[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.31,0:00:19.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hi. I'm Wheeler Winston Dixon, James Ryan Professor of Film Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and this is Frame By Frame,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.52,0:00:26.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and today I want to talk about a very serious subject: the Hollywood blacklist of the 1940s, 50s and 60s.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.99,0:00:33.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The blacklist has its roots in the Great Depression, which was the result of the 1929 crash.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.21,0:00:40.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By 1933, 25% of America's workforce were out of work. Jobs simply weren't available.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.77,0:00:47.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thus there was the rise of labor unions, and particularly in Hollywood the major studios resisted this...
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.55,0:00:55.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because they had been using non-union labor for so long that they viewed any attempt to organize as "communistically" inspired.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.62,0:01:01.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the same time that this is happening, we have Hitler rising to power in Germany,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.96,0:01:04.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the conditions in Europe becoming more and more unstable.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.96,0:01:13.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1936, the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees for the first time manage to organize unions and close shops...
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.84,0:01:17.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at studios like Warner Bros., Paramount and MGM.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.58,0:01:26.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1937, the Supreme Court upheld the National Labor Relations Act, giving them the right to collectively organize and bargain.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.82,0:01:35.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1938, Congress formed the House UnAmerican Activities Committee to investigate unionization...
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.23,0:01:40.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,basically at the behest of the studios and large corporations that were against this.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.01,0:01:46.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in 1938, we have the first wave of HUAC's accusations against people.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.84,0:01:54.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A former communist named James B. Matthews came forward, and this is his only appearance of any note in history...
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.99,0:02:05.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,claiming that James Cagney, Bette Davis, Clark Gabel, Myriam Hopkins and Shirley Temple were all communist sympathizers...
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.39,0:02:08.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and at the time nobody took him very seriously.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.46,0:02:16.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But then in 1939, Stalin and Hitler signed a non-agression pact on the eve of World War II.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.27,0:02:20.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then Hitler momentarily after that attacked Poland and Chekloslavikia.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.81,0:02:27.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We, of course, got into the war in 1941, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.45,0:02:32.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And at that time the Soviet Union just more or less sat by between 1939 and 1941.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.79,0:02:38.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was only in 1941 that they came into the picture on the side of the Allies.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.16,0:02:43.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And during WWII, the Soviets were our allies, but they were very uneasy ones.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.80,0:02:48.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Winston Churchill once said, "I would make a deal with the devil in a fight against Hitler."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.97,0:02:53.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that's exactly what was happening here, but for a while the Soviets were our allies.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.01,0:02:59.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what happened, of course, after the war was that Stalin immediately began enslaving all of eastern Europe,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.55,0:03:03.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and everybody became extremely afraid of the "Communist Threat."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.62,0:03:09.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1941, we have an event which leads into this, and that's the great animators strike at Walt Disney.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.93,0:03:21.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Disney studio was a non-union shop, and in 1941 the animators struck seeking better pay, the right to unionize and better working conditions.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.84,0:03:28.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Disney resisted and finally left the country because he was so angry about this, and convinced that it was a communist plot.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.67,0:03:33.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The strike was settled 5 weeks later, but Disney was extremely bitter, and so were the employees.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.61,0:03:36.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this was really the beginning of the blacklist.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.08,0:03:44.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1946, the HUAC held formal hearings on the communist influence on the motion picture industry.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.12,0:03:50.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in 1947, the HUAC held 10 days of closed hearings in Los Angeles.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.70,0:04:00.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Robert Taylor, Lila Rogers (the mother of Ginger Rogers), Jack Warner and Adolph Mangue were the principle witnesses, or "friendly" witnesses.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.03,0:04:08.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1947, the Screen Actors Guild signs the Loyalty Oath Agreement... you have to sign a loyalty oath, and if you don't, you don't work.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.05,0:04:20.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1947, formal hearing begin with Gary Cooper, Walt Disney, Robert Montgomery, George Murphy and Ronald Reagan testifying as friendly witnesses before the House committee.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.29,0:04:25.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,RONALD REAGAN: We have done a pretty good job in our business of keeping those people's activities curtailed.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.94,0:04:44.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1947, the HUAC charged the "Hollywood Ten," who included Howard Beberman, Edward Demetrik (who was a very famous Noir director), and Dalton Trumbo with contempt of Congress for refusing to answer their questions.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.52,0:04:54.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Also in 1947, a series of Hollywood stars tried to fight against this. They called themselves the Committe for the First Amendment.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.46,0:04:57.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they flew to Washington to try to stop the hearings.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.63,0:05:08.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And these people included Lauren Baccall, Humphrey Bogart, Ira Girshwin, Sterling Hayden, John Huston, Danny Kaye and Gene Kelly.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.04,0:05:14.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But soon they realized that the forces were just so overwhelming that there was nothing they could do to stop the HUAC.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.12,0:05:16.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They folded their tents and went home.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.70,0:05:22.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm going to read a list of some of the people the HUAC identified as communists.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.62,0:05:28.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Edward G. Robinson, who was a fixture at WWII bond rallies, selling bonds...
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.53,0:05:41.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Charlie Chaplin, Katherine Hepburn, Danny Kaye, Gregory Peck, Frank Sinatra, Orson Welles, Leonard Bernstein... the composer and conductor...
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.04,0:05:45.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Will Gear, who wound up later on "The Waltons" playing Grandpa Walton...
Dialogue: 0,0:05:45.61,0:05:48.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lena Horne, the African American singer,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.18,0:05:50.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Langston Hughs, the writer,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.25,0:05:53.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Joseph Lowese, the director who fled to England,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.89,0:06:00.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Harry Belafonte, Louis Bunelle, the brilliant Spanish director... and the list goes on and on.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.93,0:06:09.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When the Hollywood Ten were sent to prison in 1951, Edward Demetrik was the first to crack. He simply couldn't stand the conditions.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.50,0:06:11.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He got out and he named names.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.50,0:06:17.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And as a result of that, he was put back to work directing "Sniper" and later "The Caine Mutiny."
Dialogue: 0,0:06:17.31,0:06:22.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Elia Kazan, in 1952, also gave friendly testimony before the committee...
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.68,0:06:31.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in 1952, Charlie Chaplin leaves the country for England for a promotional tour for his film, "Limelight."
Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.72,0:06:38.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When Chaplin tried to re-enter, J. Edgar Hoover sees to it that he is not allowed to re-enter the United States...
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.13,0:06:43.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the grounds that he is a Communist sympathizer, and Chaplin is effectively barred from the U.S.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.30,0:06:50.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1953, the Screen Writers' Guild allows producers to remove screen credits of any suspected communists.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.69,0:07:00.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1957, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, excludes anyone on the Hollywood blacklist for consideration for an Oscar.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.29,0:07:09.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1958, the Supreme Court of the United States rejects the argument that the Hollywood blacklist violated employee rights.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:09.10,0:07:13.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in 1959, the tide finally starts to turn.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:13.12,0:07:22.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decides that screen writers and actors on the blacklist will no longer be prohibited for consideration for Oscars.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.04,0:07:27.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1960, Dalton Trumbo does the screenplay for Otto Premiger's "Exodus,"
Dialogue: 0,0:07:27.21,0:07:33.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and becomes the first person who was blacklisted, since the beginning of the blacklist, to get a screen credit.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.15,0:07:40.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1970, Dalton Trumbo delivers his famous "Only Victims" speech before the Screen Writers Guild.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:40.94,0:07:49.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1972, Robert Vaughn, best known as "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," writes a brilliant book called "Only Victims,"
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.04,0:07:54.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is a study of show business blacklisting, which is the first major book and still is one of the best on that.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.78,0:08:04.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1972, Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since 1952, to receive an honorary Academy Award for his life's works.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:04.79,0:08:12.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,CHARLIE CHAPLIN: Oh, you're wonderful sweet people. Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:12.32,0:08:20.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in 1976, Martin Ritt directs "The Front" with Woody Allen, which is about screenwriters who are forced to work under false names,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:20.27,0:08:24.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they get "fronts" to front for their work. This is in 1976.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:24.97,0:08:32.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,WOODY ALLEN: I don't recognize the right of this committee to ask me these kind of questions.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.18,0:08:40.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1991, producer Irwin Winkler directs "Guilty By Suspicion" starring Robert DeNiro, which is probably the best account of the blacklist.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:40.82,0:08:50.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But all in all, the blacklist put a lot of people out of work, many of whom were entirely guiltless and were basically just the victim of a vendetta.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.30,0:08:57.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I'm going to leave the last word to Dalton Trumbo who was one of the victims of the blacklist, but who wrote very movingly about it.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:57.20,0:09:00.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this is part of his very famous "Only Victims" speech.