Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist.

• Author: Rothenberg, Robert S.

Before McCarthyism earned its permanent place in the political lexicon, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was traversing the U.S., holding hearings to uncover "communist conspiracies." In 1947, the committee, chaired by J. Parnell Thomas and including a young Congressman from California, Richard Nixon, descended on Hollywood to root out communist influence in the movie industry. The resulting hearings mesmerized the nation and, among its other effects, triggered the infamous blacklist that destroyed careers and shattered lives throughout the entertainment field.

The main concentration of this documentary is on the so-called Hollywood 10--the producers, directors, and writers who defied HUAC and wound up serving a year in a Federal penitentiary for contempt of Congress. Told through interviews with surviving relatives and colleagues from a perspective of four decades later, the video chillingly portrays the "red-baiting" climate that haunted this country in the aftermath of World War II. As much a morality play as a political study, it is a fascinating examination of a nation gripped by fear and seeking scapegoats, which it too easily found.

The list of witnesses features a number of well-remembered Hollywood figures on both sides of the spectrum. "Friendly" witnesses included actors Robert Taylor, Gary Cooper, Robert Montgomery, and Ronald Reagan, as well as such powerful producers as Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, and Walt Disney. Lined up on the opposite side, besides the Hollywood 10, were those who supported the Committee for the First Amendment and its demands for...