During the 1940’s and 1950’s, communism was a popular political movement in the United States. The House Un-American Activities Committee was created to investigate those suspected of having communist ties. Miller refused to name any names so he was given jail time. Kazan decided that his career was the most important thing, so he ratted out 17 CPers. Kazan was said to have ruined their careers and lives.
Ishonn Shockley Mrs. Koeller English III 16 February 2017 The Hollywood Ten was a group of extremely talented directors, scriptwriters, and actors whose lives were ruined by one man. They and hundreds of others had fallen from their positions because of the political gain of the HUAC and Joseph McCarthy. The Hollywood Ten stood up and rebelled against a violation to their rights.
During the Second Red Scare in the United States, a congressional committee was formed known as the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). This group carried the sole purpose of looking into and eliminating pro-communist activities in the movie and film industry, the government, companies, and organizations. Similar to McCarthyism, it made accusations against hundreds without any legal evidence or proof. The party also attacked those who opposed their political views in government. “Furthermore, the hearings routinely punished liberals and leftists who
Imagine the wicked House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) arrest an innocent man. The HUAC does not arrest the man because he has committed a murder, but because he is a communist. Many communists became victims of HUAC in the Red Scare crisis of the 1950s. These communists made the right decision to speak out for their freedom and against injustice. These communists also spoke out for their freedom of different beliefs.
The Hollywood Ten was a group of 10 prominent members of the film industry who condemned the method in which the House Un-American Activities Committee convicted suspected espionage agents in the US during the Cold War. They all had different jobs such as screenwriters, actors, directors, and musicians, but they were all connected by the industry and joint beliefs of Communism. Many if not all were blacklisted, even though the blacklist could barely be supported with evidence or verifiable. Incarceration
Film makers blamed others and said they regretted ever working with Communists to be left alone. Those whose careers were affected changed their names so they could keep making
Throughout the film, various themes become evident; the most obvious of themes as mentioned was McCarthyism. McCarthy used the power of media to intensify the “Red Scare”, to the point that individuals began to question and judge anyone who they believed to be a communist whether they were or not. Although McCarthyism ended, it left many jobless, due to accusations of communism, “ ten thousand Americans lost their jobs because of their past or present affiliation with the Communist party”. Lastly, McCarthyism lead to constant suspicion and one might say it manifested hatred between Americans. Similarly the theme of dissent goes hand in hand with McCarthyism and is also prevalent throughout the film.
People thought that because the Russian czar had been overthrown and executed by strikes that the labor unions of America were being taken over by Communist immigrants with the same goal in mind. Soon, people became obsessed with the Communistic threat coming from Russia following World War II which led to violence and disregard of civil liberties. “The U.S. government, mainly the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) led by Democratic congressman Martin Dies, Jr., had launched an investigation designed to target suspected Communist Party members in all areas of life, including government, educational institutions, labor unions, and the entertainment industry. The repression engendered a climate of fear throughout the country, as people were afraid to speak out as the accused found their names on blacklists, which hindered their employability and ruined many lives.” (Travino, Marcella Bush. "
“The Hollywood Ten, McCarthyism, and the Witches of Hollywood” Back in 1947, when the Cold War with the Soviet Union had occurred, the House of Un-American Activities Committee was checking to see if any suspicious communists’ activity was going on in Hollywood. This event caused nine screenwriters and one film director (lvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr., John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Sam Ornitz, Robert Adrian Scott, and Dalton Trumbo) to get arrested, and they were known as “The Hollywood Ten”. “During the investigations, HUAC coerced prominent people from the film industry to declare their patriotism and give up large names of colleagues suspected of having politically unfriendly tendencies”.
American society was very willing to go along with the Red Hunt of the 1950’s that was led by the HUAC and Joe McCarthy. The American people knew that the main idea and goal of communism was to spread communism. Communism had already spread into North Korea after the USSR took control and the last thing American society wanted was further spreading. The House Un-American Activities Committee persecuted famous Hollywood stars for suspected communist activities. The American people looked up to these actors and actresses and the idea that their beloved Hollywood personalities could be communist opened up the idea that anyone could be a communist.
Herbert Blumer looked at conflict theory through an emphasis on group position and how that generates conflict. Marilynn Brewer takes a different approach with conflict theory and focuses on the need to fit in but also the seemingly conflicting need to separate oneself from others as an instigator of conflict between groups. Both of these theories have something to say about the historical conflict between the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and the blacklisted, Communist screenwriters in Hollywood. This paper aims to show which of the previously mentioned theories is most adequate for analyzing the historical conflict in Hollywood.
McCarthy believed that they were secretly finding ways to put in communist propaganda in their movies. In order for McCarthy to investigate more into this he created these trails and many people testified against each other. This anti communist frenzy
The Cold War is often seen as a dark time in American history, not just because of the international conflict, but because of the strife it caused within the United States itself. During the Cold War, the general culture in America was fearful and paranoid about the rise and spread of Communism within their society. One example of how this hysteria manifested is illustrated in the movie, Trumbo, which tells the story of when the Hollywood industry blacklisted famous writer Dalton Trumbo, along with other workers in the industry, who were connected to Communism. Dalton Trumbo and his associates faced bigotry and were effectively attacked for standing by their ideals, which was a reflection of how American culture had changed at that time. By
The Cold War affected film other than just as a means of propaganda. In Hollywood, the HUAC forced hundreds of people working in the movie industry to renounce all left-wing political views and testify against one another. More than five-hundred people lost their jobs. Many of these “blacklisted” movie industry workers were not able to work for more than a
