The Effects of McCarthyism on Hollywood - Research Paper Example

The Effects of McCarthyism on Hollywood (The Effects of Hysteria) The McCarthy Era was a time when everyone in the United States was on edge. They were already afraid of Russia for many reasons and they were willing to sacrifice their neighbors in order to save themselves. This was an Era of hysteria where no one was "safe". If an individual or family was suspected of being a communist, they were generally questioned by government officials and often jailed for their perceived activities; this action was most prevalent in Hollywood. Many people have been intrigued by this era and have wondered why there was such a stir in Hollywood. There are many questions about this time and some of them are: "Why was there such a scare and how was Hollywood effected?" "Were there really people who were communists in Hollywood or was this just a part of the hysteria?" These questions will be answered by this paper and it will give an understanding of who the main players were and why the McCarthy era became so powerful and is still a very intriguing part of history. 1. The End of World War II and the Cold War War is always an interesting situation for those people who are fighting and in 1945 this was a cause for celebration. The Germans had been defeated and this act brought the three leaders of the national allies to the table for a meeting. At the meeting were U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, the Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The reason for the meeting was to decide how Germany would be split and who would occupy each area. It was decided that four zones would be created with The United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and France occupying one of the zones (Fitzgerald 28). Also, Berlin would be divided into four regions because it was the capital city of Germany at the time. The next task was for the United States to ask for elections in each of the areas that had been freed from the Germans; Stalin accepted this idea but did not give a date for when the elections might occur. Unfortunately, Roosevelt died and Vice President Harry S. Truman took over the oval office. He immediately used atomic weapons to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II (Fitzgerald 30). This was not a positive move for the relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States and tensions between them grew. This tension prompted Stalin to break his agreement to hold the elections. Instead, he broke his agreement and installed communist governments in the areas where he was supposed to hold the elections; generally he put them in Eastern Europe which included Poland. This angered the United States and the Cold War began. This began a rivalry between the two largest nations (Fitzgerald 30). Three months after this happened, the United States aggressively created The European Recovery Act (also known as the Marshall Plan) that would create an opportunity for 16 non-communist European nations to rebuild their areas. The United States spend $13 billion to send fuel, materials, food and other machinery to help these other nations "get back on their feet"(Fitzgerald 31). This was a very good move for the United States because it helped to quiet down the threat of communism in those areas. The Soviets, not happy with this action, countered the United States' effort and aggressively expanded their communist influence in Europe. They blocked the roads and railways that lead into West Berlin so that people could not receive essential commodities like food, medicine and other vital materials from outside the area. The United States and Britain countered this action by dropping food, medicine and other necessary items to West Berlin through cargo planes (Fitzgerald 32). This action was known as the "Berlin Airlift" and lasted for 10 months. These actions brought the idea of communism to the forefront of the American media and began to build tension among citizens; this also meant that President Truman would look towards combating communism in the United States because politically, he was under pressure to do something. One of the first things that Truman did to show he was doing something about communism was to sign the Executive Order 9835 that created an investigation into the activities and loyalty of federal employees. Anyone one suspected of being "disloyal" was brought in to face a "loyalty board." Just as in the Salem Witch Trials, the people who were brought in were not told their charges and were not told who had accused them. This was done so that people could not prepare for this process. In total, the FBI viewed the files of 4,7 million federal employees and found very few who were communists; however, 560 were dismissed or denied when they applied for a job. This idea spread to universities and other institutions who also created "loyalty programs" (Fitzgerald 33). Soon after these programs began a scandal broke out as the result of a man by the name of Whittaker Chambers. He was shown as a communist spy who claimed he was a part of an entire spy network in the United Sates. This created a scandal that would go through the government to try to find others who were part of this party. They did find Alger Hiss who became one of the first people to be imprisoned because they were suspected of being a communist. Hiss was working in the government and had a high position in government which for many was a sign that communism was "alive and well" in the government (Theoharis 45). One all of this talk about communism was ensconced in America, John McCarthy, wy9 was a Senator at the time, was looking for a way to advance his political ambitions. He decided that he would join the fight against communism in order to make a name for himself (Fitzgerald 42). McCarthy went around the country telling people that there were hundreds of communists working in the federal government. He suggested that at least 205 communists were already working in the federal government in Denver, Colorado (Theoharis 35). He said that he had a list of these people as proof, but he failed to supply the list when requested. It was found later that McCarthy did not have a list. Although President Truman told the media that McCarthy was lying, most thought he was telling the truth because he held a powerful position in government. From this point, McCarthy continued to tell his story and he insisted he had a list that did not exist. These accusations prompted the Tydings Committee in 1950 to investigate charges about people who could possibly be security risks who were working in the State Department. McCarthy named nine people and when investigated, these claims fell through. But McCarthy continued despite criticism to promised the media that he would uncover "the top Russian espionage agent" (Fitzgerald 46). It was clear that although McCarthy was very adamant about the "fact" that communism existed, it was not something that he knew much about or which he had common knowledge. 2. McCarthyism and Hollywood In order to understand why McCarthy went after Hollywood, there needs to be some understanding of Communism and Hollywood during the 1930s. According to Kenneth Billingsley Communism was already a part of America. There were people who were engaged in learning about Communism and others who were already practicing. There were trips to Moscow by Hollywood moguls who saw what the Soviets wanted them to see. They came back saying that it was a beautiful place. Stalin, a man who was used to controlling unions and other organizations, though he could easily convert the world to communisms simply by getting control of Hollywood ( 21). Everyone loved movies and the American people flocked to see them regardless of income. With this idea in mind, the Soviets eventually would open a "consulate" in San Francisco, so that they could create a cover for what would eventually be known as the KGB (Billingsley 28). Many people were becoming Communists in America and Hollywood became a place that actors were coming together in unions to attempt to gain more pay. During the same time, The Communist party began solidly in New York ( Billingsley 44). By 1930, San Francisco became the home of a very powerful Communist organization. In 1947, a pamphlet was created and distributed during a rally called, "What is the Role of Communists in the Hollywood Unions?" ( Billingsley 159). In this year McCarthy was also a Senator and very aware of what was going on in Hollywood. Hollywood was more about money than it was about art, and the unions were battling to gain more money for the actors. However, the Communist Party was attempting to control the unions. Picketing became a natural aspect of Hollywood. As picketing continued, the major union (the Conference of Studio Unions) was weakening but the Communist Party grew stronger; this all happened as the Cold War was also "heating up" (Billingsley 166). There were many groups that were beginning and showing themselves in Hollywood and the United States that were pro-Nazi which came to the attention of Samuel Dickstein, a U.S. Representative. He was interested in investigating these activities and began the "Committee on Un-American Activities" which had as its goal to "watch every subversive group in this [America] country" (Billingsley 169). This committee started the various trials and testimonies against Communism. This action meant that eventually, anyone who was suspected of being a Communist or "anti-American" would be brought before this committee to testify; some actors would turn other actors in to the committee (Billingsley 228). Many actors fled to other countries rather than to testify. 3. The Hollywood 10 The full name of the committee was the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The major focus of this committee according to Martin Redish was to investigate the communist influence that was "rumored" to be in the "motion-picture industry" (Redish 132). Many people were brought before the HUAC to explain their loyalty as Americans. Some of the Communist Party in Hollywood testified against each other and others decided to plead the Fifth Amendment. Other people became informers and reported certain "subversives" as communists; those that were accused were subpoenaed and brought in for questioning in front of the committee. Based on their testimony they could be fired from their jobs or jailed (Redish 132). Although McCarthy expected that anyone who was subpoenaed would automatically come and speak, the First Amendment of the Constitution provided the right of people "not to have to speak" (Redish 134). The Hollywood Ten went down in history because they choose to plead the Fifth Amendment rather than to answer to whether they were "Anti-American" because they felt McCarthy's actions were unconstitutional ("The Quotations Page" ). Although these men stood up for their rights as American citizens, their actions would cost them dearly -- their names were put on a blacklist and they could not find work. Walter Bernstein was one of the men put on the blacklist and he wrote a memoir about it. He states that what was once accepted (being part of the Communist Party in America) was now turned into a criminal act under McCarthy's rule (12). Bernstein was not one of the Hollywood Ten but he was blacklisted. Many of the accusations were directly linked to the amount of money that crossed certain individual's hands. As an example, the American Business Consultants were a group that profited in many ways from accusing people of Communism. They would both accuse people and then give them protection from these accusations (Bernstein 25). In this way, they were able to keep fear going and in television and the movies, sponsors and networks were afraid to hire anyone that was considered anti-American. Another challenge for the Hollywood Ten was that by pleading the Fifth Amendment people around them assumed they had something to hide. This plea also meant that "The Party" actually used their difficulties to further the Party's interest. The Hollywood Ten were "found guilty of contempt … in 1948" (Morgan 520). To add insult to injury, by 1947 these men were added to the blacklist; some of them "named names" in order to continue working (Morgan 522). Many writers changed their names in order to seek work elsewhere. 4. Communism and the Movies As McCarthyism continued fully, the hysteria in America was at its highest. By 1950, the American Business Consultants were able to keep fear and anxiety going by publishing their book, The Red Channels. This was a 213 page book that accused 151 "actors, writers, producers and directors" as Communism (Morgan 526). Many on the list were Communists but all of the names that were featured in the book were blacklisted. This book and other events created the "undercover witness" who would testify against other members of the industry. Hollywood continued to make movies with themes of both Communism and anti-Communism. There were several films that were made to show anti-Communism. Some of them included: 1. Ninotchka (1939). Wildly popular and remade in 1957 titled, Silk Stockings. 2. Man on a Tightrope (1953). The circus is the setting for this one and it showed how destructive Communism was in any setting. 3. Them (1954). A Sci-fi film that showed Communists as giant ants. 4. Walk a Crooked Mile (1949). This film showed the FBI in a bad light. 5. On the Waterfront. (1954). A film about trying to do the right thing when everyone around is corrupt. (Pearson 1998). There were also pro-Communist movies that were made after McCarthyism that talked about the HUAC Committee and what they did. Some of these movies included: 1. McCarthy; Death of a Witch Hunter (1971). This movie was a 45 minute documentary that spotlighted McCarthy and his notoriety. 2. The Way We Were (1973). This was actually a movie about the damage that Communism did to a politically active couple played by Robert Redford and Barbara Streisand. 3. Mission to Moscow. This movie was taken from the book of the same title and the book was serialized in Reader's Digest. Critics said the movie was "flattering to Stalin and the Soviet Regime" (Billingsley 89). 4. Guilty by Suspicion. (1991). This movie told the story of the Hollywood 10 without mentioning names (Billingsley 274-275). (Pearson 1998 unless otherwise noted). 5. Conclusion As McCarthyism moved towards a close, no one really knew that the interest in this time period of history would last as long. There are researchers who have equated this period in America to Nazi Germany under Hitler and The Salem Witch Trials. The message was clear that there were many people in Hollywood who were Communist and that indeed, they had control over what was done and how it was done. Many times the scripts that were received by some of the Communist producers were changed so that they could make sure that small bits of Communist propaganda were put into the film. As an example, a business man in a movie during this time was always shown in a bad light. Also, since The Party was anti-Freud, they could not make movies that dealt with psychological theories (Billingsley 91). Although it was true that there were many people in Hollywood that were Communist, they did not pose a real threat but McCarthy made sure that the perceived threat looked like a reality. Works Cited Bernstein, Walter. Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist. NY: The DeCapo Press, 2000. Print. Billingsley, Kenneth Lloyd. Hollywood Party: How Communism Seduced the American Film Industry in the 1930s and 1940s. CA: Forum, 2000. Print. Fitzgerald, Brian. McCarthyism: The Red Scare. Snapshots in History Series. MA: Compass Point Books, 2007. Print. McCumber, John. Time in the Ditch: American Philosophy and the McCarthy Era. IL: Northwestern University Press, 2001. Print. Morgan, Ted. Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America. NY: Random House, 2003. Pearson, Glenda. "The Red Scare: A Filmography." The All Powers Project. University of Washington Libraries. 5 March 1998. 02 December 2009. . Redish, Martin H. The Logic of Persecution: Free Expression and the McCarthy Era. CA: Standford University Press, 2005. Print. Theoharis, Nathan. Chasing Spies: How the FBI Failed in Counterintelligence but Promoted the Politics of McCarthyism in the Cold War Years. IL: Ivan R. Dee, 2002. Print. The Quotations Page. The Hollywood Ten. 1997. 2 Nov. 2009 from . Read More