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November 1993

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Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
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Tue, 23 Nov 1993 00:30:09 EST
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It's been a long time since I followed the literature on HUAC
but two volumes worth reading are:
 
Walter Goodman, THE COMMITTEE (New York: Farrar. Straus and Giroux, 1968;
     reprinted New York: Penguin Books, 1969)
 
Nancy Lynn Schwartz, THE HOLLYWOOD WRITERS' WARS (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
     1982)
 
As the title implies, Goodman's book deals with HUAC from the beginning;
the sub-title summarizes the thrust: "The extraordinary career of the House
Committee on Un-American Activities."  There is a brief mention of what
Goodman calls the Waldorf interdict.
 
Schwartz's book deals with the organization of the Writer's Guild and the
right/left conflicts that eventuated in the HUAC hearings of the Hollywood
Ten, most of whom were writers.  There is a page or so on the meeting of
the major studio heads which did take place at the prestigious
Waldorf-Astoria and resulted in the firing of the Ten and many, many other
film workers from writers, directors, players, technical people,
musicians and anyone else who was even vaguely "liberal."  It was
indeed a SCOUNDREL TIME as Lillian Hellman titled her own apologia.
 
If you're not in a position to do much research on the topic I strongly
suggest Schwartz's book.  As I remember, it's a "page-turner," as they
say in the book reviewing jargon.
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Cal Pryluck, Radio-Television-Film, Temple University, Philadelphia
<[log in to unmask]>  <PRYLUCK@TEMPLEVM>

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