McCarthyism and
the Hollywood Ten

In 1947 the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) began a headline-grabbing investigation of Hollywood, hoping to expose Communist influence in the Screen Writers Guild and pro-Communist messages in films. HUAC first called a number of “friendly” witnesses, such as actors Ronald Reagan and Gary Cooper; writer Ayn Rand; and movie studio heads Walt Disney and Jack Warner. These witnesses affirmed the presence of Communists in the film industry, though they were careful to also affirm their own anti-Communist beliefs. HUAC then called ten “unfriendly” witnesses who were suspected of being Communists. They invoked the First Amendment’s protection of free speech (or the right not to speak) and free association and refused to answer the committee’s questions. The “Hollywood Ten,” as they became known, included one director and nine writers, and all were held in contempt of Congress and given fines and jail sentences.

Over the next ten years, thousands of writers, actors, directors, producers, and technicians lost their jobs. Although some were able to continue working under pseudonyms (especially writers), others had to leave the United States to find work; many were forced to look for employment outside the entertainment industry. There were personal consequences, too: Some marriages and families broke apart from the strain, and a few individuals were even driven to suicide.

The following documents shed light on the nature of HUAC’s inquiries into communism in the entertainment industry. In studying the documents, consider some of the larger issues and questions raised by McCarthyism and the treatment of the Hollywood Ten. Was McCarthyism an aberration or part of a larger and older force in American society? Why did so few people challenge McCarthy, HUAC, and other organizations involved in anti-Communist investigations? Why were the film and other entertainment industries investigated so extensively?