The Hoaxters

This is a nifty little piece of American Cold War propaganda. Much time is spent comparing the methods of the USSR to those of the WWII Axis powers.

Deeper than that, though, is the ending, which draws a clear comparison of the "medicine-man" tactics used by all those aforementioned enemies and the McCarthyites, who at the time of this film's release were in full swing.

This might have worked a bit better if they'd engaged a commentator capable of putting his tongue in his cheek a little. They didn't, so as it is, it is a too earnest and simplistic appraisal of those it dubs the "hoaxters". Those are the people like Hitler, Mussolini, Lenin and Stalin who promised their populations a much improved lifestyle of opportunity and prosperity - only for those dreams to end in wartime ruin. Meantime, we see an United States basking in the sunlight of it's open democracy and freedom, powerfully and emphatically, and warning of the dangers to this Elysian existence should the fickle and untrustworthy communists ever make any inroads into society on their side of the Atlantic. That's all the usual flag-waving fayre, so it's not especially surprising. What is makes no effort to do, though, is to contextualise just what led to the rise of fascism and totalitarianism in Europe. Given the devastation following the Great War and the political upheavals, unemployment, homelessness and poverty that ensued, surely it was worth trying to explain that when people are desperate, the powers of oratory when coupled with appeals to pride and jingoism are particularly effective amongst many a population at least as well educated as anyone in the US. Obviously intended for internal consumption, it probably had a job to do - but as anything like a dispassionate analysis of just how fanaticism turns into electoral success it falls short taking aim at some easy historically loathed targets and leaves us little better informed that we would be if we had read some opposition newspaper headlines at the time.

This documentary film cobbled together from a lot of old newsreel sources is MGM's attempt at affirming American values circa 1952 without going over too far to the right. Note the non-presence of such folks as Joe McCarthy and Huey Long. Note the presence of George Marshall out selling the Marshall Plan and he was a target for the extreme right and some not so extreme.

The comparison of the response to the Nazi threat or lack thereof for some time is made to how we respond to the Soviet Union.

The passage of time has really dated this film. Issues were and are a lot more complex than the us versus them message of The Hoaxters.

It was made at MGM and a lot of MGM stars contributed to the narration.

Look at this one as a piece of history.

"People who are not governed by God Will be ruled by tyrants." William Penn

This is an anti-communist propaganda. It starts with a carnival hustler selling snake oil. He morphs into Hitler preaching to massive adoring crowds. It's now after WWII. The fascists have lost. The new form of snake oil salesman is the communists. They are on the march and very much like the old fascists. Both are against the Christian faith and in fact all three Abrahamic religions. Both endeavor to enslave the world. Before the war, Hitler gained vast support within America. The communists are now trying to do the same. It's the same playbook as America's enemies try to corrupt it from the inside. Now, communism is spreading across the globe. Then, the movie goes through the communist attempts at taking over America round by round. It's an old fashion propaganda film.

I first had the privilege of watching The Hoaxters in 1974. My roommate in college actually had a 16mm print of this one reeler and I was captivated by it's effectiveness in propaganda. This is an interesting historical relic that is reflective of the era that it came out of. This film was produced during the height of the McCarthy "Red Scare" years and was a fitting example of Hollywood's fear of the House on Unamerican Committee "witch hunts". 1952 was a completely different world in contrast to how we live in this country today. People were more reverent then; their moral scruples were more intact and we must remember that we just emerged victorious from the Second World War and were then fighting the Korean War, so nationalism was more prevalent; respect for the flag and country was almost an anticipated action; no flag burning then! There is so much to comment on the mentality of the early 1950's.

If we were to become suddenly sucked into some time vortex and transported back to this era, we would probably go mad because of stricter standards demanded of us not only by government, be it local, State or Federal, but by our respective religious beliefs as well as the people around us who would demand that we conform to their thinking. Morals were stronger, religion had a firmer, influential hold and most people respected the authorities. This film demonstrates this and more. It also demonstrated fear; the fear of Communism was real; people felt that World War III would break out at any moment; the fear was valid; the fear was reflective in our leaders as well as the common man. And it was in this fear-driven time that Joseph McCarthy made a name for himself by using this fear to ruin many innocent lives.

MGM did a marvelous job producing this film. The voices of Walter Pidgeon and George Murphy are easily recognized; the animation is quite entertaining, especially when it showed the Swastika turning into a map of Germany or the dragon changing into the Japanese islands. Remember, these images were stronger in the minds of those who saw this film in 1952, because it was just seven years after these totalitarian regimes were defeated. Korea further exacerbated these feelings; it was the duty of every God-fearing American to struggle against those who wanted to enslave the free world.

The Hoaxters didn't just reflect the mentality of the times, but it also permitted those in Hollywood to pledge their allegiance (to a lesser degree compared to World War II) against a foe. This was partly due to nationalism, but mainly due to the fear of blacklisting by the HUAC. All in all, a great historical chestnut.