Hollywood on Trial

This is a tough film to rate. In 1976 it would rate an 8 because it was revealing a topic that was being hidden. In 2017 you won't find much new here nor will it seem so strange.

The bottom line, of course, is that the film industry is not exempt from political influence, as if anyone needed to know that today. But even in the 40s and 50s, the film industry had already gone through the political editing for sexual content, and certainly the war films of the 40s were in response to political initiatives.

This film is well worth watching, but it will seem tame now.

This documentary puts in focus the House on Un-American Activities Committee with its hearings specifically on Hollywood and some of those that were blacklisted. It uses archival footage and interviews from 1975-1976 when this film was made.

This gets in enough depth to have an understanding of the events and people involved. Yet won't boor you with a lot of small uninteresting details.

If you have watched the other excellent documentary Trumbo (2007) this provides more information on his experiences as well as other people.

Some people will want to ignore this period in American history but it is important to know and understand so it is never repeated. Highly recommended.

Hollywood on Trial (1976)

*** (out of 4)

In 1975 The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was basically closed and it ended a very dark period for both the government and Hollywood. The following year Hollywood would somewhat fight back or show their side with the release of this documentary as well as the Woody Allen film THE FRONT.

Of the two, there's no question that THE FRONT is the better of the two but this documentary serves an important purpose because it does feature some terrific footage from the actual trials as well as some current interviews that are rather priceless and especially since so many of those people are no longer with us. We get interviews from the likes of Edward Dmytryk, Otto Preminger, Martin Ritt, Ronald Reagan and various others.

John Huston serves as the narrator and he's got a terrific voice so listening to him is a major plus. For the most part Hollywood ON TRIAL is a film that will appeal to history and film buffs but at the same time there have been better documents out there. This one here is a bit too dry for its own good but one must remember that it was the first to tackle the subject.

On the whole, the 105-minutes presents an impartial documentary on procedures leading up to Hollywood's post-war blacklist, along with later commentary from many of those involved. The first part is spent on footage from congressional committee's investigations of 1947 headed up by Parnell Thomas. It was from these hearings, rather than Sen. McCarthy's controversial probes of the early 50's, that the Hollywood purges were ignited.

Actually, as the docu points out, the blacklisting itself was initiated by studio moguls at a 1947 meeting at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC. There the moneymen were understandably concerned with audience fallout from what the hearings had revealed. After all, the Cold War was just then heating up, and commies had now replaced fascists as the official enemy. So a number of movie pro's were caught in the sudden switchover. Then too, many of the same lefties were active in efforts to unionize studio craft workers, also bitterly battled by the moguls. So the stage was set.

The second part focuses mainly on interviews with "The Hollywood 10", including Trumbo, Cole, Dmytryk, et. al, along with adversaries like Reagan and Wheeler. These are illuminating given the 20-some years that had passed since the blacklisting events. It's these interviews, that, unlike the first part, are not found anywhere else, at least that I've seen. On the whole, there's very little voice-over narration, more of which at times might have been helpful in tying parts together.

All in all, the assembled footage presents a live glimpse of a controversial period in America's political life. And perhaps just as importantly, without clear partisanship, though the interviews are weighted towards those who lost their jobs as a result of the process. Thus the film's essential viewing for those concerned with constitutional principles when these are put to the dramatic test.

I saw this on TCM and it was introduced by Ben Mankiewicz who called this the "darkest period" in American history. The House Un-American Activities Committee investigated Hollywood for communist influences and the result was the infamous "Hollywood Ten". The Hollywood Ten were communist sympathizers--some were former sympathizers, others still believed in the cause. They were correctly blacklisted for years. These were not innocent men who were being crucified for mere political beliefs. Communism is antithetical to the American way of life. So these Hollywood Ten slimeballs believed in an idea to subvert the American way of life, then tried to hide behind the Constitution. That sounds pretty hypocritical to me. They were not and never will be heroes, despite how Hollywood tries to make them out to be saintly victims.