The Hollywood 10

MYTH: The "Hollywood 10" were an innocent group of entertainers who defied congress on principle.

To a liberal, in order to reach the truly exalted status of "victim" one must show himself to have undergone such discomforts as persecution, discrimination, torture, or Parkinson's disease. However, since spoiled, rich white people (liberals) are rarely confronted with such adversity, occasionally they have to invent some. Such was the case of the "Hollywood 10."

The Hollywood Ten in November 1947 waiting to be fingerprinted in the U.S. Marshal's office after being cited for contempt of Congress. Front row (from left): Herbert Biberman, attorneys Martin Popper and Robert W. Kenny, Albert Maltz, Lester Cole. Middle row: Dalton Trumbo, John Howard Lawson, Alvah Bessie, Samuel Ornitz. Back row: Ring Lardner Jr., Edward Dmytryk, Adrian Scott

The "Hollywood 10" were a group of writers and directors who at the time were not writing or directing, were members of a bloodthirsty movement bent on world domination, known as Communism. Now, normally this would not be a problem, but since the Soviet-led Communist movement had pledged to exterminate us and conquer the civilized world, people were a little concerned.

Now, before preceding any further, it is imperative to note that it is not now, nor was it back then, illegal to be a member of the Communist Party. It was certainly very unbecoming to be a charter member of the most murderous movement in the 20th century, which also happened to be a sworn enemy of the United States, but not illegal.

However, back in the late 40's, our government had the quaint, old-fashioned idea that Americans who sided with our enemy should have to at least take an afternoon off from planning our demise in order to visit scenic Washington and answer a few questions.

In all, 43 people were put on the witness list for the House Un-American Affairs Committee (HUAC). Only 11 of whom were called before the committee. One playwright, Bertolt Brecht, cooperated with the committee and answered their questions, leaving us with the aforementioned "Hollywood 10".

What followed at the committee hearings was truly deserving of an Academy Award. All 10 were simply asked one question, "Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?" And, one by one, each member refused to answer, doing everything from sighting First Amendment rights of speech and assembly to reading prepared statements charging that the committee's investigation was unconstitutional.

Political dissonance in the Soviet Union, the country the "Hollywood 10" truly loved, were spending their evenings dining on the finest rats and cockroaches Eastern Siberia had to offer, but apparently HUAC's inquiries into whether or not they belonged to a perfectly legal political party was just one step too far.

In what must have been real High Comedy, the committee's lead investigator, Louis Russell, was on hand with the Communist Party registration cards for each of the 10. So, as each one defiantly refused to answer whether he was or ever had been a member of the party, Russell displayed their registration card numbers for 1944. Oh, if only we had these HUAC guys around today.

But, there still remains the salient question: Why? If Communist Party membership was no crime, why not be open and honest about it?

Well, back in the late 40's, people didn't politicize their national security. Both Republicans and Democrats, citizens and politicians alike, were well aware of the dangers posed by Communism. So, for example, unlike today where someone like Michael Moore can churn out unfettered, traitorous garbage and be praised for it, even the "10" and all the other Reds in Hollywood could not and would not have dared to produce such filth back in the 40's, for fear of being run out of Hollywood and forced to live the rest of their pitiful lives down with the commoners they claimed to love so much.

So, why didn't they talk? Here's how Ring Lardner, one of the "10", explained it to Comment magazine: "We decided it was not a good idea to deny membership in the Communist Party, although some of our colleagues had done that before the California State Un-American Activities Committee. We just felt that there were too many stoolpigeons and various other ways to find out, and you could get yourself in much worse situation for perjury: it would be very hard to organize any sympathy around that."

So, there you have it. What modern day leftists and Hollywood celebrities claim was some righteous and principled stand by falsely-accused victims was in fact a smarmy attempt by a bunch of Commies to avoid perjury charges and public disgrace.

I say we bring HUAC back.

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