8. The un-Americans

About this episode

Hollywood producers gather at the Waldorf Hotel to plot strategy. They push back against allegations of “subversive” content. Motion Picture Association of America president Eric Johnston makes the case that movies are a force for moral good. He also calls for a hardline: he pushes studios to purge communists and sympathizers from their payrolls. This marks the beginning of the so-called “blacklist” era in Hollywood. Screenwriter Norma Barzman recalls this as a repressive period, when creative people were self censoring their political beliefs Archive: Recordings of House Unamerican Activities Committee by Paramount Newsreels The Hollywood Ten, directed by John Berry, 1950 Dalton Trumbo interviewed for Hollywood on Trial, directed by David Helpern, Corinth Films, 1976