Evening star., 1951-05-13


the movie industry as of las
February % when The Star brok'
the story Of the new inquiry.
More than so already have beer
named as Communists at one tim,
or another, and additional identi.
fications are coming. Chairman
Parnell Thomas in 1947 said thu
committee had "a very complet.
record on 70 very prominent per-
sons active out in Hollywood.
Three Prime Reasons
According to testimony Of ad'
mitted former Reds, confirming
longtime committee contentious
the Communist Party inflltrateC
Hollywood for three principa
reasons:
l. To tap a lucrative source fol
party funds.
2. To gain prestige for tht
party by Turing big names" intt
front groups.
3. To control the content ot
films, in order to bar anti Com.
munist pictures or disseminate Rec
propaganda. This was to be done
by domination of both talent ane
craft unions.
In the past the Reds have Lao
considerable success on Nos. / anG
2. But they have fallen fiat or
No. 8.
Now, in wake of the revelations
before the committee, the once
fabulous flow of money into the
party Golfers is expected to become
little more than trickle.
The reason for this is that wit.
nesses who refuse to state under
oath whether they are or were
Communists. and others identified
as Reds, almost automatically be.
come unemployable in Hollywood
Contracts are terminated, wage.
earners are fired and gone are the
fat salaries.
An indication of the amount oI
money the Communist Party ha.
taken out of Hollywood was giver
by Screen Writer Richard j. Col.
Inns, a party member for about
10 years and one of the most
articulate witnesses yet heard ir
the inquiry. >s
Mr.. Collins said that, in addition
to regular party dues, he, like othel
highly paid Reds. was assessed 9
fiat 4 per cent Of his salary.
II suppose I gave about $185 q
month for three or four years"
he added.
Two other top film writers, both
identified as Communists, Dalton
Trumbo and Lester Cole, together
received total of 1882 900 from
Metro Goldwyn- Mayer alone in
the three years 1945-1947. A 4 pc,
: cent assessment would have meant
$15,28 for the party.
High Financing
When one considers there were
several hundred Communists in
the movie industry during the war
according to Collins, a lot of party
activities throughout the country
from atomic espionage to aid fol
the tottering Daily Worker, could
have been financed from the
Hollywood take"
The Reds still have ways OF
tapping some of the movie gold
however. Screen Star Sterling
Hayden told how Karen Morley
an actress, attempted to persuade
him to become a passive" member
after he quit the party in 1945.
He said Miss Morley told hin
he would have to take no part ir
party activities-just contribute
Hayden refused, but how many
passive" members and fellow.
travellers today are contributing te
Red causes is something the COM
mittee would like very much tt
know.
During the last few years, be-
cause Of the cold war and naked
Red aggression, it has become ex-
tremely unpopular and unprof1t-
able to be member of a Com
munist-front group. Even the
most gregarious person nowadays
checks thoroughly into an organi-
zation before joining. Hence, the
Communists are finding it more
and more difficult to lure "big
names" into their fronts and
thereby gain prestige and dollars
from innocents and suckers.
Much testimony has been re-
ceived bearing on the matter of
efforts to inject Communist propa-
ganda into films. There can be
no doubt that there were attempts
to respond to Lenin's admonition
that the cinema, perhaps the most
important medium for educating
and propagandizing the public
should be exploited carefully.
But the consensus Of former
Reds is that this was almost i'm
possible. The reason: The pro-
ducer, director, stars and front
office all had a veto over the script
In other words, there would have
to be q chain of Communists OF
fellow-travelers from the writer
to the studio boss.
The party soon realized the
difficulties and launched its vigor-
GUS campaign to control all unions
in the film industry. The idea
was simple: Control the unions
and you have a powerful weapon
to hold over the heads of the
studios.
At the height of their power ir
1867. the Communists doni.
mated the Sreen Writer'S Guile
and the Conference of Studio
Unions. While Reds infiltratee
the Screen Directors Guild anc
the Screen Actors Guild, the,
were in no position to dictate pol.
icy In these groups.
Meanwhile, one witness testi
ned that party instructions. a
laid down by Screen Writer Johl
H0ward TowSoy1 idon&ifad 80 ~,