The Hollywood Motion Picture Blacklist

The Hollywood Motion Picture Blacklist PDF Author: Larry Ceplair
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 081319590X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
Seventy-five years ago, the Hollywood blacklist ruined lives, stifled creativity, and sent waves of proscription and censorship throughout United States culture. When the Hollywood Ten refused to answer the questions of the House Committee on Un-American Activities about their membership in the Communist Party, they were sentenced to prison, the five who were under contract were fired by their studios, and all were blacklisted from reemployment until they "purged themselves of their communist taint." By the 1950s, this blacklist publicly stigmatized nearly three hundred other Americans in the entertainment industry who invoked the First and Fifth Amendments in their refusal to apologize for their Communist ties or provide the names of other members. Dozens of others were graylisted as the result of rumors. The Hollywood Motion Picture Blacklist: Seventy-Five Years Later offers new insights on the origins of the blacklist, the characteristics of those blacklisted, and the probability of future proscriptions of the blacklist type. Author Larry Ceplair draws on previously published work while introducing new material to vigorously recount the events that took place between the US government, Hollywood unions, and motion picture studios. Ceplair thoroughly examines the role of Jewish identity in many anti-communist efforts—a concept that has never been fully examined by scholars—and analyzes the actions of subpoenaed witnesses who were forced to choose between cooperating with the House Committee or joining the blacklist. This fascinating book is an illuminating examination of a dark period in American history and the fragility of our rights to free speech and due process.

The Hollywood Motion Picture Blacklist

The Hollywood Motion Picture Blacklist PDF Author: Larry Ceplair
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 081319590X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 271

Get Book Here

Book Description
Seventy-five years ago, the Hollywood blacklist ruined lives, stifled creativity, and sent waves of proscription and censorship throughout United States culture. When the Hollywood Ten refused to answer the questions of the House Committee on Un-American Activities about their membership in the Communist Party, they were sentenced to prison, the five who were under contract were fired by their studios, and all were blacklisted from reemployment until they "purged themselves of their communist taint." By the 1950s, this blacklist publicly stigmatized nearly three hundred other Americans in the entertainment industry who invoked the First and Fifth Amendments in their refusal to apologize for their Communist ties or provide the names of other members. Dozens of others were graylisted as the result of rumors. The Hollywood Motion Picture Blacklist: Seventy-Five Years Later offers new insights on the origins of the blacklist, the characteristics of those blacklisted, and the probability of future proscriptions of the blacklist type. Author Larry Ceplair draws on previously published work while introducing new material to vigorously recount the events that took place between the US government, Hollywood unions, and motion picture studios. Ceplair thoroughly examines the role of Jewish identity in many anti-communist efforts—a concept that has never been fully examined by scholars—and analyzes the actions of subpoenaed witnesses who were forced to choose between cooperating with the House Committee or joining the blacklist. This fascinating book is an illuminating examination of a dark period in American history and the fragility of our rights to free speech and due process.

Shedding Light on the Hollywood Blacklist

Shedding Light on the Hollywood Blacklist PDF Author: Stanley Dyrector
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781593932442
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
What Really Happened There were terrible crimes committed against greatly talented American citizens by overzealous and unconscionable government actions. Meet the victims inside this book. See for yourself what happened to the innocent, what they went through, how they coped with their persecution, and how they survived the aftermath with their chins up, in dignity. "Congratulations Stanley Dyrector...WAVE AWARDS... Video Excellence Award presented for Community Media in Santa Fe, New Mexico on November 9, 2001, The Stanley Dyrector Show: The Hollywood Blacklist..." "Dyrector has encountered countless people that help Hollywood sparkle but never get a chance to shine...Screenwriters on the Hollywood Blacklist in the 50's denied work due to their politics..." - Debra Beyer, Los Angeles Times, May 9, 2006. ..".I'm not afraid to be corrected by a guest, or to tell them I love them ..".Dyrector explored the blacklisting period of Hollywood during the McCarthy era..." California Seniors Weekly (2000) About the Author Stanley Dyrector was born in Brooklyn, New York. Beginning his career as an actor, he switched to writing, where he found much success. His TV writing credits include such popular shows as Wagon Train and Slattery's People. He and his wife, Joyce, teamed up and wrote for daytime TV soaps on ABC, as well as hour radio dramas and comedies for Sears Radio Theatre and Mutual Radio Theatre. Dyrector's 2-act Vietnam-era play, A Pelican of the Wilderness, was deemed by LA Times critic John Mahoney as "Outstanding." His award-winning interview show called The Stanley Dyrector Show can be seen in various locales and on the Internet.

Hollywood's Blacklists

Hollywood's Blacklists PDF Author: Reynold Humphries
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 074863052X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
'Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?' That question was to be repeated endlessly during the anti-Communist investigations carried out by the House Committee on un-American Activities (HUAC) in the early 1950s. The refusal of ten members of the film industry to answer the question in 1947 led to the decision by studio bosses to fire them and never to hire known Communists in the future. The Hearings led to scores of actors, writers and directors being named as Communists or sympathisers. All were blacklisted and fired. Hollywood's Blacklists is a history of the political and cultural factors relevant to understanding the why and the how of the various investigations of the alleged Communist infiltration of Hollywood. What was HUAC? What propaganda role did films play during World War II and the Cold War? What values were at stake in the confrontation between Left and Right that saw the former so resoundingly defeated and expelled from Hollywood? Answers to these and other questions are offered via analyses of the motives of the various players and of the tactics deployed by HUAC to reward collaboration and punish dissent.

The Intellectual American

The Intellectual American PDF Author: Eric B. Olsen
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1543471986
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
In his first collection of essays, author and educator Eric B. Olsen offers the reader a wide range of analytical thought and cultural criticism. The book opens by examining the history of film in the twentieth century and then analyzing literature from ancient Greek drama to modern American poetry, as well as commenting on jazz and popular music. The final group of essays concerns topics as diverse as climate change, popular culture, religion, anti-intellectualism and politics. Drawing on a broad base of literary and social criticism, from the philosophical thought of Plato and Aristotle to the writings of Lionel Trilling and Richard Hofstadter, The Intellectual American is a work of confident scholarship and the herald of a new voice in American letters.

The Inquisition in Hollywood

The Inquisition in Hollywood PDF Author: Larry Ceplair
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252071416
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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Book Description
"Although this thirty-year period of American history is marked by widespread targeting of leftists in all areas of life, those in the film industry - predominately screenwriters - were considered to be in positions of great potential indoctrinating power, and found themselves under intense scrutiny as the cold war hysteria mounted. Ceplair and Englund trace the history of political struggle in Hollywood back to the formation of the Screen Writers Guild in 1933. Many of the blacklisted filmmakers were members of the Communist Party and all of the graylisted filmmakers had expressed their sympathy with progressive (mainly anti-fascist) causes."--BOOK JACKET.

High Noon

High Noon PDF Author: Glenn Frankel
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1620409496
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Searchers, the revelatory story behind the classic movie High Noon and the toxic political climate in which it was created. It's one of the most revered movies of Hollywood's golden era. Starring screen legend Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in her first significant film role, High Noon was shot on a lean budget over just thirty-two days but achieved instant box-office and critical success. It won four Academy Awards in 1953, including a best actor win for Cooper. And it became a cultural touchstone, often cited by politicians as a favorite film, celebrating moral fortitude. Yet what has been often overlooked is that High Noon was made during the height of the Hollywood blacklist, a time of political inquisition and personal betrayal. In the middle of the film shoot, screenwriter Carl Foreman was forced to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities about his former membership in the Communist Party. Refusing to name names, he was eventually blacklisted and fled the United States. (His co-authored screenplay for another classic, The Bridge on the River Kwai, went uncredited in 1957.) Examined in light of Foreman's testimony, High Noon's emphasis on courage and loyalty takes on deeper meaning and importance. In this book, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Glenn Frankel tells the story of the making of a great American Western, exploring how Carl Foreman's concept of High Noon evolved from idea to first draft to final script, taking on allegorical weight. Both the classic film and its turbulent political times emerge newly illuminated.

Producer of Controversy

Producer of Controversy PDF Author: Jennifer Frost
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700624961
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
With films ranging from High Noon to Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Stanley Kramer (1913–2001) was one of the most successful and prolific director-producers of his day. But even as critics praised his courage in taking on such issues as nuclear war, racism, fascism, and the battle between science and religion, others condemned his work as “emptily pretentious“ and “hollow, falsely sentimental, overproduced.” Whether Kramer was “one of the great filmmakers of all time” (Kevin Spacey at the Golden Globe Awards) or “one of Hollywood’s worst directors” (preeminent film critic Andrew Sarris in The Village Voice), he had a strong and undeniable influence on American culture during the Cold War. Producer of Controversy is the first book to take a close-up look at Kramer’s career, films, and liberal politics in an effort to explain his contributions and historical significance. Kramer learned filmmaking within the old studio system, but over a career spanning forty years he did much to shape the independent moviemaking that emerged after World War II. Jennifer Frost pays particular attention to four of his key “message movies”—The Defiant Ones, On the Beach, Inherit the Wind, and Judgment at Nuremberg—to show how Kramer’s controversial films opened up public debate about the most important issues of his time—among average filmgoers as well as professional critics, political commentators, and public figures. In this context, she for the first time fully documents the Hollywood Right’s attacks on Kramer in the 1950s; details his resistance to the anticommunist Red Scare and the Hollywood blacklist; exposes his role as a cultural diplomat with the Soviet Union; and reveals his important contribution to the liberal and radical politics of the 1960s. Her book is at once an absorbing work of cultural history and a thoroughgoing reassessment of Stanley Kramer’s place in the pantheon of American filmmakers.

Dalton Trumbo

Dalton Trumbo PDF Author: Larry Ceplair
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813146828
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 717

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Book Description
James Dalton Trumbo (1905–1976) is widely recognized for his work as a screenwriter, playwright, and author, but he is also remembered as one of the Hollywood Ten who opposed the House Un-American Activities Committee. Refusing to answer questions about his prior involvement with the Communist Party, Trumbo sacrificed a successful career in Hollywood to stand up for his rights and defend political freedom. In Dalton Trumbo, authors Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo present their extensive research on the famed writer, detailing his work, his membership in the Communist Party, his long campaign against censorship during the domestic cold war, his ten-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress, and his thirteen-year struggle to break the blacklist. The blacklist ended for Trumbo in 1960, when he received screen credits for Exodus and Spartacus. Just before his death, he received a long-delayed Academy Award for The Brave One, and in 1993, he was posthumously given an Academy Award for Roman Holiday (1953). This comprehensive biography provides insights into the many notable people with whom Trumbo worked, including Stanley Kubrick, Otto Preminger, and Kirk Douglas, and offers a fascinating look at the life of one of Hollywood's most prominent screenwriters and his battle against persecution.

What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?

What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? PDF Author: Joseph McBride
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813145961
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 475

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Book Description
A “personal and passionate” account of the Citizen Kane director’s years as an expatriate and self-funded filmmaker (Los Angeles Times). At twenty-five, Orson Welles directed, co-wrote, and starred in Citizen Kane, widely considered the best film ever made. But Welles was such a revolutionary filmmaker that he found himself at odds with the Hollywood studio system, and his work was so far ahead of its time that he never regained the popular following he once enjoyed. Frustrated by Hollywood and falling victim to the postwar blacklist, Welles left for a long European exile. But he kept making films, functioning with the creative freedom of an independent filmmaker before that term became common and eventually preserving his independence by funding virtually all his own projects. Because he worked defiantly outside the system, Welles has often been maligned as an errant genius who squandered his early promise. Film critic Joseph McBride, who acted in Welles’s unfinished film The Other Side of the Wind, challenges conventional wisdom about Welles’s supposed creative decline in this first comprehensive examination of the films of Welles’s artistically rich yet little-known later period. During the 1970s and ’80s, Welles was breaking new aesthetic ground, experimenting as adventurously as he had throughout his career. McBride’s friendship and collaboration with Welles and his interviews with those who knew and worked with him make What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? a portrait of rare intimacy and insight. Reassessing Welles’s final period in the context of his entire life and work, this revealing portrait of this great film artist will change the terms of how Orson Welles is regarded. “[An] anecdote-illuminated account of Welles’s later years.” —The Washington Post “Joseph McBride. . .has a clearer understanding of Welles and his films than almost anyone.” —Martin Scorsese “A definitive study.” —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Hollywood Exiles in Europe

Hollywood Exiles in Europe PDF Author: Rebecca Prime
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813570867
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Rebecca Prime documents the untold story of the American directors, screenwriters, and actors who exiled themselves to Europe as a result of the Hollywood blacklist. During the 1950s and 1960s, these Hollywood émigrés directed, wrote, or starred in almost one hundred European productions, their contributions ranging from crime film masterpieces like Du rififi chez les hommes (1955, Jules Dassin, director) to international blockbusters like The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, screenwriters) and acclaimed art films like The Servant (1963, Joseph Losey, director). At once a lively portrait of a lesser-known American “lost generation” and an examination of an important transitional moment in European cinema, the book offers a compelling argument for the significance of the blacklisted émigrés to our understanding of postwar American and European cinema and Cold War relations. Prime provides detailed accounts of the production and reception of their European films that clarify the ambivalence with which Hollywood was regarded within postwar European culture. Drawing upon extensive archival research, including previously classified material, Hollywood Exiles in Europe suggests the need to rethink our understanding of the Hollywood blacklist as a purely domestic phenomenon. By shedding new light on European cinema’s changing relationship with Hollywood, the book illuminates the postwar shift from national to transnational cinema.