Foundation for substantive discussion board responses and future dialogue

Alger Hiss and the Hollywood Blacklisting

The 1948 trial of a high level State Department official named Alger Hiss for perjury not only captivated the nation but began a witch hunt that eventually reached all the way from Washington D.C. To Hollywood California. When Alger Hiss was convicted of lying about former Communist associations, this not only proved that he had been involved with Communist groups in the past, but it forced the public to ask whether he was currently a Communist spy. This question of Communist associations would then be asked of many throughout the country eventually leading to an investigation of the film industry. A government inquiry into Communism in the film industry in turn led to the "Hollywood Blacklisting;" where hundreds involved in the industry were denied employment.

Alger Hiss was a Harvard educated lawyer who began working for the U.S. State Department in the 1930's. In August of 1948, an admitted former Communist, Whittaker Chambers, testified before the House un-American Activities Committee that Hiss had previously been associated with the Communist Party and later suggested that he may currently be serving as a Soviet spy. Hiss categorically denied the charges and sent a reply to the committee stating "I do not know Mr. Chambers and, so far as I am aware, have never laid eyes on him." (Linder, 2003) After further investigation by an obscure California congressman named Richard Nixon, it was discovered that Hiss lied in his testimony. His later conviction for perjury was seen as an acknowledgment that there were Communists in the government and set off a Communist witch hunt.

The Alger Hiss trials sparked an intense reaction on the part of the American public. Beginning in the late 1940's and early 50's many members of the film industry were brought before the House un-American Activities Committee and forced to testify as to whether or not they had ever been associated with Communist groups. As a result of this witch hunt, "about 250 Hollywood personalities were blacklisted (denied jobs) during the early 1950's because they were either suspected of having or known to have had Communist ties." (Lindop, 2010, p.24) This included many well-known artists like Edward G. Robinson, Jose Ferrer, Orson Welles, and Arthur Miller. For the next decade the blacklisting continued and had a chilling affect on what Hollywood and Broadway would release to the public.