Thursday, October 30, 1997
The Red Scare remembered
FILM: Fifty years after the HUAC hearings, four Hollywood guilds
commemorate blacklisted artists
By William Li
Daily Bruin Contributor
It’s hard to believe that in the land of the free and the home
of the brave, there was a time when nonconformists lived in fear of
persecution and harassment. Authorities set up inquisitions,
so-called "friends" betrayed each other, and careers came to an
ignoble end with unjust accusations.
There were the Salem witch trials in the 17th century. But think
20th century – as recently as 50 years ago. Half a century ago, the
focus on sifting out "subversive elements" centered on the cultural
and entertainment mecca of the west coast – Hollywood.
Monday night, the four major talent guilds collaborated to
produce "Hollywood Remembers the Blacklist" at the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills. This
commemoration marked the 50th anniversary since the Hollywood Ten
were held in contempt of Congress after refusing to reveal their
political beliefs and affiliations to the House Un-American
Activities Committee (HUAC), which was investigating alleged
Communist infiltration in the film industry.
The four guilds – the American Federation of Television and
Radio Artists (AFTRA), Directors Guild of America (DGA), Screen
Actors Guild (SAG) and Writers Guild of America, west (WGAw) –
organized the event to honor members whose lives and careers were
damaged by the Hollywood blacklist. With film clips, monologues and
dramatic re-creations of HUAC hearings, the Blacklist commemoration
brought vivid, disturbing moments in history back to life.
"These award-winning writers and directors, who had given voice
and structure to hundreds of memorable films, were themselves
rendered speechless," the video’s narrator says over archival
footage of HUAC hearings.
Led by J. Parnell Thomas, the committee often used intimidation
tactics and false promises to allow subpoenaed witnesses read their
statements. When confronted with the infamous question "Are you
now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?"
witnesses faced the difficult choice between imprisonment for
contempt of Congress, or admitting their membership and supplying
the names of other members.
"Please don’t force me to crawl through the mud," begged Billy
Crystal during his portrayal of actor Larry Parks.
It was a lose-lose situation: Parks confessed to save his
career, but was blacklisted anyway.
Another film clip described a planeload of celebrities who
traveled to Washington to support their colleagues. Standing in
front of a montage of decades-old newspaper headlines from the Los
Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety, Marsha Hunt
described the futility of their mission.
"On that protest flight to Washington, we were all fired up with
our mission to defend our industry’s good name and to defend not
Communism, nor Communists, but all Americans’ right to privacy of
opinion and freedom of advocacy. We were trying to keep the First
Amendment alive," Hunt said. "And now, not only the Ten were in
deep trouble, but we who had gone to defend their rights found that
we ourselves were under suspicion.
"And those of us who remained in the Ten’s corner were denounced
in editorials and gossip columns," Hunt continued. "And when
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall announced that our flight had
been ill-advised, our unity was demolished."
The creation of a blacklist prevented many directors,
screenwriters and actors from finding work. Some writers, like
Frank Tarloff, resorted to pen names to sell their screenplays.
"I thought and I thought and the only name I could come up with
was Frank Tarloff," Tarloff said in a film clip.
Actors were not so lucky because they could not market their art
with another identity. Some appealed to their union for
support.
In a re-enactment, Kathy Baker appeared as Gale Sondergaard,
winner of the first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1936, and
David Hyde Pierce portrayed a SAG representative. Sondergaard
begged for help from the union, but Pierce’s character refused her
pleas on the grounds that her actions were her own responsibility.
Her career ended when she was also blacklisted.
As part of the commemoration, the four guilds admitted their
failure to support their members during the Red Scare. The event’s
conclusion included a warning about present and future
encroachments on personal freedoms, such as a recent attempted
congressional probe into the personal lives of employees at the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
With the honoring of blacklisted artists and recognition of past
mistakes, Hollywood hopes to keep witch hunts a thing of the
past.