Hollywood A-Listers Influence On Hollywood

After World War II, the Cold War began to heat up as the world’s two biggest powers vied for control of third world countries. On the left, the Soviet Union employed communist principles, while the United States fought for democracy. Following Truman’s Executive Order 9835, the purging of communist principles seeped into industry in the United States. On October 20, 1947, the notorious Red Scare began to infiltrate the biggest propaganda source: Hollywood. As a congressional committee known as the House Un-American Activities Committee, or the HUAC, began to investigate the loyalty of Hollywood actors, a small group, known as the “Hollywood Ten”, resisted the hearings. These Hollywood A-Listers quickly became blacklisted, and were convicted of obstructing justice by impeding the investigation, and served jail terms. Pressured by the U.S. Congress, the establishment in Hollywood started a blacklist policy, banning the work of over 325 screenwriters, actors and directors who were found in contempt of the committee’s principles. Following the introduction of the blacklist, famous Hollywood directors and writers began to write under pseudonyms, in different countries or against the government. This act of rebellion undeniably changed Hollywood by introducing government intervention, creating contempt for the government through parody films, and inspiring future actors to engage in anti-governmental rhetoric.
In 1848, the red influence began as …show more content…
Created in 1938, the committee’s purpose was to investigate the activitieds of subversives, or communist and Nazi sympathizers in the United States. However, in 1945, the temporary committee became permanent. Although the committee did not investigate groups such as the KKK, through executive order 9835, the Truman administration began to target civil servants for investigation. The executive order