Customer Reviews

Hollywood on Trial [VHS]

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Hollywood on Trial serves as a reminder to all citizens of the United States that our freedom of expression and our dedication to the Constitution has never been as sacred as we'd like to think. This film explores the events of the Hollywood Blacklist, during which Communist witch hunts were carried out by the House Un-American Activities Committee during the late 1940's and early 1950'. Alec Baldwin narrates footage from the infamous nine-day trial that saw dozens of careers destroyed as actors like Ronald Reagan and Gary Cooper testified against their colleagues in order to save themselves from censure. Viewers will see the outrageous, comtempible and inflammatory behavior of the Committee member; interrupting testimony, ignorant remarks at the witnesses expense, etc. Intertwined with this footage are interviews with actors who were intimately involved with the trial. The most interesting of these interviews is with Edward Dymtryk, a screenwriter who started as an "unfriendly witness" and later implicated 23 colleagues in order to salvage his career. Other interviews include Dalton Trumbo's son (watch for his description of visiting his father in prision), Marsha Hunt and members of the Holloywood Ten. This movie will outrage viewers with any sense of justice as they list to stories of moral equivocation, blind (and not-so-blind) loyalty, fear and dignity in the face of insurmountable adversity. I highly reccommend this film -- especially to teachers of American History and Government as examples of our legal system gone awry.

This documentarty was made in 1976 and includes interviews with many who lived through this cold war drama including Dalton Trumbo's last. He died months after this film was made. This film is a must for historians and film scholars. Regardless of your point of view, The HUAC 1947 hearings were a deep human drama, Ironic, Hollywood could not have written this better had it been a movie and it really happened ---to Hollywood.

Narrated by John Huston, and with original trial footage, interviews with members of the original "Hollywood Ten" and others affected by the blacklists, this is a riveting documentary that keeps you glued to your seat.

It is an important film that should be seen by all interested in the history of filmmaking, and history buffs as well.