At a time when a faction of the American political establishment claims that socialists control the entertainment and media industries, it’s worth noting the obvious: America is already here.
As Cold War battle lines hardened and America extended its power across the globe in the 1940s, it began to search industries internally for communist infiltrators. The House on Un-American Activities Committee led the charge, and in 1947 Hollywood was put on trial before Congress. One of the results has been the imprisonment of recalcitrant industry figures, the infamous Hollywood Ten; another was a secret meeting at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel in which politicians forced studio heads to persecute those with Communist Party ties.
A telegram invitation to this Waldorf conference is among more than 100 items on display at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles in an exhibit that chronicles how the American film industry abandoned civil liberties under corporate and political pressure. On view until September 3,Black List: Hollywood’s Red Scareis a collision of cinema and civic history that leads visitors to contemplate ruined lives, never-before-seen films, and disturbing echoes of today’s polarized world.
“‘Blacklist’ highlights issues of persecution, loss of civil liberties, as well as the dangers of propaganda,” Cate Thurston, the exhibit’s curator, told Artnet News, noting that the show resonates particular in the context of the writer’s strike. “Vibrant history exhibits like ‘Blacklist’ are designed to facilitate critical reflection on contemporary issues through nuanced explorations of the past.”
First produced by the Jewish Museum Milwaukee, the Los Angeles exhibit is twice the size of the original and is rightly packed with Hollywood artifacts from the archives of the Writers Guild of America West and the Margaret Herrick Library.
Dalton Trumbo figures prominently. Trumbo was one of the highest paid screenwriters of the 1940s before he was blacklisted for Communist Party affiliations and forced to write under pseudonyms. He did this with remarkable prolificacy. “Blacklist” displays its scenario for Spartacus (1960) as well as the Oscar statuettes he received for roman holidays (1953) and The brave (1956), none of which he was able to collect without compromising his identity.
Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo served 11 months at Ashland Federal Penitentiary in Kentucky in 1950. While incarcerated, Trumbo stored some of his personal belongings in typewriter tape boxes. Items he kept included a calendar and notes from his children. Photo courtesy of Mitzi Trumbo.
Given the prominent position held by the Jewish people in Hollywood, many exhibits testify to the contradictory ways in which Jews patrolled and suffered disproportionately in the climate of red panic. The aforementioned telegram was addressed to Louis B. Mayer, co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, the self-styled King of Hollywood, whose studio would continue to strictly enforce the government line. On the opposite side were First Amendment advocates, many of whom focused on civil injustices inflicted on Hollywood Ten – one lobbyist was Lauren Bacall (née Betty Joan Perske) whose suit for How to marry a millionaire (1953) is playing.
“Many of the designers and executives hit by the blacklist were Jewish,” Thurston said, “Anti-Semitism is an explicit theme throughout the exhibit and many of the artifacts added by Skirball demonstrate how anti-Semitism has shaped the Hollywood blacklist.” For Thurston, organizing the show had personal resonance given that Red Scare’s politics impacted several members of his family: some fled to Europe, others were scratched writing magazine articles under invented names.
Lauren Bacall’s costume for her role as Schatze Page in How to marry a millionaire (1953), designed by William Travilla. Courtesy of The Larry McQueen Movie Costume Collection.
As with previous Skirball exhibitions, as a look at star trekimpact on visual culture and the legacy of master puppeteer Jim Henson, “Blacklist” is overshadowed by a one-summer movie schedule. The season begins with the 2007 documentary Trumbo in which the writer tells his own story, then takes to the screen classics written by blacklisted writers, including high noon (1952) and The Breaking Point (1950), as well as The way we were (1973) based on Arthur Laurents’ experiences with the House Un-American Activities Committee.
“Skirball welcomes opportunities to honor memory and facilitate dialogue about how collective historical memories influence contemporary American attitudes,” Thurston said. “My hope is that visitors come to the exhibition and make connections for themselves.”
See more images from the exhibit below.
Installation view of “Blacklist” at the Center Culturel Skirball. Photo courtesy of Skirball Cultural Center.
Oscar for Best Original Story by Dalton Trumbo for The braveattributed to the fictional Robert Rich (1956), courtesy of Molly Trumbo Gringas.
Booklet, Committee on Un-American Activities, United States House of Representatives, Washington, DC (revised 12/1/1950). Courtesy of the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee Collections.
Installation view of “Blacklist” at the Center Culturel Skirball. Photo courtesy of Skirball Cultural Center.
Union flyer promoting the opening of salt of the earth (1954). Courtesy of Documents Herbert Biberman and Gale Sondergaard, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.
Installation view of “Blacklist” at the Center Culturel Skirball. Photo courtesy of Skirball Cultural Center.
Alfred L. Levitt’s Writers Guild of America membership cards from 1965 to 1982 list both his real name and his face, Tom August. On loan from Screen Writers Guild Records, Writers Guild Foundation Library and Archive
“Black List: Hollywood’s Red Scareis on view at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, through September 3.
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