Culture Notes

Blacklist Whitewash

Hollywood is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its alleged persecution by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Beginning in October 1947, the congressional committee, as part of Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist crusade, investigated communist influence in the film industry. Ten important writers and directors refused to testify and were cited for contempt and jailed. The Hollywood Ten and other leftwing filmmakers were subsequently blacklisted by the film industry well into the 1950s, as studios refused to hire them. On this Golden Anniversary of the blacklisting, Hollywood's actors' guild, the directors' guild, and other organizations are sponsoring commemorative events. A star-studded gala featured film clips and reenactments of the hearings in a self-congratulatory smugfest. Never mind that hard-core communists really had infiltrated the film industry, as revealed by its more patriotic members, including a young actor named Ronald Reagan, whose involvement in the investigation sparked a rather significant political career. Never mind that the blacklisted filmmakers continued to work anonymously and that they turned their martyrdom into successful career moves. Never mind that it was Hollywood itself, not the government, that carried out the blacklisting. Of the two surviving members of the Hollywood Ten, only one, Ring Lardner Jr., attended the commemorative celebration. The other, writer-director Edward Dmytryk (maker of The Caine Mutiny), declined the invitation. After being in jail for six months, he testified and helped the investigation. "I think it's silly-Hollywood apologizing to itself," said Mr. Dmytryk, now 89. "These people are still being asked to be recognized as martyrs. Having been one of them, I can tell you, we're not martyrs."