Culpable por sospecha

Upon reading through 20 or so of the last reviews of "Guilty by Suspicion" it dawned on me that the majority of the reviewers are only vaguely familiar with the history associated with the film. Robert De Niro's DAVID MERRILL is an almost direct representation of real-life director ELIA KAZAN, known for such great films as "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "On the Waterfront". Only the names have been changed, but the main points of KAZAN's struggle are all intact. Even long-time friend Arthur Miller and wife Marilyn Monroe make an appearance (under different names, of course).

The story depicted in this film is not only perfectly representational of the black list era Hollywood, but is actually perfectly factual and accurate down to the small details. Reviewers should really do more research before "guessing" at what they just saw.

Robert DeNiro plays David Merrill, a movie director who is 'Zanuck's wonder boy' at Fox as the movie opens. He's been in Europe for awhile so does not know the full impact the HUAC has been exerting on actors in Hollywood. Zanuck asks David to 'purge himself' so instructs him to meet with a man who has a lot of questions for him, all having to do with people he might or might not know (real actors names are mentioned in this scene) and DeNiro complies, but only to a point, because his best friend Bunny Baxter (George Wendt) is the last name on the 'list.' David can't deal with any of it anymore and storms out of the meeting.

Eventually he finds out the hard way that because he is being uncooperative, he is being portrayed as a Communist sympathizer and cannot get anymore work as a director in movies so he moves to New York to try to get work in the theatre.

Movie has a strange feel to it. There is something underlying in almost every scene, a strange current that flows through the movie because so much of this is about what is unsaid, what is damaging and what is the right thing to do. Husbands betray wives, best friends name best friends, and no one knows how to destroy this thing that has invaded them.

DeNiro, Annette Bening, George Wendt and Chris Cooper are riveting. Sam Wanamaker, Martin Scorsese, Tom Sizemore and Ben Piazza are very good in small roles. Patricia Wettig goes slightly over the top as an actress whose child was taken from her.

Not fun, but worth seeing, and for fans of old cars, DeNiro drives around in the most beautiful white convertible you've ever seen. Wish I knew what type of car it is! 8/10.

I consider this period of the early 90's to be Robert DeNiro's second wind, if you will, after many great films he starred in the 70's. This film, along with the excellent Goodfellas, Awakenings, Night and the City, A Bronx Tale, and Cape Fear highlighted a great actor's resume. He hasn't done many great films in a while, but his acting chops speak for themselves. He stars here as David Merrill, a blacklisted director in Hollyweird, who's basically accused of being a communist and certain government factions want him to name names. His performance, although subdued, is very solid as he struggles with the decision to either report his friends, who are thought to be Communist in order to rescue his once promising career, or refuse to give up any names so their lives and careers won't be destroyed also. There's a moving scene between Merrill and congress as they bombard him with questions and accusations. This is probably the most memorable scene, but I thought it tries to wrap the film up in a neat little ball, as opposed to letting us know exactly what went on in those supposedly communist meetings Merrill was a part of, and what was discussed there and who attended these meetings.

George Wendt does a commendable job as Bunny Baxter, even though it's difficult to see him other than Norm from Cheers, but I digress. Annette Benning and Patricia Wettig also give solid performances in this forgotten little film based on a true story.

The merit of this film is that it portrays the mechanism, the mentality and the impact on human character of what might very well be any communist regime there ever was in a stunningly perfect way (as a person grown up in a socialist country, believe me - I know!) - only here represented by people who are supposed to prevent communism from spreading! A great comment on human nature - whether intended or not is less important. If I didn't know better, I'd believe this was a Hollywood remake of some film about Stalin's 30:s purges or Polish repressions against the right wing combatants in the 50:s. Solid performance from De Niro, supported by a talented cast. Martin Scorsese appears in a cameo that must be one of the most extensive in his acting career.

Some Americans today may never have heard of Senator Joseph McCarthy and McCarthyism. McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term refers to U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) and has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting from the late 1940s through the 1950s. It was characterized by heightened political repression and a campaign spreading fear of communist influence on American institutions and of espionage by Soviet agents. After the mid-1950s, McCarthyism began to decline, mainly due to the gradual loss of public popularity and opposition from the U.S. Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren. The Warren Court made a series of rulings that helped bring an end to McCarthyism.

The movie "Guilty by Suspicion" takes place in Hollywood during the height of the Second Red Scare. The movie focuses on David Merrill (Robert De Niro) though he is indicative of many Hollywood personnel affected by the Communist witch hunting.

David, by all indications, was a gainfully employed movie director that was in constant demand. He would have been able to stay gainfully employed so long as he told the F.B.I. what they wanted to hear. And they wanted to hear that certain friends of David's were Communists. David, valuing friendship over finances, opted to keep quiet about any of his friends activities. For that, David was put on the Hollywood blacklist.

"Guilty by Suspicion" is a weighty movie. We get an up close and personal look at what McCarthyism was doing to people's lives. Now I know that some of you may be saying, "Who cares? It was Hollywood." To that I would say that the Constitution never put zoning restrictions on who it applied to. The Constitution didn't have a Hollywood exemption in it and the U.S. government was trampling all over people's Constitutional rights. If they didn't have enemies within the U.S. they were certainly making them.