What Was The Hollywood Ten Happened In The 1950's

The list accused 151 writers, directors and performers and claimed they were member of the Communist organization during World War II. The blacklist against Communists would make it significantly more difficult for a person to find employment in most industries and most likely would get a person fired just for even being interrogated or being any form of a suspect of Communism. Even a person who worked with a person accused of Communism had significantly less chance to be able to find a job. Ten stars that were most famous for standing up for themselves and pleaded the 5th amendment when asked to name Communists were known as the Hollywood ten. Their names were Herbert Biberman, Albert Maltz, Lester Cole, Adrian Scott, Samuel Ornitz, Dalton Trumbo, Edward Dmytryit, Ring Lardner Jr., John Howard Lawson and Alvah Bessie. The ten did not defend themselves because they were prideful Americans who saw their rights and the rights of others being harmed and decided to do something about, no. They were already asked if they were Communists when they went on a trip to California and they did not want to get charged with perjury. Some Americans did take action and saw that their rights were being put into question and decided to protect themselves, for example Alger Hiss who was accused and in order to solidify the fact that he was a Communist lawyers used his day to day schedule in full detail to solidify that his behaviors were that

In the mid 1940’s America faced a kind of fear that many viewed at the time to be easily justified. The “Red Scare” effected many people and ruined many lives during this time. During the red scare people were black listed in Hollywood and were prevented from finding work. This is because the “Red Scare” was a point in time where there was widespread fear and government paranoia by a society or state, about a potential rise of communism, anarchism, or radical leftism. The black list came around from the idea that communists were trying to use Hollywood to influence the minds of the people and turn American citizens in to spies for the Russians. This was no easy time for many Americans, people not only abused whomever they didn’t trust by creating claims that that they were communist with or without evidence. The first Hollywood blacklist was created on November 25, 1947. This was the day after ten writers and directors were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee. The writer Dolton Trumbo was one of the individuals black listed and was sent to prison. The movie incarnation of the book about events of his life some think was a well depiction of his person and life. The book however, containing more detail and seemingly brutal honest documented events differ from the movie. These differences bring into question what are motivations, the changes to the store; and for what purpose. Does the movie portrayal of Trumbo

The House Un-American Activities Committee, also know as HUAC, investigated alleged communist activities in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The committee called high-profile citizens to testify in hearings before Congress. Gary Cooper, a Hollywood actor, was a “friendly” witness questioned in October of 1947. Cooper was called to appear before HUAC under the false accusation of promoting communism in Philadelphia. Albert Maltz, a movie writer, was an “unfriendly” witness questioned in 1947. Maltz was called to appear before the committee because he was an active member of the Screen Writers Guild and had a large influence in Hollywood. Although Gary Cooper’s and Albert Maltz’s testimonies before HUAC contain different answering methods, the two testimonies compare in that points of view of the person on trial and methods of questioning.

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.

At the end of the 1940’s and the beginning of the 1950’s, the United States were in the midst of the Second Red Scare and a fear that Communism might over throw the American way of life. Cold War tensions were at an all time high, which only fueled the widespread fears of Communist subversion. It was here that Senator Joseph McCarthy became a public face when he began making claims that the U.S. Government, as well as many other areas of the country, including the entertainment industry, had been invaded by Soviet and Communist spies, looking to destroy America from within. Hearings before the House Un-American Activities Committee, Hollywood Blacklisting, and anti-communist activity from the FBI soon followed. McCarthy was under intense analysis

The 1970s is known for being the decade for changing the American values and culture and Hollywood played a major part in this change. It all began with president Nixon being elected in 1969. He ordered bombing in the neutral Cambodia, which he though would help end Vietnam war, but it did not. The 1970s were a very turbulent time due to the tragedy of Vietnam and the trauma caused by the Watergate Scandal. Due to this, People were losing faith in the government and many riots occurred during this time. While the People went through many changes in the 1970s, the Hollywood industry also went through many changes during this time.

The Hollywood Ten, for example, was a group of actors and actresses, accused in acting in movies that had communist-like material. These members were sent to prison and then blacklisted, which meant they were no longer allowed to be in movies, and they were shunned. With all of that going on, it made people start to point fingers at their own friends, families and neighbors, which would soon cause everyone to not trust anyone, which is what McCarthy wanted. Document 5 states, “And that is what I mean when I say that McCarthy’s antics are the best asset that the kremlin can have.” This statement is arguing that McCarthy wanted to get the US scared and worried about communists, that they’d start pointing fingers at everyone, claiming someone is a communist, which would soon tear the US apart because no one can trust each other; if the US is torn apart, it’s good for the soviets

The Golden Age of Hollywood was a time when Hollywood hit its peak successfully and economically, starting with the late 1920s, and met its decline due to corruption in the late 1950s. One would ask the question: “Where did the name Hollywood come from?” The name came from Harvey Henderson Wilcox and his wife, Daeida, who were owners of a small ranch west of Los Angeles. According to u-s-history.com, “Daeida, who, while on a train trip east met a woman that described her country home in Ohio, that had been named for the Dutch settlement of Hollywood. Liking the name, Daeida christened their ranch 'Hollywood,' upon her return.” (History of Hollywood, California) Movies during this time period became a vital form of entertainment for all Americans during this time period. By the 1910s, Hollywood was combined into its neighboring city Los Angeles, and many motion-picture studios began to open. Moviemakers rushed to Hollywood, and competition started to become widespread between directors and producers. By 1910, the first motion picture was made in Hollywood, titled In Old California, and soon enough, Los Angeles became second to New York in producing films also because of it’s quintessential weather for movies to be made in all year long during this time. As Hollywood began to industrialize, filmmakers began to work on the image of a “star”; they would continuously use these highly-paid actors in order to achieve a form of comfort for the general audience of the movies. Seeing

For my arcival project I chose to research the Hollywood Ten, I chose this because I am fascinated by the events of that occurred around this time and group. The Hollywood Ten was a group of writers, directors, and other artists who bravely refused to answer questions in front of the House of Un-American Activities and were therefore sentenced to jail time and banned from working in Hollywood. The actions of that the House of Un-American Activities and the resistance of the Hollywood Ten raised attention and a debate across the country about the actions that the government was taking against Hollywood artists.

1028) The HUAC, or House Committee on Un-American Activities, rapidly accused many Americans of being Communist agents or having Communist ties while violating many civil liberties in the investigation of their suspects. (pg. 1028) As depicted in the primary source, “I Cannot and Will Not Cut My Conscience to Fit This Year’s Fashions,” multiple Hollywood careers were ruined by the HUAC’s investigations simply because the people under investigation exercised the Fifth Amendment. (This Year’s Fashions) A woman named Lillian Hellman took the Fifth when refusing “to testify… to her own activities if she would… be forced to inform on others.” (This Year’s Fashion) Hellman’s situation represents the fear that some Americans felt, since at the time, anyone could be accused of being a Communist agent even without having signs of Communist ties. (pg.

The purpose of the HUAC was to “search for Communists” (HUAC). They wanted to pin point the Communists working for the federal government and film industry. The Hollywood Ten refused to answer questions and then they were sent to prison. This is an prime example of creating false accusations toward people because the people did not have answer questions that they did not want to. This is also referred to as the Blacklist. The HUAC “pressured witnesses to surrender names and other information that could lead to the apprehension of Communists and Communists sympathizers.” (gwu.edu). Innocent people were punished because they would refuse to answer such questions that they did not wish to answer. The government then proposed false accusations that put many behind the bars. The government was abusing their powers by framing people for questions that they do not want to answer. The series of false accusations threatened many people because if they did not tell the truth or say information that led to Communists, they would then be arrested. This was a violation of their

Next, the people whose lives McCarthy destroyed must be looked at. In the immediate aftermath of McCarthy's speech came many accusations. America wanted the people that McCarthy said were on his list. But when asked for the list, McCarthy said he lost it, and he could not remember which individuals were on the list. But he said he did see some key Hollywood figures on it. That was when the focus shifted to all of Hollywood. If anyone thought that an actor or actress seemed suspicious, they would simply start gossip about

The change tearing through America in the 1950’s persists to this day. 2010 has brought a busier, more materialistic, culture than ever before. The trends of women working outside of the home and increasing teenage autonomy persists. American teenagers are given more discretionary time than ever before in history. Reed Larson studied this continuing trend and explains, “If we look back over the past 200 years, the most striking historic change in young people’s use of time is that youths spend much less time on labor activities today than they did in America’s agrarian past” (160). Some teenagers use

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.

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