The Hollywood Ten

Last updated
The Hollywood Ten
Hollywoodtenimage.jpg
Promotional image
Directed by John Berry
Written byJohn Berry
Produced byJohn Berry
Narrated byColin Chandler
Distributed by The Criterion Collection
Release date
  • January 15, 1950 (1950-01-15)(United States)
Running time
15 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Hollywood Ten is a 1950 American 16mm short documentary film. In the film, each member of the Hollywood Ten made a short speech denouncing McCarthyism and the Hollywood blacklisting.

Contents

The film was directed by John Berry. After being named a communist by fellow director and former party member Edward Dmytryk, [1] one of the Hollywood Ten, and by ex-Communist Party member Frank Tuttle, [2] Berry was unable to find work again in Hollywood after 1951, and left for France. [3]

The documentary is available on the DVD releases of Spartacus [4] and Salt of the Earth .

Featuring

Release

The Hollywood Ten was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City as a part of the "Carte Blanche" series. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalton Trumbo</span> American screenwriter and novelist

James Dalton Trumbo was an American screenwriter who scripted many award-winning films, including Roman Holiday (1953), Exodus, Spartacus, and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944). One of the Hollywood Ten, he refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947 during the committee's investigation of alleged Communist influences in the motion picture industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McCarthyism</span> Phenomenon of US political rhetoric after WWII

McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism, and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ring Lardner Jr.</span> American screenwriter (1915–2000)

Ringgold Wilmer Lardner Jr. was an American screenwriter. A member of the "Hollywood Ten", he was blacklisted by the Hollywood film studios during the late 1940s and 1950s after his appearance as an "unfriendly" witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) leading to Lardner's being found guilty of contempt of Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Dmytryk</span> American film director (1908–1999)

Edward Dmytryk was an American film director. He was known for his 1940s noir films and received an Oscar nomination for Best Director for Crossfire (1947). In 1947, he was named as one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who refused to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in their investigations during the McCarthy-era Red Scare. They all served time in prison for contempt of Congress. In 1951, however, Dmytryk testified to the HUAC and named individuals, including Arnold Manoff, whose careers were then destroyed for many years, to rehabilitate his own career. First hired again by independent producer Stanley Kramer in 1952, Dmytryk is likely best known for directing The Caine Mutiny (1954), a critical and commercial success. The second-highest-grossing film of the year, it was nominated for Best Picture and several other awards at the 1955 Oscars. Dmytryk was nominated for a Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures.

Robert Adrian Scott was an American screenwriter and film producer. He was one of the Hollywood Ten and later blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Biberman</span> American screenwriter and film director

Herbert J. Biberman was an American screenwriter and film director. He was one of the Hollywood Ten and directed Salt of the Earth (1954), a film barely released in the United States, about a zinc miners' strike in Grant County, New Mexico. His membership in the Directors Guild of America was posthumously restored in 1997; he had been expelled in 1950.

The Committee for the First Amendment was an action group formed in September 1947 by actors in support of the Hollywood Ten during the hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). It was founded by screenwriter Philip Dunne, actress Myrna Loy, and film directors John Huston and William Wyler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Maltz</span> American writer (1908–1985)

Albert Maltz was an American playwright, fiction writer and screenwriter. He was one of the Hollywood Ten who were jailed in 1950 for their 1947 refusal to testify before the US Congress about their involvement with the Communist Party USA. They and many other US entertainment industry figures were subsequently blacklisted, which denied Maltz employment in the industry for many years.

Arnold Manoff was an American screenwriter who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.

<i>The Sniper</i> (1952 film) 1952 film by Edward Dmytryk

The Sniper is a 1952 American film noir, directed by Edward Dmytryk, written by Harry Brown and based on a story by Edna and Edward Anhalt. The film features Adolphe Menjou, Arthur Franz, Gerald Mohr and Marie Windsor.

<i>One of the Hollywood Ten</i> 2000 Spanish film

One of the Hollywood Ten is a 2000 Spanish-British bio-picture. The film was written and directed by Karl Francis.

John Berry was an American film director, who went into exile in France when his career was interrupted by the Hollywood blacklist.

Ben Barzman was a Canadian journalist, screenwriter, and novelist, blacklisted during the McCarthy Era and best known for his screenplays for the films Back to Bataan (1945), El Cid (1961), and The Blue Max (1966).

Hollywood on Trial is a 1976 American documentary film directed by David Helpern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood blacklist</span> Mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from US entertainment

The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of denying employment to entertainment industry professionals believed to be or to have been Communists or sympathizers. Actors, screenwriters, directors, musicians, and other American entertainment professionals were barred from work by the studios.

<i>Mutiny</i> (1952 film) 1952 film by Edward Dmytryk

Mutiny is a 1952 American Technicolor adventure film directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Mark Stevens, Angela Lansbury and Patric Knowles. The picture was produced by the King Brothers Productions and based on a story by Hollister Noble; the two parties had previously collaborated on Drums in the Deep South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Porter</span> American actress

Bennie Jean Porter was an American film and television actress. She was notable for her roles in The Youngest Profession (1943), Bathing Beauty (1944), Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945), Till the End of Time (1946), Cry Danger (1951), and The Left Hand of God (1955).

<i>Trumbo</i> (2015 film) 2015 film directed by Jay Roach

Trumbo is a 2015 American biographical drama film directed by Jay Roach and written by John McNamara. The film stars Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Louis C.K., Elle Fanning, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg as Edward G. Robinson, Dean O'Gorman as Kirk Douglas, and David James Elliott as John Wayne. The film follows the life of Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, and is based on the 1977 biography Dalton Trumbo by Bruce Alexander Cook.

Leonardo Bercovici was an American screenwriter, film director and producer.

References

  1. Oliver, Myrna (December 1, 1999). "John Berry; Blacklisted Film Director Relocated Overseas". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  2. McBride, Joseph (1992). Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success . New York: Simon & Schuster. pp.  597. ISBN   0-671-73494-6.
  3. The Hollywood Ten on the Ironweed web site. Archived April 25, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. The Criterion Collection. Spartacus (1960). Accessed: June 28, 2013.
  5. McCarthy, Todd (1993-11-04). "Berry career inevitably comes back to the blacklist". Variety . Retrieved 2015-02-15.

Further reading