Stewart, Wayne, and Fonda—all great actors, although Fonda was liberal. When I’m watching a movie or TV show,I tend to
follow your formula:”Forget politics. Just enjoy the performance”. That’s easy with Stewart and Wayne,who had conservative reputations. But with others,not so easy. I’ve learned over the years that a number of my favorite performers were lefties:James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart,Boris Karloff,Bela Lugosi,Errol Flynn and yes, Andy Griffith. Its easier to enjoy their performances, if you’re not *deluded* by their performances. After all,they get paid to put on an *act* in front of camera, not be themselves. But, when their performances propagandize,then there’s a problem.
None of these perfomances , however, was so blatantly political as what one sees nowadays. The 30s and 40s were collectivist minded and this generationally voted heavily for FDR. Even the commie writers adopted an American one. One Daily Worker article had it that they were just like other Americans except that they believed in dialectical materialism. Few of said actors had any philosophical views at all. The wholly stuff in “Grapes of Wrath” by Carradine and Fonda was something like FDR himself would say, more “progressive” than marxist.