Hollywood Blacklists

One of the iconic episodes of the anti-communist furor of post–World War II America, the Hollywood blacklist marked the intersection of Cold War anxieties and the cultural power of American media culture. Anti-communist crusaders—both within the government and the private sector—targeted the media as a site of subversive infiltration. The blacklist, comprised of media workers ineligible for employment because of alleged communist or subversive ties, was implemented by the Hollywood studios to promote their patriotic credentials in the face of public attacks, and to shield the film industry from the [Page 693]economic harm that would result from an association of its product with subversives. Though many entries on the blacklist were the result of rumors, the hint of suspicion was enough to end a career.

Congressional accusations of communist influence in the film industry began in 1941, when Senators Burton Wheeler and Gerald Nye led an investigation of Hollywood's role in promoting Soviet propaganda. Wendell Willkie, the lawyer who defended the studios, revealed the senators' conflation of Judaism with communism, casting the senators as anti-Semites rather than patriots. These hearings anticipated the much more infamous and influential investigations that would take place after World War II.

In 1947, the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) began its investigation into Hollywood. Of the individuals subpoenaed by the committee that year, 10 refused to testify. Referred to as the Hollywood Ten, they were indicted for contempt of Congress and sentenced to brief imprisonment. Leaders of motion picture studios, after initially supporting the Hollywood Ten, denounced them and announced that they be suspended without pay, and thereafter no subversive would be knowingly employed in Hollywood. The Hollywood blacklist was born.

HUAC continued to subpoena members of the film industry in the 1950s, asking questions not only about their own activities, but also about fellow workers. One third of those subpoenaed cooperated with the committee, which often meant accusing friends and coworkers. Those who did not cooperate risked going to jail and being blacklisted. One could be removed from the blacklist by testifying in front of the committee and publicly repenting for past behavior.

In addition to HUAC, private groups such as the American Legion, Catholic War Veterans, and the Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals monitored the entertainment industries and published articles and pamphlets that identified subversive individuals. Perhaps the most powerful was the American Legion, which not only disseminated information about communist associations of media workers, but also encouraged its 2.8 million members to picket movies made by people who had not cooperated with HUAC.

Hollywood itself has commemorated the days of the blacklist in films like Guilty by Suspicion of 1991 and The Front of 1976. These movies reinforce the popular memory of the blacklist as a blight on the history of American entertainment, a time when the film industry pandered to the hysteria of both HUAC and private anti-communist organizations. As part of the wider sweep of anti-communist activities of the post-war period, the Hollywood blacklist brought media workers into the web of suspicion and fear that characterized the era.

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