‘The Old Bogey’: The Hollywood Blacklist in Europe

During the post-war period a group of American filmmakers moved to Europe to resume careers cut short by the Hollywood blacklist. Although welcomed by the European film community, which was both sympathetic to their plight and eager to capitalize on their talents, job opportunities were scarce. The essay concentrates on the experiences of Joseph Losey and Jules Dassin in Italy, France and Britain. It discusses Losey’s Stranger on the Prowl (1952), produced in Italy by Riviera Films, a company organized by blacklistees; the difficulties encountered by Jules Dassin in Paris; and the fate of various blacklisted filmmakers in London, many of whom worked without credit on the American producer Hannah Weinstein’s television swashbucklers.