*The House Un-American Activities Blues- The 1950's Red Scare-Woody Allen's The Front

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of the trailer for Woody Allen's "The Front".

DVD REVIEW

The Front, starring Woody Allen and Zero Mostel, directed by Martin Ritt, 1976

The various blanket infringements on the rights of ordinary American citizens and others since the criminal actions by Islamic fundamentalists of 9/11 hardly represent the first time that the American government has seen fit to curtail those rights. The Palmer Raids roundup of reds, radicals and foreigners in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution at the tail end of World War I comes to mind. As done the subject of this film, the 'red scare' against communist and other labor radicals after World War II with the onset of the Cold War against the Soviet Union, a former ally. The name of this period narrowly is given in the history books as the McCarthy witch-hunt era, although that hardly dose justice to the widespread political paranoia, high and low, in America at that time. The signature event was the execution of the Rosenbergs, Julius and Ethel, for passing 'atomic secrets' to the Soviet Union. As this film points out as it unfolds that political perfect storm dragged in and ruined many people from many fields, probably none more publicized than in the entertainment industry, especially film and the emerging television medium.

Woody Allen has performed many roles over the year from nerdy romantic lead to nerdy neurotic New York intellectual and social commentator but this is one of the few roles of his where the subject matter is more than just fodder for his sardonic writing or comedic talents. The story line here is rather simple, if the politics are rather more complex. Woody, a bright but underachieving New York bar cashier Howard Prince, as a favor (and to get some much needed cash as well) to his blacklisted lefty childhood television writer friend (played by Michael Murphy) agrees to “front” for him. This means that said friend does the writing and Woody gets the credit, the cash and, off-handedly as is the case with many commercial productions, the girl. In short order Woody gets to like the notoriety and the new lifestyle and agrees to front for other blacklisted writers. Then the real trouble starts.

During the early 1950’s it was not enough to write sanitary material for the mass media (approved by outsiders with their own agendas), it was not enough to apologize to various Congressional committees and their cohorts for youthful, innocent and, frankly, acceptable leftist political beliefs in order to survive in the entertainment industry (the subject here but it could have been in the trade unions, educational field, governmental service or almost any other facet of American life at the time). One had to grovel and name names. And the bulk of those who were called before the committees or faced other types of pressure did do, with regret, with relish or with indifference. But they did it.


There is an incredibly poignant sub-theme that runs throughout this film that details the pressures in the career-shattering of one of the “recanters”, Hecky Brown (masterfully played by Zero Mostel, blacklisted in the 1950’s himself as was the director Martin Ritt and some of the others), who in the end gives up Woody to the committees- finks on him, in other words. However filled with remorse Hecky commits suicide. That was not common to be sure. Hell, those were desperate times and not everyone has the courage to say no. Woody’s character, in the convoluted, Allen way does just that. And pays the consequences. So in the end there were choices. For every Elia Kazan, Elizabeth Bentley and the like there was a Howard Fast, a Dashiell Hammett and the like who said no. As some recently released information has indicated the Rosenbergs paid the ultimate price for their refusal to name names. That, in the end is what this film is all about and that is what should be honored. Just say no.

*Tales From The 1950’s Crypt Of Another Sort- The “Red Scare” -Up Close And Personal- The Life And Times Of “Hollywood Ten” Writer Dalton Trumbo

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of the fim documentary "Trumbo".

DVD Review

Trumbo, based on a memoir by Christopher Trumbo, various actors read from Dalton Trumbo’s work, Magnolia Home Productions, 2004
Today, along with the DVD under review , "Trumbo", I have written a review of the film “Revolutionary Road”, based on the 1950s novel by Richard Yates, about the ‘trials and tribulations’ of an upwardly mobile white middle class suburban couple who are dissatisfied with that existence but can’t break out. “Trumbo”, about the real trials and tribulations of a great American writer, Dalton Trumbo provides an interesting contrast from the same period of history, post World War II America. The two are joined together in an odd way. The unstated subtext of “Revolutionary Road” is that it is not wise to challenge the cookie-cutter norm, nor is it ‘wise’ to defy the “security blanket” provided by capitalist America in its fight against “godless communism”. And for proof, just ask Dalton Trumbo, (or any of the Hollywood Ten writers and others who had to endure the 1950s, and beyond, blacklists).

This aspect of the Cold War, now mainly forgotten, is the apt subject here. One of the commentators let the cat out of the bag concerning the “red scare” and its victims. These victims of America’s post-war build-up of the Cold War against the Soviet Union were men and women who, at heart, were liberals in the old-fashioned sense but who between the horrors of the Great Depression, the rise of fascism and their own basically decent human instincts gravitated toward communism, or at least what they took for communism as presented by the popular frontist American Communist Party. In the post-war period when America was determined to be hegemonic that boded ill for those who had been previously favorably disposed to the Soviet Union.

This one and one half hour goes into detail about all of that, including some very interesting black and white film from the period that somehow seems to capture the moment better than any 'talking head' commentary. More than that though this is a “tribute” to Dalton Trumbo’s struggle against adversity when he, honorably, said no to the government. No. He would not be an informer. No. He would not stand for the abridgement of his right to free speech. He went to jail, had a hard time getting work later (in the period of the “front” a subject from which Woody Allen made a very clever film, “The Front” out of), and much later was vindicated in a way by being recognized for his writing achievements, including a number of screenplays that were outstanding like “Spartacus”. All of this is told through Dalton Trumbo interviews giving during various periods of his life, the voices of various actors like Donald Sutherland and Michael Douglas performing excerpts from his works, and by remembrances of his children and other survivors from that period.

Two things to finish up. You MUST read, if you want a top grade anti-war novel, Trumbo’s savage indictment of the effects of war on the young, “Johnny Got His Gun” that is excerpted in this presentation. And, although other that the novel just mentioned and some films (including “Spartacus” and “the Exodus”) that I had seen and that Trumbo wrote the screenplays for I was not that familiar with his personal story aside from his political problems. After viewing this film I have one abiding thought about the man. Dalton Trumbo was too good human material to have labored, and I think thanklessly, for the by-then distorted Stalinized American Communist Party. We, of the anti-Stalinist, anti-capitalist, pro-communist left could have used his finely- etched pen to better effect.

* The Saga Of A Great Filmmaker And Unrepetant "Snitch" -The Unlamented Elia Kazan

Click on title to link to "Boston Sunday Globe", July 26, 2009, article by Ty Burr about the famous (or rather, from these quarters, infamous) Hollywood filmmaker and "snitch"(they go together)Elia Kazan.

Markin comment:

Hey, I've watch almost every film that Mr. Burr lists here made that was directed by Elia Kazan. (Who can forget Tennessee William's "Streetcar Named Desire" or the seemingly autobiographical "On The Waterfront" He was a great filmmaker, for the most part. On that part there is no disagreement. What I have trouble with is that he "snitched" on his fellow Communist Party members in Hollywood during the post World War II red scare.

No alibis, please. Many others went to prison, lost jobs and faced other forms of harassment rather than give up their friends. Whole generations of disillusioned Stalinists (and other types of leftists), sad to say, have walked away from communist politics for a whole variety of reasons, including disgust. But they did not "drop the dime" as they left-they just walked away and went on with their lives. There is a very special spot reserved in communist "hell" waiting for Mr.Kazan. And that is as it should be. Never forgive, never forget- Elia Kazan "snitch".

*A Thoughtful Film From The French Cinema- "I've Love You So Long"

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of The Trailer For "I've Love You So Long".

DVD Review

I’ve Loved You So Long, starring Kristen Scott Thomas, directed by Phillipe Claudel, 2008

I have had a long time interest in well-made foreign films from an earlier period, mainly the then French New Wave. There will be reviews of some of that work in this space in the future but the mood of this recent film (2008) by Phillipe Claudel very much reminds of those earlier efforts.

*****

What is not to like about a very well done film (with French subtitles) about two estranged sisters, Lea and Juliette, who, because the older sister Juliette was in prison for the “murder” of her young son (that really is, as we find out toward the end, whatever moral qualms you might have to the contrary was a mercy killing and not some ruthless, senseless crazy cold-blooded act as one is led to assume at the beginning of the film ) have to come to grips with the fact that they are strangers. Have no fear though blood ties will out here, as the older sister returns to normalcy though an exploration of her truncated relationship with her sister, the sister’s husband, their two adopted children and assorted other interested parties. All through this film starring Kristen Scott Thomas, the woman who was Ralph Fiennes’ love interest (or he her’s) in the excellent “The English Patient”, as Juliette I kept thinking that while American director’s specialize very well in a number of film genres they could never pull this off, with a length of almost two hours to boot. It deserved an award for “Best Foreign Film”. No question.

Films to While Away The Class Struggle By-Dalton Trumbo's Anti-War Classic- "Johnny Got His Gun"

Click on the headline to link to a "Youtube" film clip from the film "Johnny Got His Gun" based on Dalton Trumbo's classic anti-war novel of the same title.

Clip From Trailer for Trumbo (2015)- the story of the black-listed writer who wrote the classic Johnny Got His Gun.

 

 

Recently I have begun to post entries under the headline- “Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By”-that will include progressive and labor-oriented songs that might be of general interest to the radical public. I have decided to do the same for some films that may perk that same interest under the title in this entry’s headline. In the future I expect to do the same for books under a similar heading.-Markin

DVD Review

Johnny Got His Gun, Donald Sutherland, Timothy Bottoms, Jason Robards, directed by Dalton Trumbo, 1971

The first two paragraphs are taken from a review of Dalton Trumbo’s novelistic treatment of the film under review. The points made there apply in general to the film:

“The subject of war has had all sorts of novelistic treatments, the most successful usually treading lightly on the war action itself and delving into the personal choices and consequences of the characters as their central aim. In that odd sense the most compelling novelistic treatments are either pro-war (for some seemingly rational reason like defending one’s country, coming to the aid of a smaller, weaker country, etc.) or neutral to the more physical and psychological dimensions of the situation. A flat out, anti-war (or, to use a more vague term, pacifistic) treatment is usually not successful either because it has a “preaching to the choir” quality or strikes some false chord. That is not the case with Dalton Trumbo’s “Johnny Got His Gun”.


Although this novel was written under the sign of the Hitler-Stalin Pact in the late 1930s, reflected in Communist International and American Communist Party political line as one of intense opposition to Western war preparations it brings more home truths than merely another piece of ‘communistic’ propaganda and it would be incorrect even for staunch anti-Stalinists to dismiss it out of hand. Joe, the main character here, maimed beyond belief and repair, is every mother’s son, every American mother’s son. His interior monologue, as he remembers his past, his lost youth, his desires and the useless way he was used in the last days of World War I is almost unique in the way the story unfolds. It certainly is not for the faint-hearted, or the weak-minded. As steps are now being taken to up the ante in Afghanistan, another one of those wars to ‘defend’ democracy, or whatever the reason of the day is, this thing should be required reading for every mother, and every mother’s son and daughter who seeks to put him or herself in war’s way.”

The film pretty faithfully follows Trumbo’s, or at least the spirit of Trumbo’s, main point. Of course it helps that he directed the piece. Off a reading, or rather re-reading of the novel I thought that it would be hard to sustain a film based on the lack of “action” in the story line. That is dealt with two ways-flash backs by Joe to sunnier times and by “dream” sequences featuring the likes of Donald Sunderland giving his droll interpretation of Trumbo’s message. This is not an easy film to get through; certainly not for those who like their entertainments light, but the pathos of the scenes as Joe tries to make sense of his “new” world is cause for reflection. That said, could one find a better actor than Timothy Bottoms to play the role of Joe, the fresh-faced “dough boy” filled with illusions, filled with thoughts of invincibility, but also filled with dreams and sorrows as he goes off to war. Kudos here. And thanks, brother Trumbo.

Tales From The 1950s Crypt- The "Red Scare", Dalton Trumbo And "The Hollywood Ten"

Click on title to link to Wikipedia's entry for "The Hollywood Ten", an honorable group of writers with connections, of some sort, to the American Communist Party who, honorably, refused to name names during the height of the American ruling class' "red scare" tactics of Cold War fame. As I have mentioned elsewhere in this space today we of the anti-Stalinist, anti-capitalist, pro-communist left could have better used some of the pens of these fighting writers than the Stalinists did.

Clip From Trailer for Trumbo (2015)- the story of the black-listed writer who wrote the classic Johnny Got His Gun.