The United States V. Paramount Pictures (1948)

In the 1950’s, the U.S government black listed artists, playwright and other intellectuals as Communists and unfairly destroyed many careers.

In the early 1900’s, as films stated centering their focus on profit, large scale studios came onto the film scene. The studios that were discussed in the chapter were: Universal, United Artists, Paramount, Warner Bros, MGM, Fox, Columbia, and RKO. These studios employed some of the biggest names in the film world at the time. Many of these studios are still in business today, and have given prominent actors and directors their shot at fame. Universal was the first studio to move to the west coast. They produced popular films such as The

“Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion and secrecy. Hard and exact facts will cool it.” -Elia Kazan. Elia Kazan, a famous actor and director in the 1950’s, was accused of being a communist during The Red Scare.

My response: The Hollywood Blacklist was an event that occurred in America where some people who worked in Hollywood were accused of working with the communists. According to an article published by Online Highways LLC, the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) brought in many Hollywood writers, producers, and directors to question (Hollywood Blacklist). Then, according to an article published by A&E Television Networks, a notable group of 10 people who were brought in for questioning directly challenged the HUAC’s authority to question people about communist involvement, which forced them to spend a year in prison, pay a $1,000 fine, and become blacklisted so that they couldn’t work on any future Hollywood projects (“Hollywood Ten”). Their defiance was very controversial, since some people saw them as heroic people who stood up against McCarthyism and the Red Scare, while others felt that they needed to be punished for being admitted communists.

People lost their jobs and careers went bad and even imprisonment occurred. McCarthy held hearings called the Hollywood Blacklist, which had to do with The House Committee on Un-American Activities and anti- communist activities with the FBI.

The United State’s Capitalistic and consumer driven way of life sat in contrast to the Soviet Union’s Communist and government centred economy. So much so, that the fear of Communists living in America began a panic known as the second Red Scare. Americans attempted to weed out Communists, with programs like the loyalty program which required government workers to state if they have ever been a communist; as well as the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO). “...[The] (CIO) and United Auto Workers froze Communists out of leadership positions...” (Goldfield 805), along with this there were numerous trails and people assured of being a Communist. McCarthyism was another main reason the American public began exiling those assured of Communists; McCarthyism created a fear of these people, which allowed those accused to be black balled in their professions. One such example where the Hollywood Ten, which was a group of movie directors accused of being too soft on Communism.

The 1950s marked an incredible time in United States history. Many events that lead to the inspiration of future generations were revolutionized in economic and social expenditures of paramount proportion, most notably the manufacturing of war related materials for World War II. With an economic surge that catapulted the US even further into a position of world power, several industries flourished and suburban America took shape. Of these industries, film was one of the most substantial influences on the public and subsequently sparked a multitude of emotions. The culmination of entertainment adjoined with pressing issues allowed for designations of many political agendas. Some agendas proved to be melodramatic in nature regarding social reform while others were seen as substantial regarding national safety and protection.

The individuals, who were persecuted during what is now referred to as the “McCarthy Era,” had their once prominent careers destroyed. They lost their friends and family, and all based on untrue rumors which were spread about them, such as planning to start a revolution and attempt to overthrow the Government of the United States. At no time did the Communist Party have the manpower or financial resources to do anything more than a small demonstration and no party member from Hollywood gave serious thought to even that idea.

During the 1950’s, communism was a big issue in countries around the world. It was a different ideology that was usually run by a dictator, who would run the country very poorly and punish anyone who would stand in their way. This new ideology, challenged the principles of democracy so the Western hemisphere retaliated, banned the ideology and would persecute anyone who would believe in or be associated with it. Soon enough, people began to notice that communism was brought up quite frequently in Holly wood. The government began to crack down by starting the communist blacklisting’s. The blacklisting’s were eradicating anyone who was involved in communism from the film industry. This became a very frequent topic in the world, and soon enough

“As anti-Communist liberal screenwriter Philip Dunne said, If there is one thing about the blacklist that angers me more than any other, it is that we were all deprived of the movies Ring Lardner was not allowed to make” (Buhle). This shows that even anti-Communists were annoyed with the fact that blacklisting not only affected the people but also the movies and that some people including Ring Lardner were not allowed to make the

Good Afternoon, let me formally introduce myself. I am the set designer for the Hollywood movie production company that you may be very aware of. I am reaching out as I have a few conferences revolving around the actions of communists that have been acknowledged around Hollywood that have been confirmed by Mr. Senator Joseph McCarthy. I do not know if you are aware but many Actors, good Actors with that being said are losing their jobs and it’s costing the production loss of money. This hunt needs to be settled in a proper manly matter and needs to be stopped. We all know that Communism is presented and viewed socially. Everyone has different initiatives as well was wants and needs and money is only being

The Supreme Court ruled against the Hollywood’s monopoly of the film industry of the United States, directing that the production and distribution of movies be separated from movie exhibition practices. The ruling marked the death of studio era and led to numerous changes in film industry decades later. The paramount decision pushed the Twentieth century fox, Big Five studios, MGM, Paramount, RKO and Warner Bros companies to sell some of their theatre chains. The ruling went ahead to outlaw the price discriminatory and purchasing arrangements, fixing of admissions prices, block booking and

Hollywood has influenced American history since it began. It boosted and shaped the morale of a nation for almost a century. But Hollywood has not only been the influencing American society, it has been influenced by American society. In the 1920s, American society was booming; people were getting rich, spending and borrowing money, and they thought life was looking good. Then in October of 1929 the stock market crashed. Many people lost all they owned. People had invested all their money into the banks before the Crash. After the Crash, the banks had nothing. People were destitute. They had no money to pay for their houses, electrical bills, and food. It became the Great Depression. Likewise, Hollywood was impacted by the Great

In other words, they would be taken out.” The writer for The Washington Post article, “Political Affiliations” mentions how being affiliated with the Communist Party is a “serious social and economic handicap” and discusses how HUAC has encouraged that the studios “purge all Communists from their payrolls.” Lewis argues that Hollywood utilized the blacklist to fire individuals without reason, to cut expense and manage labour but decreasing payroll costs, as a post-war decline at the box office was predicted. This may have been a factor however blacklisting as far as the government and it’s committees were concerned hindered Communists and Communist sympathizers from getting work, which in turn affected them from making a living, and kept them from sneaking in hard to detect communist’s ideology for unsuspecting viewers to be influenced by. Ceplair and Englund discuss the element of secrecy which Communist party members in the United States maintained because of the level of anti-communist sentiment in the United States, and lacked a position within the “American polity”, in comparison to a Communist Party member in France where a citizen could openly join the party and attend meetings without being tried for disloyalty towards the

The Paramount decision of 1948 and the Hollywood blacklist altered the direction of the filmmaking business in America, one that I believe has had a lasting impression for decades. The Paramount decision of 1948 refers to a court decision against the major film companies, Paramount, Warner Bros., 20th Century-Fox, Loew’s-MGM, Columbia, Universal and United Artists to outlaw their price fixing and monopolization of the industry. The Hollywood blacklist referred to a list of studio employees from 1947 until 1957 that were linked to association to the Communist party, and were to be “blacklisted” form the film industry indefinitely, or until made innocent of their involvement. Both of these major events of the film industry in the 1930s until 1950s had a major impact on business. (Lewis 195)