Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 21 October 1947
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 20
In Washington is now being presented one of those extraordinary public spectacles which come to full flowering only in this country. The committee of the House of Representatives on un-American activities has begun a solemn survey of the question of Communism in Hollywood.
Perhaps in order not to appear too judicial the committee has announced in advance of its inquiry that it is convinced that there is a large and dangerous degree of the revolutionary spirit in Hollywood: this judgement might be based on the preliminary inquiry conducted there some months ago. Many witnesses will be Hollywood actors or directors who had been dragged wholesale to Washington by the committee at great personal inconvenience.
One of the purposes of the present investigation is to prove that during the war the Federal Government brought pressure on Hollywood to make pro-Russian films, or at least to abstain from making films hostile to Russia, which was the United States' ally. Those who know Hollywood intimately say that it is indeed true that there are some Communists among the actors, writers, and directors. But they are few and if they have been able to put Communist propaganda into films no one can remember having seen it. The passages which are cited by the Un-American Activities Committee usually consist of mild statements that democracy is a good thing or that poor people should have enough to eat.
This committee is the same one which some years ago under a different chairman solemnly accused Shirley Temple, then aged about ten, of being a Communist. The actual control of a Hollywood product rests in the hands of the owners of the great film companies who are almost invariably wealthy and conservative men who would not dream of permitting their films to contain revolutionary propaganda. In the case of several companies the chief shareholders are big banks in New York City.
While many of the activities of the Committee on Un-American Activities and other anti-Red groups seem amusing they have their serious side. Anti-Russian feeling is now so deep in the US that anybody whose loyalty to capitalist democracy is called in question is likely to lose his job and have great difficulty in finding another. This is true even though he may be innocent. In most investigations of this kind the accused is not permitted to know in advance what charges are to be made against him or to be represented by counsel at the hearing or to have a transcript of the evidence.
Sent from my iPhone
No comments:
Post a Comment