Blacklist History Repeating
Hollywood's Committee for the First Amendment is Back
“Will they call you a commie? Are they going to scare us into silence,” once asked legendary Hollywood star Frank Sinatra while addressing the government intimidation of movie content. One result of this intimidation was the 1947 Committee for the First Amendment, a star-studded organization aimed at standing up for free speech. The CFA has just been resurrected by Hollywood legend Jane Fonda who has already acquired hundreds of signatories from top stars, writers, directors, and producers.
From the new CFA:
“This Committee was initially created during the McCarthy Era, a dark time when the federal government repressed and persecuted American citizens for their political beliefs. They targeted elected officials, government employees, academics, and artists. They were blacklisted, harassed, silenced, and even imprisoned.”
Credit where it’s due, but some historical corrections are in order. The Hollywood blacklist years originated, not with Senator Joseph McCarthy (who rode the anti-communist wave years later), as is popularly understood, but with the House Un-American Activities Committee (pronounced HUAC). The House committee originated in 1938 to investigate extremism in the United States. Most of the reporting so far credits Henry Fonda with creating the CFA, which of course, he didn’t.
While Fonda supported the cause and signed all necessary petitions pushing back on Washington, the original CFA was started by John Huston, Philip Dunne, and William Wyler. Others quickly joined and marched in Washington including Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Garfield, Paul Henreid and others.
So far, the new CFA, NPR, The Guardian, and Deadline have some important history wrong. That said, historians like me can quibble over the past but we should commend an increasing number of entertainers for standing up for free speech protections during these troubling times.
HUAC was led by J. Parnell Thomas (R-NJ), an anti-Roosevelt republican swept up in the postwar fear of communist invasion. It’s largely believed that nobody actually saw Hollywood was a threat to the America way, but going after Tinseltown was a great way to grab headlines for these. Members of the Hollywood community testified, both for and against HUAC. The “friendly witnesses” included the likes of studios heads Jack Warner, Louis B. Mayer, and Walt Disney (who appeared less than happy to find himself in this position), along with actors Ronald Reagan, Gary Cooper, and Adolph Mejou. “Unfriendly witnesses” were mostly writers like Alvah Bessie, John Howard Lawson, and Dalton Trumbo.
The unfriendly witnesses all refused to “name names” and were found in contempt of court, landing them a year-long prison sentence. In addition, studios met at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City to confirm they would collectively not employ anyone who was a communist or associated with communist groups. Thus, the blacklist began. Years later, Trumbo, the most outspoken of the Ten, would say the blacklist years found “only victims.”
As NPR reported yesterday, Fonda encourages members of the Hollywood community to join:
“I’m 87 years old. I’ve seen war, repression, protest, and backlash. I’ve been celebrated, and I’ve been branded an enemy of the state. But I can tell you this: this is the most frightening moment of my life. When I feel scared, I look to history. I wish there were a secret playbook with all the answers — but there never has been. The only thing that has ever worked — time and time again — is solidarity: binding together, finding bravery in numbers too big to ignore, and standing up for one another.”
And join they did.
Hundreds of names including Ben Stiller, Anjelica Huston (daughter of CFA founder John Huston), Anne Hathaway, Billie Eilish, Christopher Guest, Ethan Hawke, Glenn Close, Jamie Lee Curtis, JJ Abrams, Judd Apatow, and many, many more.
The original CFA received its share of criticism. “Gag the prima donnas” read Harrison’s Reports in December 1947. In fact, the blacklist originated because Billy Wilkerson, founder of The Hollywood Reporter, named names of suspected Hollywood communists in his pages. Legend has it that the names were given to Wilkerson by Howard Hughes.
Here’s how a number of Hollywood’s major stars weighed in during the HUAC years:
“Once they get the movies throttled, how long will it be before the Committee goes to work on freedom of the air? How long will it be before we’re told what we can say and cannot say into a radio microphone? If you make a pitch on a nationwide radio network for a square deal for the underdog, will they call you a Commie? . . . Are they going to scare us into silence? I wonder.” -Frank Sinatra
“Who do you think they’re really after? Who’s next? Is it your minister who will be told what he can say in his pulpit? Is it your children’s school teacher who will be told what she can say in classrooms? Is it your children themselves? Is it you, who will have to look around nervously before you can say what is on your minds? Who are they after? They’re after more than Hollywood. This reaches into every American city and town.” -Frederic March
“Before every free conscience in America is subpoenaed, please speak up! Say your piece. Write your Congressman a letter! Airmail special! Let the Congress know what you think of its un-American Committee. Tell them how much you resent the way Mr. Thomas is kicking the living daylights out of the Bill of Rights!” -Judy Garland
Also worth watching, a new documentary on CFA member and blacklisted actor Marsha Hunt: Martha Hunt’s Sweet Adversity