The Red Scare remembered

Thursday, October 30, 1997

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.