough scrutiny and vetting by a private firm, AWARE, that was meant to vet people for sympathy to communism, Faulk was found to be unfit to be a radio presenter. The very first step against the blacklisting of people like him came when Faulk made the decision to sue AWARE in the year 1957.
Despite the fact that the case was bound to go through a slow process in the courts, it played a vital role in enlightening people whose names had been blacklisted to rally against the blacklist. These events were followed by a number of endorsements of the blacklisted Hollywood movie directors, screenwriters and actors. Soon thereafter, quite a number of the blacklisted people had gained their jobs back despite the attempts to kill their careers.
By 21st century, the credit of numerous screenwriters of the 1950s had been restored. The works of the blacklisted people were slowly gaining popularity as opposed to the projections that had been made earlier that the careers of these people had completely gone to the drains.
The Writers Guild, incepted in the early 21st century, announced in 2011 that Dalton Trumbo (a renowned member of the Hollywood ten) would gain full credit for his participation on the screenplay for the romantic comedy of 1953; Roman Holiday. This period, therefore, marked the end of the blacklist and oppression of the Hollywood stars that had lasted for decades.
Even though this happened many years later, a number of the activists received credit for their work; most of which was done in the 1950s and 1960s. Their struggle had finally bore fruits despite betrayals by their own friends who had pleaded guilty of being communists and also implicating others.
Conclusion
The blacklisting of Hollywood movie producers, writers and directors had made the Hollywood ten controversial figures all over the United States of America. The fact that they fought on behalf of the marginalized members of the society and that they were convicted in the process placed them at the helm of human rights activists.
They had gained enormous popularity especially amongst movie enthusiasts and the marginalized people in the societies. Their actions sparked endless debates and discussions. Many viewed their punishment as a justification of their evil deeds. This is because some has openly admitted being members of the communist party and that they took advantage of their vast occupation to spread communism and its policies.
On the contrary, there were people who viewed the Hollywood ten as heroes. This is because they stood for what they felt was right and fought on behalf of the marginalized members of the societies in the United States of America. They stood against the abuses of the infamous Red Scare and vehemently defended the constitution of the United States of America.