The HUAC's Role in Cold War America

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During the years of Cold War, the House on Un-American Activities Committee or HUAC was created to investigate and conduct search on all the activities, groups and people who are involved or have a connection with Communist in the United States. The House of Committee has the capability to send an individual to prison if a person refuses to cooperate or provide a testimony during the legal proceeding or prosecution by issuing a subpoena. Legal proceedings were held to investigate or examine the involvement of an individual with the Communist and it could affect a larger number of people including the one in the entertainment industries. In addition, there are ten directors including writers invited and questioned by the committee. …show more content…

The HUACs wants to prove that "card- carrying party members dominated the Screen Writers Guild, that Communists had succeeded in introducing subversive propaganda into motion pictures, and that President Roosevelt had brought improper pressure to bear upon the industry to produce pro- Soviet films during the war". The House of committees questioned them if they have been a member of the Communist. None of the ten people admits or answered and used the First Amendment as their defense. In result the House Committee, sentence them to serve up to one year in prison. In addition, Dalton Trumbo is one of ten people called by the HUAC. After serving his sentence and being blacklisted, he write films under pseudonyms and fronts because he cannot find a job in Hollywood. Because of his situation, he cannot put his name on his work to earn credits and he even earns less, unlike he used to earn before he was sentenced. He gains credit when Universal acknowledge him as the writer of Spartacus. Moreover, during the trial Dalton Trumbo remained "unfriendly" the same as the eight member of the Hollywood Ten. They refuse to cooperate or tell the truth except for Edward Dmytryk. Dmytryk stated that, " I had long been convinced that the fight of the Ten was political. I believed that I was being force to sacrifice my family and my career in defense of the Communist Party, from which I had long been separated and which I had grown to dislike and distrust." In addition, he show opposition to the Communist Party and he only named some of the names that was mentioned by other witnesses. Because of that the other members of the Ten Hollywood were very angry to what he

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