Evening star., 1951-04-14
Bids 10 Testify
Extended 10 80
Named as Reds
Committee to Resume
Probe Of Hollywood
Membership Tuesday
By l. Edeor Primo

An open invitation to testify
is out today to the more than 30
persons who have been identified
|as Communists or former Com
munists during the House Un-
American Activities Committees
current Hollywood investigation.
Chairman Wood said one such
|person. Martin Berkeley, a screen
writer. already had requested,
and would be given, an oppor-
tunity to be heard. Mr.. Berkeley
denied in a telegram an accusa-
ton that he was a one-t time Com
|munist made by Richard j. Col
Inns, himself a Aim writer and a
confessed ex-Red.
The committees invitation came
as 1t completed the first five DAYS
OF hearings on Communism in
the film capital. with this score On
the IL witnesses already heard:
-Four admitted having been
Communist Party members and
named others as having been so
affiliated. They were Screen Stars
Larry Parks and Sterling Hayden:
Collins and Mrs. Meta r. Rosen-
berg. one-time assistant story
editor at Paramount Studios.
Eight Silent ON Membership.
Eight refused under oath to say
whether they were or are Com
munists, on the grounds Of pos
sible self incrimination. They
were Howard da Silva, Victor Kill
lian, Will Geer and Fred Graf.
actors; Gale Sondergaard, actress,
and Robert Lees. Waldo Salt and
Paul Jarrico, writer's.
No witness as yet has testified
that he is not or never has been
a member Of the Communist
party.
The committee scheduled its
next session for Tuesday. Actress
Anne Revere and Harold Buch-
man and Sam Moore, writer's, are
expected to testify.
Six Of the so-called Hollywood
Ten" have been identified as one
time Reds by Collins and Mrs.
Rosenberg. They are Herbert BIZ
herman, Albert Maltz, Ring Lard
ner,, jr.; John Howard Lawson,
Lester Cole and Samuel Ornitz.
All went to jail for refusing to
answer committee questions on
Communism during the 1947 Hol-
Ilywood hearings.
Budd Schulberg, author Of the
best-seller THE Disseminated, /"
and Robert Rossen, producer of
the 1949 Academy Award winning
"All the Kings Men," also were
Identified as ex-Communists.
| Motives Confirmed.
Collins and Mrs. Rosenberg
confirmed long time committee
contentious that the Communist
Party was interested in infil-
ltrating Hollywood for these rea-
sons: 30
To tap a lucrative source for
financial contributions; to use in
tellectuals and big-name person.
alities for the prestige of the
party and to influence the con-
tent Of films, where possible
either to promote the party line
or to halt or soften anti-Commu-
mist pictures.
! An idea on contributions made
by Hollywood Reds was given by
Collins, who testified he paid
about $185 a month for three
or four years. in addition to reg
ular dues. This was the result of
fiat 4 per cent assessment on
his yearly salary, the same as
made on others in his income
bracket, he added.
Propaganda Difficulty Cited.
Both Collins and Mrs. Rosen-
berg stressed the difficulty of in
jecting Communist propaganda
in films. The producer, director
stars and the front Office of the
studio all had veto powers over
the script, they pointed out.
Hayden, Collins and Mrs, Ro-
senberg testified that one of the
reasons they left the party was
its undemocratic character. Free.
dom of thought was not brooked
AS Collins put it, he felt like q
trained Zombie."
Most of the recalcitrant wit.
nesses accused the committee OF
attempting thought control. OF
building a blacklist to force them
out OF their Hollywood Jobs and
OF using the hearings as a smoke
screen for Congress failure to
halt imitation and the drift toward
war