The Film 'The Names Of The Hollywood Ten'

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 1930, the Film Industry was seen as a tremendous source of communist activity. This was because of the Great Depression. The Great Depression had led many actors in the Film Industry to Communism. During this time, investigations were made into the film industry relating to communism. These did not fully erupt until the 1930s-1940s. The House of Un-American

The names of the “Hollywood Ten” were: Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman; Lester Cole; Edward Dmytryck, Ring Lardner Jr., John Howard Lawson; Albert Maltz; Samuel Ornitz; Adrian Scott; and Dalton Trumbo. Another name on the list originally was Bertolt Bretcht. But Bertolt Bretcht fled the country when given his subpoena. These ten Hollywood idols were then put on trial for suspected association with the Communist Party. People who heard of these trials thought of them to be extremely unconstitutional and un-American. 2 out of every 3 people sent to the trials were uncooperative. The Hollywood Ten called the trials a, “witch-hunting attempt that censored their artistic freedom.” During this trial the Hollywood Ten refused to answer any questions, referring to their 1st and 5th amendments. They knew that being in the Communist Party wasn’t illegal. Most of the questions that were asked were the same, “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party.” The Hollywood Ten stood by the 1st amendment, stating that Congress did not have any right to ask their political views. The Chairman of the HUAC countered this by saying, “The Constitution was never intended to cloak or shield those who would destroy it.” So they stood by the 5th amendment. The HUAC found some evidence against them though, mainly CP membership cards from most of the Hollywood Ten. The Hollywood Ten refused to admit or deny anything about the CP membership cards. The House of Representatives voted 346 to 17 to charge the Hollywood Ten with contempt of Congress. They were then sent to prison for 1 year in prison, $1,000 fines, and they were blacklisted in front of the general public. During the beginning of the prison term Edward Dmytryk broke and gave the names of 26 communists. He was released from jail. The blacklist then slowly grew until about 500 names were on the list.