Strange Bedfellows

Edward Dmytryk refused to testify before HUAC in 1947. He was jailed for contempt of Congress and did not direct a movie in 1948. However, after being released he testified before congress naming members of the American Communist Party. He then returned and directed two or three movies in 1949 and movies every year from 1952 through the 1960's.

For the record, while HUAC pressured people to testify, it was not illegal to be a member of the party. I think (I am not a lawyer) that the reason for the contempt charge was because they cited the First Amendment as grounds for refusing to testify rather than the Fifth Amendment. While the Fifth Amendment provides protection against incriminating oneself of a crime, they had committed no crime to protect. The First Amendment does not protect one from answering questions.

As for the blacklist itself, that was created by Hollywood executives, not HUAC. HUAC assuredly encouraged the creation, though I do not know what they did. The blacklist, being a Hollywood corporate creation, it was easy to drop Dmytryk from the blacklist after he testified.

The corporate moguls wanted to sell movie tickets, consequently they were highly allergic to any publicity that made them look unpatriotic. The Soviet Union had stolen the plans for the A-Bomb and exploded their copy in 1948. They also blockaded Berlin earlier the same year. China fell to the communist forces in 1949 and North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950. I think the US as a nation overreacted to the communist menace. But, there certainly was a menace and we had legitimate reason to be frightened and suspicious. The challenge is to protect the country against hostile nations while continuing to secure freedom for Americans in their own country, even if they want to use that freedom to complain about their country. That is a difficult challenge to meet. It's easy for people to sit on the sidelines decades after the fact and make judgments against those who were deep into the fight.


The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.