William Wyler: The Life and Films of Hollywood’s Most Celebrated Director

14. The House Un-American Activities Committee: Detective Story (1951), Roman Holiday (1953), The Desperate Hours (1955), The Children’s Hour (1961)

297 14 The House Un-american activities Committee Detective Story (1951), Roman Holiday (1953), The Desperate Hours (1955), The Children’s Hour (1961) in September 1947, J. Parnell Thomas, a republican congressman from New Jersey, reconvened the House Un-american activities Committee (HUaC) to investigate “alleged subversive influence on motion pictures.” More than forty people from the film industry received subpoenas to appear before the committee. There were two groups of witnesses. One— termed “friendly” by the committee—was made up of individuals willing to name fellow workers whom they thought to be members of the Communist Party and to identify moments in films that contained communist propaganda. The second group—labeled “unfriendly”—consisted of nineteen actors, writers, producers, and directors who became, in effect, the defendants. Of these nineteen, only eleven were called to testify. One of the eleven, German playwright bertolt brecht, denied membership in the Communist Party and promptly left the country. The others, who became known as the “Hollywood Ten,” were eventually tried, fined, and imprisoned for contempt of Congress. Shortly after the announcement that the HUaC would hold its first hearings in October 1947, Wyler and his friends John Huston, Philip Dunne, and Canadian actor alexander Knox met to form a group in opposition to the hearings. at first, they called their campaign Hollywood Fights back, but they later changed the name to the Committee for the First amendment (CFa). The CFa gathered at ira Gershwin’s home—along with a group of Hollywood stars that included edward G. robinson, Danny Kaye, Humphrey bogart, Lauren bacall, burt Lancaster, Gregory Peck, Myrna Loy, ava Gardner, Henry Fonda, and Gene Kelly—and prepared a 298 William Wyler statement that ran a few days later in newspapers across the country and was also presented to Congress in the form of a petition. an early version of the petition, which was signed by David Selznick, John Ford, bette Davis, George Stevens, and Frank Capra, among others, read in part: The america we love and defend is the traditional america where men of goodwill and of different political faiths assemble in town meeting[s], discuss their political differences, and remain friends. For when the freedom to disagree, the right to dissent, is threatened in america, the whole fabric of our beloved country is endangered. . . . We are tired of our industry, and our professions, and of our family and friends, eternally being placed in a defensive position by every group seeking notoriety at Hollywood’s expense. We have faith that the great majority of the elected Congressional representatives of the american people resent equally with us abuses of powers of the Congress.1 The statement that ran in newspapers was much shorter than the original three-page, single-spaced document. it read: We, the undersigned, as american citizens who believe in constitutional democratic government, are disgusted and outraged by the continuing attempt of the House Committee on Un-american activities to smear the Motion Picture industry. We hold that these hearings are morally wrong because: any investigation into the political beliefs of the individual is contrary to the basic principles of our democracy; any attempt to curb freedom of expression and to set arbitrary standards of americanism is in itself disloyal to both the spirit and the letter of our Constitution.2 This statement was signed by all those who had attended the meeting at Gershwin’s home. The CFa also agreed on a steering committee: director anatole Litvak , screenwriter Julius epstein, producer Joseph Sistrom (a conservative republican), and David Hopkins (son of FDr friend and adviser Harry The House Un-American Activities Committee 299 Hopkins). The CFa next decided to send a delegation to the hearings in Washington as a show of support for the unfriendly witnesses. They chartered a plane from Howard Hughes for $13,000. John Huston told the Washington Daily News that Hughes had no interest in politics: “it was strictly a business deal.”3 The stars who attended this rally included many of those who had gathered at Gershwin’s home and signed the petition. Wyler wanted to go but was advised against it by his doctors. Dunne and Huston joined the actors in Washington. The night before the flight, Wyler called a meeting at Chasen’s restaurant and reminded the delegates that they would likely be attacked. according to Dunne, Wyler cautioned that “if anyone aboard that plane was in the slightest degree...