The House
Committee on Un American Activities (HUAC) began its investigation into
Communist influence in Hollywood on this date in 1947. Among the “Hollywood
Ten,” blacklisted and jailed for refusing to testify, were Alvah Bessie, a
screenwriter who had been a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain;
Herbert Biberman, who went on to direct the classic independent labor film,
Salt of the Earth (1954); Lester Cole, who wrote the screenplays for If I Had a
Million (1932) and numerous other films; Albert Maltz, whose documentary, The
House I Live In, won an Academy Award in 1945; Samuel Ornitz, an organizer of
the Screen Actors Guild; and John Howard Lawson, who went on to write the
screenplay for Cry, the Beloved Country (1951) under a pseudonym. Among those
who named names before HUAC were Lee J. Cobb, Clifford Odets, David Raskin,
Robert Rossen, and Budd Schulberg. The Hollywood Ten is a 1950 American 16 mm short documentary film. In the film, each member
of the Hollywood Ten made a
short speech denouncing McCarthyism and the Hollywood blacklisting of denying
employment to screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S.
entertainers. The film was directed by John Berry who was
blacklisted upon the film's release, and unable to find work, he left for
France.
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