© Columbia University Press
Hollywood's Blacklists: A Political and Cultural History
July, 2010
Paper, 192 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-7486-2456-0
Edinburgh University Press
$35.00
A Choice Outstanding Academic Title Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?" That question was asked repeatedly during the anti-Communist investigations of the House Committee on un-American Activities (HUAC). When ten members of the film industry refused to answer, they were blacklisted and fired. Scores of actors, writers, and directors shared a similar fate, labeled Communists or Communist sympathizers. Hollywood's Blacklists explains why these investigations took place, detailing the members and goals of HUAC, the role films played during World War II and the Cold War, and the values at stake as the Left confronted the Right, leaving the former resoundingly expelled from Hollywood.