Blacklist

White Allies and the Blacklist: Maurice Rapf (Six Degrees of Song of the South, Episode 4) /  by Karina Longworth

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Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts. 

Concerned that his movie about a former slave devoting his life to a white child’s emotional needs might be perceived as racist, Walt Disney hired known Communist Maurice Rapf to rewrite Song of the South. Rapf, the son of an MGM exec, was radicalized as a college student and, shortly after Song of the South was released, he was blacklisted. Today we’ll discuss Rapf’s life and career, and talk about how white leftists in Hollywood tried to subvert the industry’s racial status quo--and how their mission to “make movies less bad” led to their own persecution.

Walt Disney, c. 1940’s

Walt Disney, c. 1940’s

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Music:

The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro and outro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca. The outro song this week is “Jesus Was a Communist” by Reagan Youth.

Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode:

Whimsicality - Laurent Dury
Illustrious Prince - Laurent Dury
Serene Pastoral Folk Blues - Alexandre Stephane Rusian Toukaeff, Baptiste Vayer
Lazy Pastoral Folk Blues - Alexandre Stephane Rusian Toukaeff, Baptiste Vayer
Blue Moan - Keith Charles Nichols
Dance Of The Peasants - Keith Charles Nichols
The Iron Curtain - Anthony J K Hymas
Solutions - Anthony J K Hymas
Ambitions - Anthony J K Hymas
Disney Land - Johnny Pearson
Gumshoe Blues - Paul Martin Pritchard
Cotton Flower - Paul Martin Pritchard
Hanging Tree - Wayne Anthony Murray, Tobias Macfarlaine, Elmore King
Crime and Danger Sign - Hans Conzelmann, Delle Haensch
Prologue Of A Drama #1 - Hans Conzelmann, Delle Haensch -

Credits:

This episode was written, narrated and produced by Karina Longworth.

Editor: Jared O'Connell.

Research and production assistant: Lindsey D. Schoenholtz.

Social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.

Logo design: Teddy Blanks.

Kirk Douglas, Dalton Trumbo, and Otto Preminger (Breaking the Blacklist, Part 2) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

How did the Blacklist come to an end? If you ask Kirk Douglas, the end began with his hiring of Dalton Trumbo to write Spartacus -- or, rather Douglas flaunting of that hiring. Otto Preminger, who hired Trumbo to write Exodus, might see it differently. In truth, the end of the blacklist was a process that took over a decade, and couldn’t have happened without actions taken by, amongst others, Charlie Chaplin, director Joseph Losey, members of the Academy's Board of Governors and president John F. Kennedy. We'll talk about the connection between the end of the blacklist and the weakening of the production code, and what both had to do with the slow dissolution of the studio system amidst the rise of independent producers and a younger generation of audiences. Finally, we’ll discuss how those who had been blacklisted struggled to move on.

Show notes:
Here is a list of published sources that the entire season draws from:

The Red and the Blacklist: An Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate by Norma Barzman

Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo

Trumbo: A biography of the Oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the Hollywood blacklist by Bruce Cook

When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics by Donald T. Critchlow

Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk

City of Nets by Otto Friedrich

Hollywood Radical, Or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Bernard Gordon

I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant

Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J. Hoberman

Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky

West of Eden: An American Place by Jean Stein

The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930-60 by Larry Ceplair


Sources specific to this episode:

Kirk Douglas, I Am Spartacus: Making a Film, Breaking The Blacklist

Kirk Douglas, The Ragman’s Son

Howard Fast, Being Red

Jeffrey P. Smith, “‘A Good Business Proposition’: Dalton Trumbo, Spartacus, and the End of the Blacklist,” The Velvet Light Trap – A Critical Journal of Film and Television, Spring 1989.

John Meroney and Sean Coons, “How Kirk Douglas Overstated His Own Role in Breaking the Hollywood Blacklist,” The Atlantic, July 5, 2012.

“Kennedy Attends Movie In Capital,” New York Times, Feb. 5, 1961.


Credits:

This episode was narrated and produced by Karina Longworth, and written by Karina Longworth and Matthew Dessem. Our production and research assistant is Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our editor is Henry Molofsky. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

Frank Sinatra and Albert Maltz (Breaking the Blacklist, Part 1) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

In the first of two episodes about major stars attempting to end the Blacklist, we’ll look at Frank Sinatra’s efforts to hire Hollywood Ten member Albert Maltz. Timing got in the way of Sinatra’s good intentions: this was the exact moment when Sinatra had become the coolest middle-aged man in America as “chairman of the board” of the newly-formed Vegas act now known as the Rat Pack. It was also the moment when Sinatra thought he was on the verge of acquiring real political power through his proximity to presidential candidate John F. Kennedy.

Show notes:

Here is a list of published sources that the entire season draws from:

The Red and the Blacklist: An Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate by Norma Barzman

Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo

Trumbo: A biography of the Oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the Hollywood blacklist by Bruce Cook

When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics by Donald T. Critchlow

Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk

City of Nets by Otto Friedrich

Hollywood Radical, Or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Bernard Gordon

I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant

Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J. Hoberman

Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky

West of Eden: An American Place by Jean Stein

The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930-60 by Larry Ceplair


Sources specific to this episode:

Sinatra: The Chairman by James Kaplan

“Sinatra, From Kennedy Man to Reaganite” by Asawin Seubsaeng, The Daily Beast

“FBI Files on Sinatra Detail Links to JFK, Mob Figures” by RONALD J. OSTROW and LISA GETTER, Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1988

“Nikita Khrushchev Goes to Hollywood” by Peter Carlson, Smithsonian Magazine, July 2009

Credits:

This episode was narrated, written and produced by Karina Longworth. Our production and research assistant is Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our editor is Henry Molofsky. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

Blacklist Flashback: Frank Sinatra through 1945 /  by Karina Longworth

Download, listen or find on iTunes.

Before our episode on Frank Sinatra’s attempt to end the blacklist, we’re going to flashback to an episode from April 2015, on Sinatra’s rise to fame and his experiences during World War II.  In the early 1940s, shortly after skyrocketing to fame as a heartthrob crooner, Sinatra was perceived, and from some corners pilloried, as a draft dodger. Today we’ll talk about how Sinatra acquired that reputation, how it impacted his early career, and the early success which, as we’ll see next week, faded, and became something that Sinatra struggled to recapture, and couldn’t bear to let go of once he did so.

This episode originally debuted in April 2015. The original show notes for the episode contains sources, soundtrack information and more.

After the Fall: Arthur Miller (Blacklist Episode #14) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

Arthur Miller considered Elia Kazan a close friend and collaborator, but when Kazan named names to HUAC, Miller broke with him and wrote The Crucible, a parable about anti-communist hysteria set amidst the Salem Witch Trials. But despite the committee’s sensitivity to criticism, HUAC didn’t subpoena Miller until he became engaged to Marilyn Monroe, then the biggest star and sex symbol of her day. Miller and Kazan would remain estranged for a decade, until the latter directed a play written by the former which, while drawing headlines for its depiction of Monroe, also seemed to parallel their falling out over HUAC.

Show notes:

Here is a list of published sources that the entire season draws from:

The Red and the Blacklist: An Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate by Norma Barzman

Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo

Trumbo: A biography of the Oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the Hollywood blacklist by Bruce Cook

When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics by Donald T. Critchlow

Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk

City of Nets by Otto Friedrich

Hollywood Radical, Or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Bernard Gordon

I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant

Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J. Hoberman

Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky

West of Eden: An American Place by Jean Stein

The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930-60 by Larry Ceplair


Sources specific to this episode:

Arthur Miller: 1915-1962 by Christopher Bigsby

Elia Kazan: A Life by Elia Kazan

Unfriendly Witnesses: Gender, Theater, and Film in the McCarthy Era by Milly Barranger

After the Fall by Arthur Miller

Timebends by Arthur Miller

Elia Kazan: A Biography by Richard Schickel

Marilyn Monroe: A Biography by Donald Spoto

Arthur Miller, “Ibsen’s Message For Today’s World,” New York Times, Dec. 24, 1950.

Sam Zoloto, “Kazan and Miller Sever Stage Union,” New York Times, July 28, 1952.

Credits:

This episode was narrated, written and produced by Karina Longworth. Our production and research assistant is Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our editor is Henry Molofsky. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

On the Waterfront: Elia Kazan (Blacklist Episode #13) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

Elia Kazan introduced audiences to Warren Beatty, James Dean and Marlon Brando. His films of the 1950s -- including A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, and East of Eden -- comprise perhaps the most impressive body of work of an American director of the decade. But Kazan, who was briefly a Communist in the 1930s, likely would not have been able to make many of those films had he not named names to HUAC in 1952.

Show notes:

Here is a list of published sources that the entire season draws from:

The Red and the Blacklist: An Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate by Norma Barzman

Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo

Trumbo: A biography of the Oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the Hollywood blacklist by Bruce Cook

When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics by Donald T. Critchlow

Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk

City of Nets by Otto Friedrich

Hollywood Radical, Or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Bernard Gordon

I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant

Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J. Hoberman

Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky

West of Eden: An American Place by Jean Stein

The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930-60 by Larry Ceplair


Sources specific to this episode:

Elia Kazan: A Life by Elia Kazan

Unfriendly Witnesses: Gender, Theater, and Film in the McCarthy Era by Milly Barranger

Timebends by Arthur Miller

Elia Kazan: A Biography by Richard Schickel

On The Waterfront: The Final Shooting Script by Budd Schulberg

What Makes Sammy Run? By Budd Schulberg

Kazan: The Master Director Discusses His Films by Jeff Young

“Many Refuse to Clap As Kazan Receives Oscar” by Patrick Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, March 22, 1999

“Streetcar Named Betrayal” by Maureen Dowd, New York Times, February 24, 1999

“Karl Malden and Budd Schulberg: Naming Names” by Anthony Giardina, New York Times, December 23, 1999

This episode includes clips from Letter to Elia, directed by Kent Jones and Martin Scorsese, and On The Waterfront, directed by Elia Kazan. Both are available on iTunes.


Credits:

This episode was narrated and produced by Karina Longworth, and written by Karina Longworth and Matthew Dessem. Our production and research assistant is Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our editor is Henry Molofsky. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

Lena Horne + Paul Robeson (Blacklist Episode #12) /  by Karina Longworth

Horne and Paul Robeson look over plans for a June 1946 rally at Madison Square Garden, hosted by the Council on African Affairs.

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

Horne's last years at MGM overlapped with the first HUAC hearings. Horne, an outspoken proponent of equal rights, who from the beginning of her career had associated with leftists and “agitators,” got caught up in the anti-communist insanity. One of those agitators was Paul Robeson, a singer, actor and political firebrand who was a mentor and friend to Horne. But once the red panic began to heat up, that friendship became problematic for Lena, and like so many others, she was forced to choose between her career and her friendships.  

Lena Horne and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a party Ms. Horne gave in Dr. King's honor in 1963.

Show notes:

Here is a list of published sources that the entire season draws from:

The Red and the Blacklist: An Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate by Norma Barzman

Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo

Trumbo: A biography of the Oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the Hollywood blacklist by Bruce Cook

When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics by Donald T. Critchlow

Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk

City of Nets by Otto Friedrich

Hollywood Radical, Or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Bernard Gordon

I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant

Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J. Hoberman

Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky

West of Eden: An American Place by Jean Stein

The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930-60 by Larry Ceplair
 

Sources specific to this episode:

The Hornes: An American Family, by Gail Lumet Buckley

The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: An Artist’s Journey, 1898 – 1939 by Paul Robeson Jr.

Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne by James Gavin

Lena by Lena Horne and Richard Schickel

“The Politics of Cafe Society” by David W. Stowe The Journal of American History Vol. 84, No. 4 (Mar., 1998)    

Lena Horne, interviewed by Gene De Alessi, April 12, 1966, Pacifica Radio Archives

Ed Sullivan, “Ed Sullivan’s Little Old New York,” The Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 11, 1951.

“Negroes Won’t Fight Russia, Robeson Says,” Los Angeles Times, Apr. 21, 1949.

Paul Pushkin, “Robeson Pleased With the Soviet Social Scheme,” Baltimore Afro-American, Jan. 19, 1935.

John Meroney, “The Red-Baiting of Lena Horne,” The Atlantic, Aug. 27, 2015,

“Negro Leader Takes Issue With Robeson,” Los Angeles Times, Apr. 21, 1949.
 

This episode includes excerpts from the following:

Clip from Show Boat of Robeson singing "Ol' Man River."

Robeson's post-1938 version of the lyrics:

Lena Horne interviewed on KPFA radio, 1966:

Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music:

Lena Horne talking to Shirley Eder in 1969:

Credits:

This episode was written by Karina Longworth and Matthew Dessem, and edited by Sam Dingman. Our production and research assistant is Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

Blacklist Flashback: Lena Horne During WWII /  by Karina Longworth

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Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

Stunning singer/actress Lena Horne was the first black performer to be given the full glamour girl star-making treatment. But as the years went on and her studio failed to make much use of her, Horne started feeling like a token — and she wasn’t wrong. Today we’ll detail Horne’s experiences rising through the ranks of the black nightclub world to MGM, where she remained under contract through the 1940s, and found herself competing with Ava Gardner for parts. Next week, we’ll talk about Horne’s post-MGM career and her struggle to stay off the blacklist.

This episode originally debuted in February 2015. 

There are several excerpts in this episode from the autobiographical stage show Lena mounted in the early 1980s, “Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music.” Some of these excerpts come from a television version of the show that’s been posted on YouTube; others are from the official soundtrack album.

Other audio-video sources used in this episode, not including music:

Lena Horne on the Tonight Show 

Lena Horne on Good Morning America, 1981

Clip from Cabin in the Sky

Jubilee! Episode #89, from Armed Forces Radio Service, July 24, 1944

Born Yesterday: Judy Holliday (The Blacklist Episode #11) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

Judy Holliday won an Oscar for her first starring film role (in Born Yesterday) and of her eight major film roles between 1950 and 1960, four were in films now considered classics. She was one star who was subpoenaed to testify about her ties to Communism who was fully supported by her studio and subsequently wasn’t blacklisted from movies. Holliday’s career was short-lived nonetheless, in part because she represented a highly idiosyncratic, working-class, urban, Jewish authenticity in a time when conformity was being peddled as an equivalent to safety.

Show notes:

Here is a list of published sources that the entire season draws from:

The Red and the Blacklist: An Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate by Norma Barzman

Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo

Trumbo: A biography of the Oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the Hollywood blacklist by Bruce Cook

When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics by Donald T. Critchlow

Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk

City of Nets by Otto Friedrich

Hollywood Radical, Or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Bernard Gordon

I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant

Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J. Hoberman

Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky

West of Eden: An American Place by Jean Stein

The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930-60 by Larry Ceplair

Sources specific to this episode:

The Un-Americans: Jews, the Blacklist, and Stoolpigeon Culture by Joseph Litvak

Judy Holliday: An Intimate Life Story by Gary Carey

“‘Washington Gone Crazy’: Nativist Son” by David Greenberg

“Judy Holliday’s Urban Working Girl Characters From 1950s Film” by Judith E. Scott

This episode was edited by Henry Molofsky, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

Salt of the Earth: Howard Hughes + Paul Jarrico (The Blacklist Episode #10) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

Today we explore one of the more troubling aspects of Howard Hughes’ legacy: the firm hand he played in enforcing the blacklisting of Hollywood workers, both as the head and owner of RKO Pictures, and as a powerful rich guy whose influence went as high as the U.S. Congress. This episode also tells the story of Paul Jarrico, the first screenwriter to be taken to court by a studio (RKO) over the question of his firing during the blacklist period. In partnership with the also-blacklisted writer Michael Wilson and director Herbert Biberman, Jarrico made Salt of the Earth, a pro-Union, proto-feminist, Neorealist-influenced independent film which the blacklisting-supporting unions effectively squelched, with the help of the media, politicians, and Hughes. 

Paul Jarrico testifying to the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1951.

Salt of the Earth (1954)

Show notes:

Here is a list of published sources that the entire season draws from:

The Red and the Blacklist: An Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate by Norma Barzman

Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo

Trumbo: A biography of the Oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the Hollywood blacklist by Bruce Cook

When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics by Donald T. Critchlow

Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk

City of Nets by Otto Friedrich

Hollywood Radical, Or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Bernard Gordon

I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant

Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J. Hoberman

Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky

West of Eden: An American Place by Jean Stein

The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930-60 by Larry Ceplair

Sources specific to this episode:

Much of the research for this episode stemmed from the book I’m working on about Howard Hughes in Hollywood. I’ve taken two trips to the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, which holds nearly 100 boxes of Hughes materials from the office of Dick Hannah, who supervised Hughes’ publicity for the second half of his life. Hughes instructed his press agents to clip every article about him that they could find, as well as published pieces relating to his obsessions, from organized crime and gaming to certain actresses with whom he was once or currently sexually involved, to people he sued or was sued by. Thus, the files include much material on Jarrico, HUAC and Hughes' management of RKO.

Key sources referenced in this episode found at UNLV include:

--Transcript of Hughes’ 1952 American Legion address

--Jimmie Fidler’s November 8, 1951 column “Views From Hollywood,” published in the Valley News

--Coverage of the Hughes/Jarrico trial in The Mirror, Variety and the Los Angeles Examiner

--”Silver City: Who Caused the Trouble?” by Elizabeth Kerby, Frontier, May 1953

--”Reds in the Desert” no byline, Newsweek March 2, 1953

Special thanks also to Hilary Swett at the Writers Guild of America West for pointing me to clippings files and documents in their collection -- a true wealth of information, much which, in the interest of running time, I wasn’t able to include or could only briefly mention in this episode.

Key sources referenced in this episode found at the WGA include:

--Reports from the American Library of Information, and many memos and documents relating to RKO’s subscriptions to their service.

--”The Hughes-Jarrico Imbroglio and the Screen Writers’ Guild” by Mary C. McCall, Jr., Frontier, May 1952

--”Jarrico vs. Hughes: A War For Credit That Could Have Ended the Screen Writers’ Guild” By Barbara L. Hall, Written By September-October 2015

Other sources:

The Marxist and the Movies by Larry Ceplair

Salt of the Earth: The Story of a Film by Herbert Biberman

Special thanks to our special guest, Noah Segan, who returned as Howard Hughes.

This episode was edited by Henry Molofsky, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

Blacklist Flashback: Howard Hughes + Jane Russell /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

In advance of next week’s episode dealing with Howard Hughes’ role in the blacklist, we revisit our October 2014 episode on Hughes’ relationship with Jane Russell, his wartime efforts to balance his aviation and moviemaking businesses, and his shaky run as head of RKO Pictures. Also: Ava Gardner gets violent, Hughes gets a teenage girlfriend, and Russell’s boobs manage to do what the Spruce Goose couldn’t.

The original show notes for the episode contains sources, soundtrack information and more.

She: Richard Nixon + Helen Gahagan Douglas (The Blacklist Episode #9) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

The wife of actor Melvyn Douglas (Ninotchka, Being There), Helen Gahagan Douglas transformed herself from a Broadway and opera star into an exciting new politician in the days of FDR. A persistent, nagging voice of conscience in Congress during the time of HUAC and nuclear panic, Douglas’ political career came to an end amidst innacurate allegations that she was a Communist supporter -- many of which were leveled at her by her opponent in the 1950 Senate race, Richard Nixon.

HGD.jpg

Here is a list of published sources that the entire season draws from:

The Red and the Blacklist: An Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate by Norma Barzman

Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo

Trumbo: A biography of the Oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the Hollywood blacklist by Bruce Cook

When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics by Donald T. Critchlow

Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk

City of Nets by Otto Friedrich

Hollywood Radical, Or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Bernard Gordon

I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant

Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J. Hoberman

Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky

West of Eden: An American Place by Jean Stein

The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930-60 by Larry Ceplair

Sources specific to this episode:

The Pink Lady: The Many Lives of Helen Gahagan Douglas by Sally Denton

TRICKY DICK AND THE PINK LADY: Richard Nixon vs. Helen Gahagan Douglas, 1950 by Greg Mitchell

For more information on She, check out this incredible article on Screen Deco, which includes details on the film’s colorization under the supervision of Ray Harryhausen.

Special thanks to Craig Keller, who played Melvyn Douglas, and to Craig Mazin, who returned as Louis B. Mayer.

This episode was edited by Henry Molofsky, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

Storm Warning: Ronald Reagan, the FBI and HUAC (The Blacklist Episode #8) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

The post-war Communist witch hunt had a big impact on Ronald Reagan’s evolution from movie actor to politician, and from Democrat to Republican. And, Ronald Reagan had a major personal impact on the witch hunt’s manifestation in Hollywood, the Blacklist. This episode will trace the years in which Reagan was primarily known as a movie and TV star, and explore his two marriages to actresses, his testimony to HUAC, his behind-the-scenes work as an informer to the FBI, his late-career incarnation as bridge between Hollywood and corporate America, and more.

Famous scene where George Gipp tells Knute Rockne to "win one for the Gipper"

Kings Row:

Young Ronald Reagan finds he has no legs to stand on, thanks to some 'faith healing.'

And General Electric Theater. 

This episode was edited by Henry Molofsky, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

Monsieur Verdoux: Charlie Chaplin's Road to Hollywood Exile (The Blacklist Episode #7) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

Picking up where last week’s episode left off, we’ll catch up with Chaplin’s post-The Great Dictator activism, talk about Chaplin’s savage satirical follow-up, Monsieur Verdoux, and explain the witch hunt that ended with him forced to leave his adopted home, and Hollywood career, behind.

Here is a list of published sources that the entire season draws from:

The Red and the Blacklist: An Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate by Norma Barzman

Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo

Trumbo: A biography of the Oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the Hollywood blacklist by Bruce Cook

When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics by Donald T. Critchlow

Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk

City of Nets by Otto Friedrich

Hollywood Radical, Or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Bernard Gordon

I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant

Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J. Hoberman

Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky

West of Eden: An American Place by Jean Stein

The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930-60 by Larry Ceplair


Sources specific to this episode:

Chaplin's War Trilogy: An Evolving Lens in Three Dark Comedies, 1918-1947 by Wes D. Gehring

My Autobiography by Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin: A Brief Life by Peter Ackroyd

The Gordon File: A Screenwriter Recalls Twenty Years of FBI Surveillance by Bernard Gordon

“When Chaplin Became The Enemy” by J. Hoberman, NY Times, June 8, 2008

“Booting a Tramp: Charlie Chaplin, the FBI, and the Construction of the Subversive Image in Red Scare America” by John Sbardellati and Tony Shaw

Excerpts from Chaplin’s FBI file can be found on the FBI’s website.

This episode was edited by Henry Molofsky, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

He Ran All The Way: John Garfield (The Blacklist Episode #6) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

John Garfield was Brando before Brando -- a Method-style actor who repped the New York working class while becoming a major sex symbol in film noir and World War II films. Garfield was not a Communist; most of his friends -- and his wife -- were, but they mostly thought “Julie” was well meaning but not a serious political animal. HUAC disagreed, and in the early 1950s, Garfield became the biggest star to be blacklisted.

In the inaugural film of the series, John Garfield becomes a star, playing a troubled young man who disrupts the life of musical family. This story of music professor Adam Lemp, his four daughters and the men who love them aims straight at the heart -- and scores an unerring hit.

This episode was edited by Henry Molofsky, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

Comments and Corrections, March 8, 2016 /  by Karina Longworth

Sometimes we get emails with comments and corrections that we think our listeners should be aware of. Here are a couple in reference to the first few episodes of our Blacklist series. 

 In reference to episode 3, Dorothy Parker, Ron Radosh writes:

"I am a historian and author or co-author of 17 books, including the one I wrote with my wife Allis Radosh, Red Star Over Hollywood, which is about the Communists in Hollywood and the blacklist.

For that, we spent an entire day and in addition had many phone conversations with the late Budd Schulberg. We taped the day long interview, held in his home way out in Long Island.

Budd told us, and emphasized that he had never made this public or told anyone before, but he wanted everything previously hidden or not known to finally come out.

What he told us is that he personally recruited Dorothy Parker to the Communist Party, and it was decided for various reasons that she, like many others, would remain a secret member who simply appeared as a fellow-traveler or someone who had a friendly attitude towards Communist positions. He also said he was assigned the task, since he recruited her, to meet with her each week to collect her Party dues.

Budd was a serious, honest man, who to the last days of his life, considered himself both anti-Communist and anti-fascist. He went ballistic when Ann Coulter praised Joe McCarthy and asked me how to get in touch with her so he could let her know how little he thought of her.

So for what it's worth, my wife and I both believe Budd was telling us the truth. He was not the kind of person to make up things and tell false stories."

 In reference to episode 2, The Hollywood Ten, Bob Shayne writes:

 "You got one important matter wrong. The Ten refused to answer citing the First Amendment, not the Fifth Amendment. If they had taken the Fifth, they would not and could not have been indicted, as the Fifth is what prevents anyone from being forced to testify against themselves in case of criminal activity. But the feeling among the Ten (or 19 originally) and their lawyers was that they had done nothing criminal and hence should not hide behind the Fifth. Further, if the First protects free speech, then it must protect the freedom not to speak. If must convey the right to privacy. That’s the theory with which they invoked the First.

It was that theory that the Supreme Court ruled against when they ruled against the Ten. Two liberal justices who were expected to rule in the Ten’s favor on that theory had died before the case got to the Court, as you stated."

This error was made in the portion of the episode toward its end, describing the downfall of J. Parnell Thomas, the ringleader of HUAC during the 1947 hearings:

 A few months later, Thomas himself was brought before a grand jury to answer to charges of corruption; there were accusations that he had sold government jobs to relatives, and that he had also put the names of non-existent people on federal payrolls so that he could embezzle their salaries. Thomas, who had ensured that the Hollywood Ten would be cited for contempt of congress for invoking their Fifth Amendment right to avoid incriminating themselves, took the stand in his grand jury trial and plead the Fifth. He was convicted of misuse of government funds, and sent to the same federal prison where Lester Cole and Ring Lardner Jr were serving their sentences. In 1951, in consultation with the American Legion, the collected studios agreed to add a provision to the blacklist guidelines set forth in the Waldorf Declaration: now they would deny employment to anyone who hid behind the Fifth Ammendment.

I regret all errors, of course, but at least I can sort of explain why this one happened. I confused the first and fifth amendments in part due to my personal dyslexia over numbers, and in part because both were used by HUAC witnesses at different times. To quote from Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky:

From that day [in 1951] forward those called to testify were advised by their attorneys that they had three choices: to invoke the First Amendment, with its guarantee of free speech and association, and risk going to prison for contempt of Congress like the Hollywood Ten; to invoke the Fifth Amendment, with its privilege against self-incrimination, and lose their jobs (Howard Da Silva and Gale Sondergaard, who followed Parks onto the stand that day, refused to answer the Committee, citing the Fifth Amendment, and were quickly excused and quickly blacklisted); or to cooperate with the Committee and name names and hope to continue working (as Sterling Hayden did, the first witness after Larry Parks to name names). The ground rules for the decade were set. 

We appreciate the correction and will clarify this issue in a future episode.  

 In reference to episode 5, Barbara Stanwyck, Kenton Bymaster writes via Facebook: 

"I just listened to this latest podcast, and you said that Karen Morley was married to King Vidor, but she was actually married to the director Charles Vidor."

The Strange Love of Barbara Stanwyck: Robert Taylor (The Blacklist Episode #5) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

Barbara Stanwyck’s first marriage helped to inspire A Star is Born. Her second marriage, to heartthrob Robert Taylor, didn’t make sense in a lot of ways, but the pair were united by their conservative politics. Both joined the blacklist-stoking Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, but only Taylor testified before HUAC. Called to shamed MGM for forcing him to star in wartime pro-Soviet film Song of Russia, Taylor would become the only major star to name names. Today we’ll talk about Taylor and Stanwyck’s relationship, and the difference between her groundbreaking career as the rare actress who refused to sign long term studio contracts, and his much more conventional experience as MGM chattel.

Show notes:

Here is a list of published sources that the entire season draws from:

The Red and the Blacklist: An Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate by Norma Barzman

Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo

Trumbo: A biography of the Oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the Hollywood blacklist by Bruce Cook

When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics by Donald T. Critchlow

Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk

City of Nets by Otto Friedrich

Hollywood Radical, Or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Bernard Gordon

I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant

Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J. Hoberman

Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky

West of Eden: An American Place by Jean Stein

The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930-60 by Larry Ceplair

Sources specific to this episode:

A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 By Victoria Wilson

Reluctant Witness: Robert Taylor, Hollywood and Communism by Linda Alexander

Barbara Stanwyck: The Miracle Woman by Dan Callahan

Independent Stardom: Freelance Women in the Hollywood Studio System by Emily Carman

Robert Taylor Actor -- A very well-researched fan page

This episode includes a clip from Red Salute, which you can watch in its entirety on YouTube. You can also watch Taylor’s controversial film Song of Russia, which is not available on DVD, here.

Other clips used:

Robert Taylor’s testimony about Howard Da Silva: 

Excerpt of actor Robert Taylor's testimony before HUAC, October 1947 (friendly witness)

The “back to Russia” testimony: 

1947 UnAmerican activities inquiry. A Congressional Committee probes the alleged Communist activities of Hollywood. Ronald Reagan, Parnell Thomas, Adolphe Menjou, Robert Taylor all speak at the inquiry. 90,000 historic films, all SEARCHABLE on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/britishpathe Join us on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/britishpathe Tweet us @britishpathe FILM ID:1195.24

Special thanks this week to Brian Clark and Noah Segan for their help in tracking down research materials.

This episode was edited by Sam Dingman, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

The African Queen: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn and John Huston (The Blacklist Episode #4) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

In the late 1940s, as the country was moving to the right and there was pressure on Hollywood to do the same, Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and John Huston all protested HUAC in ways that damaged their public personas and their ability to work in Hollywood. Hepburn’s outspokenness resulted in headlines branding her a "Red" and, allegedly, audiences stoning her films. Bogart and Huston were prominent members of the Committee For the First Amendment, a group of Hollywood stars who came to Washington to support the Hollywood Ten -- and lived to regret it. With their career futures uncertain, the trio collaborated on the most difficult film any of them would ever make, The African Queen.

Show notes:

Here is a list of published sources that the entire season draws from:

The Red and the Blacklist: An Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate by Norma Barzman

Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo

Trumbo: A biography of the Oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the Hollywood blacklist by Bruce Cook

When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics by Donald T. Critchlow

Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk

City of Nets by Otto Friedrich

Hollywood Radical, Or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Bernard Gordon

I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant

Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J. Hoberman

Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky

Sources specific to this episode:

West of Eden by Jean Stein

By Myself and Then Some by Lauren Bacall

Tough Without a Gun: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife of Humphrey Bogart by Stefan Kanfer

Kate: The Woman who was Hepburn by William J. Mann

Me: Stories of My Life by Katharine Hepburn

An Open Book by John Huston

John Huston: Courage and Art by Jeffrey Meyers

“As Bogart Sees it Now” Milwaukee Journal, December 3, 1947

“I’m No Communist” by Humphrey Bogart, Photoplay, May 1948

Special thanks to our special guest, Rian Johnson, who reprised his recurring role as John Huston.

This episode included excerpts from the following videos:

Episode 1 of Hollywood Fights Back:

The Committee for the First Amendment was an action group formed in September 1947 by actors in support of the Hollywood Ten during the hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). It was founded by screenwriter Philip Dunne, actress Myrna Loy, and film directors John Huston and William Wyler.

Bogart on Episode 2 of Hollywood Fights Back:

The Committee for the First Amendment was an action group formed in September 1947 by actors in support of the Hollywood Ten during the hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). It was founded by screenwriter Philip Dunne, actress Myrna Loy, and film directors John Huston and William Wyler.

Katharine Hepburn’s speech at the May 1947 Henry Wallace rally:

In 1947, Katharine Hepburn got involved in politics when she gave a speech on May 19 during the Henry A. Wallace tour, the Progressive Party's presidential candidate. Afterwards, she was labeled a communist by certain newpapers and accused of attending communist meetings and raising money for them.

Humphrey Bogart’s Oscar acceptance speech:

Humphrey Bogart wins the Oscar for Best Actor for The African Queen at the 24th Academy Awards. Greer Garson presents the award; hosted by Danny Kaye.

This episode was edited by Henry Molofsky, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks. 

Dorothy Parker (The Blacklist Episode #3) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

Columnist, poet and celebrated Algonquin Roundtable wit Dorothy Parker spent years in Hollywood, working as a screenwriter in partnership with her second husband, Alan Campbell, and contributing to important films such as the original A Star is Born and Alfred Hitchcock’s Saboteur. Much to the surprise of many of her closest friends, beginning in the late 1920s Parker became increasingly drawn to socialist causes. Parker’s political calling was merely socially problematic before World War II, when Parker spearheaded the formation of the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League; after the war, when Parker’s name was named before HUAC, her political convictions killed her Hollywood career at its peak.

Algonquin Round Table

Show notes:

Here is a list of published sources that the entire season draws from:

The Red and the Blacklist: An Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate by Norma Barzman

Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo

Trumbo: A biography of the Oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the Hollywood blacklist by Bruce Cook

When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics by Donald T. Critchlow

Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk

City of Nets by Otto Friedrich

Hollywood Radical, Or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Bernard Gordon

I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant

Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J. Hoberman

Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky

Sources specific to this episode:

Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This? by Marion Meade

The Portable Dorothy Parker

Showman: The Life of David O. Selznick by David Thomson

“Dorothy Parker: Hemingway Really Hated Her!” by Jennifer Wright on The Gloss

This episode includes clips from A Star is Born (1937) and Saboteur.

The scene excerpted from Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle.

Parker’s poem “Women: A Hate Song” was read by Carol Monda.

Crossfire: The Trials of the Hollywood Ten (The Blacklist Episode #2) /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenaed dozens of Hollywood workers to come to Washington and testify to the presence of Communists in the film industry. 19 of those who were subpoenaed announced that they wouldn't co-operate with the Committee; of those 19, 10 "unfriendly" witnesses were called to the stand and refused to answer "The $64 Question": "Are you now or have you ever been a Communist?" Those 10 men were subsequently denied employment, and imprisoned; afraid of collateral damage to the industry, the studio moguls were thus moved to design the Blacklist. This episode will explore the work and politics of the Hollywood Ten -- and films on which they came together, such as Crossfire -- and delve into the far-reaching consequences of their false assumption that the Constitution would protect them.

Show notes:

Here is a list of published sources that the entire season draws from:

The Red and the Blacklist: An Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate by Norma Barzman

Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical by Larry Ceplair and Christopher Trumbo

Trumbo: A biography of the Oscar-winning screenwriter who broke the Hollywood blacklist by Bruce Cook

When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics by Donald T. Critchlow

Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk

City of Nets by Otto Friedrich

Hollywood Radical, Or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Bernard Gordon

I Said Yes to Everything by Lee Grant

Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J. Hoberman

Naming Names by Victor S. Navasky

Sources specific to this episode:

“Bertolt Brecht Testifies Before The House Un-American Activities Committee,” Open Culture

“Reagan Played Informant For FBI in ‘40s” by Scott Herhold, Knight-Ridder Newspapers/Chicago Tribune

This episode includes excerpts from the following YouTube clips:

Crossfire Trailer:

trailer for the 1947 film http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2005/07/crossfire-1947-7112005.html Public domain trailer

John Howard Lawson’s testimony: 

GV Un American Committee hearing in Washington DC. MS Alvah Bessie testifying and refusing to answer; "Are you a communist?" He cites the American constitution. Stills and Cine cameramen all around forming press scrum. Hollywood film writer John Howard Lawson also refuses to answer directly. Congressman Thomas asks him to leave.

 Dalton Trumbo’s testimony (itself featured in an excerpt from an unidentified documentary): 

I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor (http://www.youtube.com/editor)

Bertolt Brecht’s testimony: 

Bertolt Brecht 1947/48 bei einem Verhör im House Committee on Un-American Activities (englisch: Senatsausschuss für unamerikanische Umtriebe; HUAC)

This episode was edited by Henry Molofsky, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz.