In 1936 Vorhaus was with a camera crew on the Austrian side of the Zugspitze, a mountain on the Austrian-German border, shooting skiing scenes for
Dusty Ermine (1936). German troops crossed over into Austrian territory, demanding that the Austrian skiers who were guiding Vorhaus' party be turned over to them, accusing them of being involved in "anti-Nazi activities". The guides quickly turned around and skiied down the mountainside, with the Germans firing at them. A bullet grazed Vorhaus' face but did not injure him. It was the beginning of his own "anti-Nazi activities"--which included working with pro-Communist organizations against the Nazis. That came back to haunt him during the McCarthy "Red Scare" era in the 1950s, when he was classified by the FBI as "prematurely antifascist" which was "proof" of his Communist sympathies, resulting in his being blacklisted in Hollywood.
