MURAL
The mural represents American Senator
Joseph McCarthy dressed in the American flag,
holding up a blacklist with three names of
people working for the Hollywood film industry…
These three people are accused of being
Communist activists and sympathizers…
Symbolic elements :
– The “Hollywood” sign;
– The people who are in red stand for
Communists;
– The movie camera, showing that those who are targeted work for the
movie industry;
The typewriter (on the extreme right hand
side, at the bottom) attached to the blacklist,
represents the fear of being blacklisted
and the repression of social criticism and freedom of
speech;
– The accusers, who are in what looks like a courtroom, are pointing
people out.
Alvah
Cecil Bessie (1904-1985) was an American novelist,
journalist and screenwriter who
was
imprisoned for ten months and blacklisted for being one of the “Hollywood Ten”.
He
appeared
before the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) on 28th October,
1947,
but he refused to answer any questions. The “Hollywood Ten” claimed that the
1st
Amendment1 to the US Constitution gave them the right
not to answer any questions.
Herbert
J. Biberman (1900-1971) was an American screenwriter
and film director and one
of
the “Hollywood Ten”. In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee began
investigating
the film industry, and Biberman became one of ten Hollywood writers and
directors
cited for contempt of Congress when they refused to answer questions about
their
affiliation
to the American Communist Party. He was sentenced to six months in prison.
Blacklisted
by the Hollywood studios, Biberman was forced to finance his own work.
Lester
Cole (1904-1985) was an American screenwriter.
He was also one of the “Hollywood
Ten”
and refused to answer questions before the House Un-American Activities
Committee.
He
was convicted of contempt of Congress, fined $1,000 and sentenced to twelve
months in
prison.
Blacklisted by the Hollywood studios, the script that he was working on, Viva Zapata
(1952)
was completed by John Steinbeck.
1. The
First Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and
assembly
Other
artists who were blacklisted during the McCarthy era:
Leonard
Bernstein (1918-1990) wrote the music for films
including On the
Waterfront (1954), West Side Story (1961), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) .
Charlie
Chaplin (1889-1977) was a British comic actor,
film director and composer, who was
famous
for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in
the
world
before the end of World War I. His most famous role was that of The Tramp.
Dashiell
Hammett (1894-1961) was an American author of
hard-boiled detective novels and
short
stories, screenplay writer, and political activist. He is regarded as one of
the finest
mystery writers of all time.
Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was an
American playwright. His works include plays such as
Death of a Salesman (1949) and The Crucible (1953). He was
married to Marilyn Monroe.
Orson Welles (1915-1985) was an
American actor, director, writer and producer whose works
include The War of the Worlds (1938), the most famous broadcast in the history of radio, and
Citizen Kane (1941), which many
critics consider the best film of all time.
Richard Wright (1908-1960) was a
novelist whose works include Uncle Tom’s Children
(1940), Native Son (1940)
and Black Boy (1945).
Many of the people that Senator Joseph McCarthy suspected of having Communist ties were Hollywood actors, screen writers, directors and producers… The Hollywood film industry had a great influence on millions of people worldwide, and Communists were said to propagate subversive messages in Hollywood films… So, the US government and the FBI feared that Hollywood films might spread Communist propaganda not only in the United States, but throughout the world… That’s why they targeted Hollywood…
THE MCCARTHY ERA
■ Between 1946 and 1952, the number of FBI agents rose from 3,559 to 7,029,
as part of President Truman’s loyalty-security programme, which investigated
government employees to identify communist sympathisers.
■ In October 1947, the House Committee on Un-American Activities (Huac)
began to subpoena screenwriters and directors to testify about alleged
communist links.
■ The Hollywood Ten, a group of actors, screenwriters and directors who
refused to answer some questions posed by the committee, were blacklisted by
studios.
■ Eventually, hundreds of artists were banned by the industry. Among them
were Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles and Paul Robeson.
■ Senator Joe McCarthy launched his anti-communist campaign in 1950, when
he accused more than 200 state department staff of being communists.
■ By 1959, Huac was being denounced by former president Truman as the “most
un-American thing in the country today”.
2. TRUMBO: Film Poster
3. Scene 1: At the movie theatre: pointing fingers - an extract from the screenplay by John McNamara
4. Scene 2: Testifying before the HUAC - an extract from the screenplay by John McNamara
5.
Award speech in front of the Writers Guild of America
Thank you,
thank you very much ladies and gentlemen.
Often, when
I stand before the film community, there’s an elephant in the room…me. And I
thought I… I would address that.
The
blacklist was a time of evil, and no one who survived it came through untouched
by evil. Caught in a situation that had passed beyond the control of mere
individuals, each person reacted as his nature, his needs, his convictions and
his particular circumstances compelled him to. It was a time of fear, and no
one was exempt. Scores of people lost their homes, their families disintegrated,
they lost… and some …. Some even lost their lives.
But when
you look back upon that dark time, as I think you should now and then, it will
do you no good to search for heroes or villains. There weren’t any. There were
only victims, victims because each of us felt compelled to say or do things
that we otherwise would not, to deliver or receive wounds which we truly did
not wish to exchange.
I look out
to my family sitting there and I realize what I’ve put THEM through. It ‘s
unfair, my wife who somehow kept it all together amazes me and so what I say
here tonight is not intended to be hurtful. It is intended to heal the hurt, to
repair the wounds which for year had been inflicted upon each other and most
egregiously upon ourselves. Thank you, thank you kindly.
notes:
ARTHUR MILLER: Why AM wrote the Crucible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGVlDzu-_dg
WITCH HUNTING IN
AMERICA
PURITANISM IN 17TH
CENTURY NEW ENGLAND
The life style : No
pleasures, they had to wear dark clothes, no accessories and no colour because
it was an indication of the “devil at work”
Religion : They
believed in the devil. Adultery was punishable by death and marriage was the cornerstone of
society. Those who didn’t respect the rules were rejected.
Nature : The forest
was an evil place where witches met. People were very superstitious which
shows that fear was at the heart of their belief system.
|
THE WITCHES OF SALEM
A group of girl
became ill in 1692. They had symptoms like horrible visions, convulsions,
physical pain …
People interpreted
these sympoms: They believed that these girls were under the influence of the
devil , that they were bewitched. There was a witch trial and 20 people
accused of witchcraft were hanged.
|
A FILM-STILL FROM
THE CRUCIBLE (1996)
A movie based on
Arthur Miller’s play about the Salem’s witch trial of 1692
It’s a picture from
the film . The picture was taken in a high-angle shot that shows the
inferiority of the accused . We can see a woman during her trial and there is
a rag doll behind her, maybe a piece
of evidence, a proof of voodoo practice.
She is afraid and
all the fingers are pointed at her . She is certainly accused of being a
witch . If she doesn’t want to be executed she has to confess and to name
names , and she will be banished but alive . She will be considered as a
traitor by the other accused .
The names on the picture
are the names of the other people accused of being witches. .
|
THE 1692 SALEM WITCH
TRIAL
In 1692, In Salem village
in Massachusets 2 children became ill and no reason except bewicthment could
be found so they concluded it was a case of bewitchment and rumour that they
were witches started spreading.
Fear,suspicion and hysteria
wreaked havoc on many people’s lives. They went to jail and 20 were executed.
A lot of
restitutions and apologies were made
to the victim’s families after the trial.
Historians started
thinkings about this episode in 1692 and realized there were similarities
with the witch hunting and the red scare period (mc carthy)
|
WHY I WROTE THE
CRUCIBLE – ARTHUR MILLER
Arthur Miller= a playwright,
wrote the play The Crucible in 1953.
At that time the
government wanted to hunt the communists or “reds”.
It was a time of
fear and oppression.
He decided to write
about the witch trials of seventeenth century.
The accused had to
name names in order not to be personally attacked, otherwise they would be
hanged or jailed
He drew a parallel
between what happened in Salem in the 17th century and what was
going on in 20th century in America.
|
Arthur Miller chose
to set his play in 17th century Salem because he wanted to show that history
was repeating itself, that what had happened in Salem was happening again in
the 20th century...
Even if it was a
different kind of witch hunt, the goals were the same as in the past: to
blacklist and get rid of people who were thought to be a threat to American
society…
During the Salem
witch hunt, the Puritans were defending their way of life in the New World…
Both the Salem witch hunt and the “Red scare” were triggered by fear.
… In both cases
no attention was paid to the civil rights of the accused – to the right to a
fair trial…
|
THE CRUCIBLE: Main themes
http://www.coursehero.stfi.re/lit/The-Crucible/infographic/?sf=lwdyyno#/aa
LOVING: FILM POSTER
http://i.imgur.com/qPzM7oK.jpg
The second paragraph of the United States Declaration of Independence starts as follows: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The Heart of the Matter: Love
https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/the-heart-of-the-matter-love/
