Kirk Douglas and the McCarthy era

WFAA ^ | Oct. 20 2008

[Rastus]

Haha. What a maroon. McCarthy blacklisted writers, eh? I suppose this was in that historical period where he was the only senator to head a house committee.

Good grief, man. You lived this and you don't even know what you're talking about.

[nickcarraway]

McCarthy had nothing at all to do with Hollywood. McCarthy was concerned with the Army.

[WarEagle]

If Kirk Douglas uttered a syllable of that tripe, I'll eat my hat. The man has had 2 or 3 strokes and last time I saw him was in la-la land.

They must think we're ALL stupid.

[Rastus]

What’s your theory on the left tying McCarthy to HUAC? Is it ignorance, or is it because what McCarthy was digging into was much more important than a bunch of flakes in Hollywood, so they knew he had to be destroyed? They figured the public would be more worked up over a guy trying to root out a bunch of irrelevant “artists,” so they tied him to all of that? That’s the only thing I can figure.

[Stepan12]

McCarthy had nothing to do with the House committee on unamerican activities.

Also, those people, including Trumbo, were Communists.

Of course, there is no mention of the blacklist of patriotic Americans who testified as friendly witnesses before the committee such as Adolph Menjou and comedy writer Morrie Ryskynd.

Ayn Rand escaped being blacklisted by the Commies because she was under contract to Hal Wallis at the time; e.g., "Love Letters."

[dsc]

I just hate it that Douglas is such a moron. He was in the first movie I ever saw, and was always one of my favorites.

[donna]

The Hollywood blacklist—more precisely the entertainment industry blacklist...

A group of studio executives, acting under the aegis of the Motion Picture Association of America, announced the firing of the artists—the so-called Hollywood Ten—in what has become known as the Waldorf Statement. On June 22, 1950, a pamphlet called Red Channels appeared, naming 151 entertainment industry professionals in the context of "Red Fascists and their sympathizers"; soon most of those named, along with a host of other artists, were barred from employment in much of the entertainment field. (snip)

[Frank_Discussion]

“If Kirk Douglas uttered a syllable of that tripe, I’ll eat my hat.”

Ditto. A whale of a tale.

[NutCrackerBoy]

The blacklisting stuff was real. It was over the top. I don't begrudge continued expression of resentment over it by Hollywood artists, even though they get the history all wrong.

On the other hand, the driver of anti-Communism efforts was vital national security. There were traitors. Those who merely abused their free speech and association rights to recruit to the Communist cause were on a borderline. Certainly it was not crazy to be concerned with them.

[marron]

Exactly.

McCarthy didn’t blacklist anyone. That was an earlier era.

And, secondly, the people being blacklisted were blacklisted by their Hollywood pals.

Stalin was one of the great butchers of history. I could see why you might not hire someone who was an agent or admirer of one of history’s monsters. But, no, McCarthy had nothing to do with it.

[BufordP]

I am not Joe the Plumber!

10½ posted on 10/20/2008 6:55:09 PM EDT by Kirk Douglas (I'm a senile old Hollywood liberal)

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To: 3D-Joy; 50mm; AGreatPer; calcowgirl; cindyTrueSupporter; concretebob; Disco Dave; Doctor Raoul; ...

ping!

If you want off my ping list get over it!

I am not Joe the Plumber!

ping!

If you want off my ping list get over it!

[Waco]

I always heard that much of what McCarthy ‘’claimed’’ actually came out in congressional hearings. So anyone who could read could see the info,,it wasn’t secret.

[Fiji Hill]

The blacklisting stuff was real.

The only involvement McCarthy may have had in "blacklisting" took place in 1953, when he sent his committee staffers Roy Cohn and G. David Schine around Europe to visit United States Information Agency libraries. Cohn and Schine were to weed out pro-Communist and anti-American books from these libraries--a controversial, yet legitimate assignment, since these facilities are designed to promote a positive image of America abroad, and are not "public libraries." Among USIA librarians, the expression "come rain or shine" was replaced by "come Cohn or Schine."

The Senate Committee on Government Operations and its Subcommittee on Investigations, which McCarthy chaired from 1953 until 1955, never investigated Hollywood.

[yazoo]

What a load. Aside from the fact he has his history wrong, there is absolutely no doubt that the communist made a big effort to infiltrate the hollywood unions. They never want to talk about that.

[Fiji Hill]

Dalton Trumbo faithfully toed the Party line laid down by Stalin. His anti-war novel Johnny Got His Gun (Lippincott, 1939) appeared during the era of the Hitler-Stalin pact, when the Communists were promoting pacifism in the West and trying to hamper the Western Allies in their war effort against the Axis. The book was taken out of print after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, and, if Wikipedia is to be believed, Trumbo turned the names of those requesting the book over to the FBI.

[Steely Tom]

Ditto. A whale of a tale.

20,000 Leagues!

[Rastus]

Yes! I love that era of history. Woody Guthrie and the Atlas Singers went so far as to denounce their own album because they suddenly were on the other side when Hitler violated the pact. Which makes me ask: if you weren’t beholden to the Soviet Union, why couldn’t you have spoken out against their pact with (fellow) monsters like the Nazis?

[Rastus]

Here's one of my favorite Ronald Reagan stories. It's from a really good 2001 Washington Post article about Reagan. Unfortunately, only page one is still available online that I can see. I posted this here a while back, though, so at least it's captured:

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A scene from 1946, once recounted by Reagan: The setting is the posh residence of a top star, a meeting of the HICCASP. Reagan is running late, and arrives to grab a seat next to MGM studio head Dore Schary.

"Lots of people here I didn't think I'd see," he says.

"Stick around," answers Schary.

FDR's son James stands to propose adopting a statement denouncing communism and the Soviet state. "I was amazed at the reaction," remembered Reagan. One musician stands to assert that the Soviet constitution is superior to the American one. A screenwriter says he'd volunteer for Russia if war between it and the United States ever broke out. "I decided that an Irishman couldn't stay out, and took the floor and endorsed what Roosevelt said." Pandemonium. Reagan recalled one woman having a heart attack.

The meeting breaks up. Schary tells Reagan, "We're meeting up at Olivia de Havilland's apartment."

Reagan goes over to find about a dozen HICCASP members celebrating how they'd just smoked out the Communists.

Reagan is looking at de Havilland, grinning.

"What's so funny?" she asks him.

"Nothing," he says, "except I thought you were one."

She looks at him, smiling, "I thought you were one. Until tonight, that is."

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LOVE it. Smoked them out!

Here's the first page of the article:

Rehearsals for a Lead Role

If you can figure out how to view the second page, do tell. Thanks.

[Frank_Discussion]

Yep!

[NutCrackerBoy]

The blacklisting stuff was real. -NutCrackerBoy

The only involvement McCarthy may have had in "blacklisting" took place in 1953...

I know, correct, the reference to McCarthy was mistaken. I don't think that fact is central to the subject matter. You don't deny existence of Hollywood blacklisting itself, do you?