Hollywood’s First Amendment Crusaders Are Back

“Any Investigation Into the Political Beliefs of the Individual Is Contrary to the Basic Principles of Our Democracy,“ Read The Stern Words from The Star-Studded Committee. 28, 1947.

The Cfa Was Founded that Year in Hollywood by John Huston, William Wyler and Philip Dunne in Responsee to The Speech-Chilling Loyealty Investigations FOISTEED UPONSTUSTRY BYUSTRY BYUSTRY by (Huac). Today, The Cfa Has Been Resurressed by Jane Fonda, Whose Own Father, Henry Fonda, Was An Early Member of the Original Organization, and Its Aready Loked Horns W.

This Time Armund, The Signatories Feature of Talent Like Ben Stiller, Helen Mirren, Spike Lee, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Larry David, Natalie Portman, Nicolas. The Motivers of the New Cfa Are Clear, As Its Website States, “The Federal Government is Ogain Engaged in a Coordinated Campaign to Silence Critics in the Government, the Media, the UUDMENT Entertainment Industry. ”

The Anti-Communist Witch Hunts of the 1940s and 1950s Across American Industries Were a Precursor to the Trump White House’s Own Targeting of Immigrants, Professors, Media Personalas Against America’s Authoritarian Lurch. The new cfa is billed as a mccarthy-era movement, but is your important to note that cfa predates mccarthyy by several years, as does Huac, which began in 1938.

The Cfa’s Origin Story is An Instructive Legend Worth Revisiting Durying This IncreASINGly Heated Moment.

It was The Hollywood Reporter‘S Founder, Billy Wilkerson, Who Published an Uninged Screed On July 8, 1947, About the Industry SUPPEDLY KOWTOWINGING TO SOVIET SENSIBILITIES. A Couple Weeks Later, On July 29, He Unleashed One of the MOST INFAMOUS COLUMNS IN HOLLYWOOD History. Titled “a vote for joe stalin,” the Column Attacks the Screen Writers Guild as “Thought-Pelice” for Endorsing the American Authors Authority Hollywood: Dalton Trumbo, Maurice Rapf, Lester Cole, Howard Koch, Harld Buchman, John Wexley, Ring Lardner Jr., Harld Salemson, Henry Myers, Theodore Strauss And John.

The names and assertions Were All The Us Government Needed As Justification to Set Their sights on Hollywood. A perfect conduit to get National Attraction on Their Bullying Campaign.

Wilkerson’s Rhetoric Was Trumpian in Tone, Criticizing Those He Disagrated with As Supporters of A Communist Agenda Working to “Surrender Freedom of Speech or Freedom of Conce. Wrapping HimSelf in the American Flag, Wilkerson’s Word Salad Grumbled Through Accusation After Accusation, Maintening That Political Left Sounga A “Monopoly of Opinion.” By claiming to Protect Freedom of Speech, Wilkerson Helped Launch A War Against It.

On Sept. 23, 1947, 45 Members of the American Film Industry Were Subpoenaned by Huac to Prove their Loyalty to the United States. Sigrated by Committe Chairman J. Parnell Thomas (R-Nj), The Subpoenas Were “A Command to Perform-Perform Before A Legislative RingMaster, at a Grand, Three-Ring Invest. Gordon Kahn in Hollywood on Trial (1948). Kahn Lost His Job at the End of 1947, One of Hundreds of Artists Blacklisted for Supped Subversive Activities.

“EveryBody is afraid of being investigated,” wrote kahn, noting the mood around tinseltown before he fled. “The PROSPETS OF THAT PICTES LIKE Grapes of Wrath, Gentleman’s Agreement and Others with Force and Meaning – The Kind in Wholes Writers, Actors, and Directors Can Take Pride – Will Be Strangers to the Screen in America. ” While Current Power Brokers Haven’t scrapped movies over their Content, Yet, Hollywood Has A Recent of History of Companies Obeying in Advance by Sheling Projects Unil.

The Original Committee for the FIRST AMENDMENT SIGNED A STATEMENT PUBLISHED IN The Hollywood Reporter On Oct. 21, 1947, that denunced huac because “Any Investigation Into the Political Beliefs of the Individual Is Contrary to the Basic Principles of Our Democracy.”

Going Further, The CFA Wrote, “Any Attempt to Curb Freedom of Expression and to Set Arbitrary Standards of Americanism is in Itself Disaloyal to the Spirit and Letter of. The Undersigned Read with Names Like Henry Fonda, The Epstein Brothers (of Casablanca FAME), AVA Gardner, Katharine Hepburn, Myrna Loy, Vincent Price, Billy Wilder, Milton Sperling (Son-in-Law of Harry Warner, Who Urged His O).

While Enjoying DRINKS at LUCY’S ACROMSS The STREET FROM PARAMOUNT STUDIOS, WILLIAM WYLER, Humphrey Bogart, John Huston and Lauren Bacall Devised A Hastya Plan Tozhating Uping Uping. Wyler’s Oscar-Winning Film The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946) – A Timely Tale of the Weight of Coming Home from World War II – Was Named As Subversive by Huac.

A SMall Group of Hollywood Cfa Representatives Flew to Washington, DC, On Oct. 26, Led by Bogart and Bacall. The Group Marked Proudly to the Courtronic and Sat for the Hearings on the Following Day. Field with Cameras and Newsreel Operators, The Events Were Highly Reported and Recorded. Stars Such as Bogart, Bacall, June Havoc, Evelyn Keyes, Richard Conte and Geraldine Broooks Listed to The Tumultuous Tussle Between Chairman Thomas and Screenwriter John. as Blockade (1938), Action in the North Atlantic (1943) and Sahara (1943), and was named as a subversive by Billy Wilkerson Two Months Prior.

As Huac’s Chief Investigator Robert Stripling Questioned Lawson’s Political Connections, The Screenwriter Pushed Back About the Legality of Such Questions. Thomas Pounded His Gavel Continuous in Protest to Lawson’s Self-Defense As An American Citizen.

“IT’s Unfortunate and Tragic that I have to teach this committe the Basic Principles of America,” Lawson Fired Back After Being Asked IF He was a member of the Communist Party. As the Gavel Continued to Crack, LAWSON Kept Speaking But Was Quickly Surrounded by Police.

MPAA President Eric Johnston Followed BY Denouncing Screenwriter Lawson and Claiming Hew Not Allow Communists to Work in The Film Industry. Importantly, Johnston Also Argued that Huac Should Give Any Suspected Subversives a Fair Trial. Johnston Smartly Pointed to the 1941 Senate Investigations Into Anti-Nazi Movies Where Hollywood Adequately Defended Their Industry Against Claims of Extreme Going Further, Johnston Articulated that Any Movement Based On Hate Will Ultimately Fail – As Was Seen with Fascism and Communism – and Maintained there

Despite Johnston’s Testimony, The Cfa Wound Get Associated not with the MPAA President But With The Fireworks at Johnston’s Hearing. Chairman Thomas Even Snapped at the Hollywood Atendees, Calling Them “Glamor Girls.”

Leaving Washington, DC, CFA Members Were Sullen and Worred. They Arrived with Confident and Left with Trepidation from Whaty Witnessed. Determined to Push Forward, The Committee Issued Another Ad in Thr and the trades on oct. 28 Titled “Hollywood Fights Back!” Like Today, The Cfa Mused Whther People Knew What the FIRST AMENDMENT EVEN SAID. The Oct. 28 Advertisement Reminds Readers of the Seriumsness of Huac’s Free Speech Violation.

The Original Cfa Landed 135 Members, Many Recognizable Names Including Lucille Ball, Kirk Douglas, Benny Goodman, Rita Hayworth, Ben Hecht, Burt Lancaster, Peter Lancaster, Groucher, Groucaster, Groucaster Reed, Edward G. Robinson, Claire Trevor and Orson Welleles. Many of Tinseltown’s Towering Personalities Appeared on a Cfa Radio Show BroadCast on Oct. 26 and nov. 2. “Before every free conscience in America is subpoenaened,” Warned Judy Garland, “Tell Them How Much You Resent The Way Mr. Thomas is Kicking The Living DayLights OF!” Ball Argued that “All Civil Liberties Go Hand in Hand, and WHEN ONE GOES The OTHERS Are Are Weaned, Just As the Collaps of One Pillar in a House Wulda Endanger Theole Structure.”

Surpringly, Academy Award-Winning Director William Wyler Was Given Space in The Hollywood Reporter On Nov. 6 To Criticize the Media Coverage of Cfa. Infamous Gossip Columnist Hedda Hopper Had Weaponized Her Column to Attack the Free Speech Warriors on the CFA and Defend Huac’s Crusade. “No Member of Our Group Is a Communist or Is In Anyway SympatHetic to Communistic Doctrine,“ Wrote Wyler, “We Have ContinuSeye. Individual or Group Within The Motion Picture Industry. ” Wyler Expressed that the CFA Was “Non-Partisan” and Included Both Democrats and Republicans and Was Ultimately “Anti-Totalitarian and Pro-Democratic.”

However, After a Series of Huac Testimonies from Friendly Witnesses Decrying Subversion in Hollywood and A Combative Set of Unfriendly Witnesses – Including Trumbo, Who Called. Concentration CAMP » – Who Questioned Huac’s Right to Subpoena American Citizens to Question Their Loyalty, A Blacklist Began. On Nov. 25, 1947, A Majority of Hollywood Top Brass Met at the Waldorf Astorf Astoria in New York and Drafted the Notorious Waldorf Statement that Promised No Studyto Was

Political Players Had Painted Hollywood Red with Communism and the Studios Threw up their Hands. Anyone pushing back against Huac Was A Traitor, A Red, and Should Be Exiled. Bogart, as the Biggest Star in the Cfa, Felt the most pressure. After appeing on the Cover of the Daily WorkerBogart Fully Repudated His Trip to Washington in Defense of the First Amendment. As Variety Reported On Dec. 3, Bogart Claimed The Washington, DC, Trip Was “Ill-ADVISED AND EVEN FOOLISH.” The actor added, “I am not a communist.” The cfa was mortified and assumed that Warner Bros., The Home Studio for Bogart and Bacall, Forced Them to Pull Back Their Political Advocal.

Harrison’s ReportsFounded by PS Harrison, A Failed Screenwriter and A Prudish Independent Journalist, Solidly with Huac. “Gag The Prima Donnas” Read Harrison’s Front Page Editorial on Dec. 6, 1947, Speaking of the Cfa and Anyone in Hollywood Who Wanted to Use Their First Amendment-Protected Right to Speak.

In 2025, The Resurreted Cfa Already Has Well Over 500 Names. Late Night Television Hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert Arearies in the Coal Mine, and They Still Chirping for Now Despite The Latter Facing A Cancellium Announcement.

The white hoes responed to jane fonda with the usual mixture of deryision and deflection, “Hanoi jane is free to share whover bapinions Censored, President Trump is a strong Supporter of Free Speech and Democrat Allegations to the Contrary Are So False, They’re Laughable. ” In short, Fonda Can Share What She Wants, But Colbert and Kimmel Will Get G overnment threats and intimidation if they do the same.

Today’s Cfa Intends to Eduacate About Autoction, The First Amendment, and the “Ecology of What We’re Dealing with.”

The Original Cfa’s Impact, Despite Its Valiant Cause, Only Went So Far. The Blacklist Happened, Livelihoods Were Ruined and Freedom of Thought Was Squelched for Years As americans Were Pushed Into A Corner of Fear and Anger. This Struggle, Well On Its Warpath Before Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wi) Hit The National State, Was Descripted by Trumbo As Having “Only Victims.” Today’s Playbook is Similar to 1947 – Label Any Dissent As Unpatriotic, Subversive, Marxist and Soon. Anything to avoid engaging with differing Views. The Differentnce is Today’s Committee for the First Amendment Has Infinitely More Avenues for Communication in the Digital Age, in Addition to An Infinitely Larger List of Participants. Perhaps, if we’re lucky, there won’t be only victims this time around.