Alvah Bessie : a study of one of the "Hollywood Ten"

Includes bibliographical references (pages 151-156)At the conclusion of World War II, there emerged a national fear that Communism had made powerful inroads into the government and industries of the United States.\ud In Hollywood, in the motion-picture industry, that fear manifested itself in a suspicion that Communists were preparing to take over the Industry.\ud Early in 1947, the House Committee on Un-American Activities, at the request of an organization made up of members of the Film Industry, the Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals,??? decided to investigate ???Communist infiltration??? into the motion-picture industry.\ud The hearings that followed produced ten witnesses who refused to disclose either their professional or political affiliations. As a result of that stand, they were cited for contempt of Congress, convicted, fined $1,000 each and sentenced to one year's imprisonment. (Two received fines of $500 each, and six month's prison terms.) Those men have become known as the ???Hollywood Ten.???\ud One of them was author Alvah Bessie.\ud This study examines his history as a politically motivated author and journalist, and seeks to prove the hypothesis that his political and social orientation not only determined his position before the House Committee, but that his ???radical??? history, and not his relatively brief career as a screenwriter, was actually responsible for his being subpoenaed to appear before that body.\ud This thesis also seeks to determine that Bessie's screenplays not only did not contain Communist propaganda, but, due to the very studio structure under which he was employed, could not; while the novels, non-fiction works, and articles he has produced, and over which he had complete or even partial control of the final product, did; and do, contain strong and forthright social and political comment.\ud The thesis is also significant in that for the first time, ever, Mr. Bessie answers the very questions he refused to answer when asked by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. (See more in text.