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| Members of the "Hollywood Ten," alongside a few of their lawyers |
In the midst of the Great Depression, despite American industries collapsing left and right, Hollywood stayed open for business. As a result, large numbers of out-of-work Americans flocked to the emerging entertainment capital hoping to find the jobs so hard to come by back home.1 With the growing popularity of “talkies”—movies which utilized sound-on-disc technologies to provide dialogue as part of the on-screen action—young newcomers streamed in, bringing with them left-leaning ideals rooted within the nation’s current economic crisis.2 Galvanized by the poor conditions of people on the streets, and inspired by the international upheavals of the Sino-Japanese and Spanish Civil War, these entertainers formed the Hollywood Communist Party, establishing an organization that would eventually lead to various members’ demise.
FBI investigation into the Hollywood CP began long before the October 1947 hearing of the “Hollywood Ten”—headed by the merciless J. Edgar Hoover—a man suspicious of anyone questioning (what he deemed to be) long established American ideals—since its origins in 1935, the Bureau’s efforts centered around examining possible subversive Communist activity. 3 Their inquiries in Hollywood culminated with a May 1947 HUAC visit to LA, in which the committee conducted forty-one interviews of entertainers whom FBI evidence deemed distrustful. 4
Many understandably caved under pressure—concerned over keeping their profitable jobs and maintaining a good reputation, people like producer Jack L. Warner (of Warner Brothers Productions), willingly provided names of suspected Communists, and denounced any previous personal connections they may have had with the Party.5 Deemed “friendly witnesses,” their testimonies provided a list on nineteen men from which the “Hollywood Ten” would emerge.
Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner, Jr., John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Adrian Scott and Dalton Trumbo were the ten “unfriendly” witnesses subpoenaed to Washington D.C. by the House of Un-American Activities Committee in 1947. 6 The reason for their selection over the nine others, when all were known Communists was never explicitly stated, yet, numerous factors provide good reason. All were well educated (Bessie, Biberman, Lardner and Maltz all attended Ivy League schools) and well known (many had won Academy Awards, and, by 1947, Lardner specifically was earning $2,000 a month writing screenplays for Warner Brothers)—testimonies against them and the Communist cause they associated with would undoubtedly garner publicity to instill greater fear of (and therefore greater demand to persecute) Party activity in America. 7 Moreover, aware that a public berating of a war veteran would not only tarnish their image, but would undermine their stance that these men were “un-American,” the HUAC made sure none of these men had participated in any WWII combat. 8
Despite the promises of Committee Chairman J. Parnell Thomas to be “fair and impartial,” the hearings of the “Hollywood Ten” proved anything but.9 Forcing the men to answer strictly “yes or no” questions, and denying them the right of cross-examination, the committee’s actions seemed more like an inquisition than a congressional hearing. 10 Great discontent within the public consciousness, and especially within the minds of ten put on trial, followed—the men refused to answer HUAC’s questions, proclaiming the charges put against them violated their First Amendment rights of free speech. As a result, the HUAC slyly sentenced them to one year in jail, charging them not with illegal Communist subversion, but contempt of congress. 11
Initially, the “Hollywood Ten” attracted industry support—actors like Humphrey Bogart spoke out again the ironically un-American actions of the HUAC. 12 Yet, when studio executives agreed to fire the Ten, institute loyalty oaths that assured the unemployment of those on an industry-wide blacklist, backing waned. 13 Consequently, the members of the “Hollywood Ten” found their careers in shambles—in the immediate aftermath, most went abroad, but none left Hollywood all together. Continuing to write and produce either anonymously or under pseudonyms, the “Hollywood Ten” successfully left their marks upon the film industry, albeit with a great deal of undesired infamy. 14
1 Buhle, Paul and Patrick McGilligan. Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist. St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY. 1997.
2 Buhle, Paul and Patrick McGilligan. Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist. St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY. 1997.
3 Humphries, Reynold. Hollywood’s Blacklists: A Political and Cultural History. Edinburgh University Press Ltd, Edinburgh, UK. 2008.
4 Humphries, Reynold. Hollywood’s Blacklists: A Political and Cultural History. Edinburgh University Press Ltd, Edinburgh, UK. 2008.
5 Humphries, Reynold. Hollywood’s Blacklists: A Political and Cultural History. Edinburgh University Press Ltd, Edinburgh, UK. 2008.
6 Buhle, Paul and Patrick McGilligan. Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist. St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY. 1997.
7 Humphries, Reynold. Hollywood’s Blacklists: A Political and Cultural History. Edinburgh University Press Ltd, Edinburgh, UK. 2008.
8 Humphries, Reynold. Hollywood’s Blacklists: A Political and Cultural History. Edinburgh University Press Ltd, Edinburgh, UK. 2008.
9 Humphries, Reynold. Hollywood’s Blacklists: A Political and Cultural History. Edinburgh University Press Ltd, Edinburgh, UK. 2008.
10 Humphries, Reynold. Hollywood’s Blacklists: A Political and Cultural History. Edinburgh University Press Ltd, Edinburgh, UK. 2008.
11 Humphries, Reynold. Hollywood’s Blacklists: A Political and Cultural History. Edinburgh University Press Ltd, Edinburgh, UK. 2008.
12 Humphries, Reynold. Hollywood’s Blacklists: A Political and Cultural History. Edinburgh University Press Ltd, Edinburgh, UK. 2008.
13 Buhle, Paul and Patrick McGilligan. Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist. St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY. 1997.
14 Buhle, Paul and Patrick McGilligan. Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist. St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY. 1997.
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