Well, the Hollywood leftwing was well-established in the 1930s. The brutal, internecine fights of the 1950s among members of the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild was a direct result of insults and betrayals by leaders of those unions in the 30s and their direct line to the Soviet Union - forcing talented writers to rewrite their scripts to flatter that murderous regime and denying work to actors who would not bend to Moscow’s will. Ronald Reagan rose to glory fighting those bastards.
Parodoxically, most people think the “naming of names” and resisting HUAC was only about politics when in fact a lot of it was just personal betrayals in the hot-house of Hollywood. Jilted lovers, ripped-off actors and scriptwriters and overall the disgraceful, bullying behavior of one John Howard Lawson led to this miserable debacle for America.
“...Ronald Reagan rose to glory fighting those bastards...”
My hero, Ronaldus Magnus.
I was fortunate to be able to vote for that great American man in my first Presidential election ever.
He is dearly missed.
Great book about him, if you haven’t read it. Reagan’s War, by Peter Schweizter.
http://www.amazon.com/Reagans-War-Forty-Year-Struggle-Communism/dp/0385722281
Worth your time. Excellent book detailing the Hollywood you just described.