The documentary analyzes a dark period in Hollywood's history due to the Red Scare of the 1940's and 1950's, when actors, writers and directors were persecuted and investigated by the House ... Read allThe documentary analyzes a dark period in Hollywood's history due to the Red Scare of the 1940's and 1950's, when actors, writers and directors were persecuted and investigated by the House of Un-American Activities Committee after being considered suspects of committing Anti-Ame... Read allThe documentary analyzes a dark period in Hollywood's history due to the Red Scare of the 1940's and 1950's, when actors, writers and directors were persecuted and investigated by the House of Un-American Activities Committee after being considered suspects of committing Anti-American acts by preaching the Communism in their films and television shows.
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*** (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.
David Helpern's film was released in 1976, same year Martin Ritt's "The Front" introduced the period to new audiences with a story focusing a persecuted writer, played by Woody Allen, who continues to write his movies, despite being blacklisted, by asking his friends to be his front and take credit for his productions. A year before both movies, the House of Un-American Activities ceased their works and by that time many of the people imprisoned due to their investigations and prosecutions already had ended their jail sentences but Hollywood was still touchy in remembering that era, with only a few notable individuals returning their careers back on track.
Interviewed here are some of the Hollywood Ten such as Dalton Trumbo, Ring Lardner Jr., Lester Cole (the whole group can be seen in "The Hollywood Ten" documentary, with some clips introduced here), a brief interview with Zero Mostel who was persecuted in real life and also plays a pivotal dramatical role in "The Front" - his interview was right on Ritt's film set; and there's also the voice from members of the committee, and Edward Dmytryk, film director who named names and continued his career in the 1950's to much acclaim. The first mentioned people are known for their bravery and courage while taking the fifth amendment and refusing to testify to the committee on personal and moral grounds, a true act of defiance that cost them deeply with years in jail and being shut out of Hollywood for a period, with many of them writing films with the use of a front (Dalton Trumbo wrote "The Brave One", won an Oscar but the award was given to the name who received the credits on screen, someone who didn't exist, actually. Many years later, the Academy gave him the award and stated him as the one who wrote the movie). Their testimony to the movie is the one that captures our attention for the details they provide about how they survived through this dark moment, how they were incredibly secure about their thoughts and actions, rarely frightened of the possibility of losing everything and go to jail for their freedom of speech. Even though, it's years later from all that, they never admit in the film about being Communists or sympathizers so it feels like a lot like "Guilty by Suspicion" (1991), a case where liberal figures were put along next to the Reds simply for defending positive ideals that weren't the norm back in the 1950's. Dmytryk, on the other side of the fence, isn't much passionate or compelling about why he acted that way, throwing his fellow colleagues into the mud. Kazan isn't even here.
Mr. Halpern's film is a great historical lesson to those who doesn't know anything or know very little about Hollywood's witch hunt, it presents facts and informations without overcharging the viewers with too much information, it's all very precise, amazingly rich in images of the period, the films responsible for scaring audiences about the perils of the URSS regime, plus the interviews in the 1970's. A must-see. 9/10
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.
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.
Did you know
- TriviaThe House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was abolished in 1975. This documentary was made and first released in 1976, as was Le prête-nom (1976), a dramatic picture made about the McCarthy-era black-listing.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Trumbo (2007)
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