A Tribute to Film Posters
Hollywood Politics
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The 1950’s saw Hollywood take an ugly turn in terms of politics. Two aspects were working against movies; blacklisting and censorship.
Blacklisting
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) made their presence
felt between 1947 and 1954. HUAC targeted many industries because of the
“red scare” but the most famous of those is that of Hollywood
and its stars. HUAC contested that Communists had established a base in
Hollywood.
Famous stars and directors were called to testify. The most famous of those came to be known as the “Hollywood Ten.” This group resisted to be questioned, claiming their Fifth Amendment rights. The group included:
- Alvah Bessie
- Herbert Biberman
- Lester Cole
- Edward Dmytryk
- Ring Lardner, Jr.
- John Howard Lawson
- Albert Maltz
- Sam Ornitz
- Robert Adrian Scott
- Dalton Trumbo
While many opted to leave Hollywood, they stayed to fight what was an uphill battle. Finally, in 1950, they were sent to spend one year in the federal penitentiary. HUAC left Hollywood in 1952, leaving many artists blacklisted and out of work. A small group who were blacklisted formed their own production company and made a film called Salt of the Earth.
Censorship
The second aspect which hindered movies was censorship. The Motion Picture
Production Code (Hays
Code) was established to set boundaries as to what movies could and
could not show on screen. Certain things were deemed offensive and unnecessary
for a movie plot. Films were given high ratings if this code and rules
were not followed. The film The Moon is Blue, made in 1953) challenged
the Code by using the words “virgin”, “pregnant”,
and “mistress”. This was the first time these words were used
in a film since before the establishment of the Hays code.
In 1955, the Hays Code was revised and references to abortion, drugs, prostitution, and kidnapping, once forbidden, were now permitted.
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