Impact Of The Hollywood Ten

The 1950s saw the blacklisting of The Hollywood Ten, a group of screenwriters and filmmakers who were thought to have connections to communism. In 1947, they were summoned to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) regarding their political affiliations and ideas. They were accused of contempt of Congress and given prison sentences for refusing to respond. The Hollywood Ten came to represent the nation's anti-communist hysteria during the Cold War. The HUAC hearings and the Hollywood Ten's blacklisting had a long-lasting chilling impact on free speech and creative expression in the film business. Despite persecution, they remained steadfast in their conviction. Showing us how the Hollywood 10 successfully embodied the

Their legacy may continue to inspire artists and activists today, but it also greatly inspired the people of the time. Early on in his investigation, Alvah Bessie was determined to make it known to the committee that he did not appreciate or agree with what the committee was doing, explaining in his statement his disdain by speaking of "my understanding of the first amendment to our Constitution that it expressly forbids Congress to pass any law which shall abridge freedom of speech or of opinion." Further down the line, he states, "Now either the Constitution and its Bill of Rights mean what they say or they do not mean what they say. Either the first amendment is binding upon Congress and all legislative bodies of our government, or it means nothing at all. " Alvah Bessie emphasizes the importance of opinion on upholding the Constitution and its Bill of Rights, stating that they either have a binding effect on Congress and legislative bodies or are meaningless. He expressed his disagreement with the committee's belief that the Bill of Rights can be interpreted however they choose or only applies to those who share their opinions. It was often found that the Congressman who oversaw the 1947 hearings, J. Parnell Thomas (R-New Jersey), was a ruthless bully who denied 'hostile' witnesses the right to even speak about the constitutional justifications for their refusal to answer questions, but despite that, he would allow friendly anti-Communist witnesses to read statements before the Committee for as long as they liked another witness. In the Theodore Bayer investigation, it was noticed that the HUAC committee regularly conjured up white lies, saying that "Two days ago before this committee, Jolm Lautner took an oath and identified you as a person