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197 As Time magazine’s review of the 1952 western California Conquest notes, the plot covers a period between 1825 and 1841, when “Mexico-ruled California was torn by internal strife, and Russia, France, England and the U.S. were trying to take over the territory.”1 Within this political tumult conflict emerges between two factions led by ambitious and wealthy Spaniards. The first, Don Arturo Bordega (Cornel Wilde), hopes to bring “peace and freedom” to the territory by placing it under U.S. rule, while the second, Don Fredo Brios (John Dehner), plots to turn the territory over to the Russians, who will then set him up as governor.The Tsarist Russians of California Conquest serve as obvious allegorical stand-ins for the Soviets, and their conspiracy to take California hints at widespread fears that a “fifth column” could overthrow American democracy.2 By depicting California as a frontier territory subject to a number of competing national interests, California Conquest used little-known events of our nation’s past to offer cautionary commentary on contemporary foreign policy. California Conquest is among a large group of westerns widely seen as allegories of Cold War politics in the 1950s. Fred Zinnemann’s classic western High Noon, for example, is—along with On the Waterfront and Invasion of the Body Snatchers—one of the films discussed most frequently by scholars as a blacklist allegory.3 As with On the Waterfront, much of the commentary on High Noon was spurred by the circumstances surrounding the film’s production. In April of 1951 HUAC issued a subpoena to screenwriter Carl Foreman, requesting that he appear before them as a suspected member of the Communist Party. Because of delays, however , the hearings themselves did not occur until September, after High Noon had already entered production. On September 24 Foreman appeared before HUAC as an “unfriendly witness,” refusing to either confirm or 6 Roaming the Plains along the “New Frontier” The Western as Allegory of the Blacklist and the Cold War 9780520280670_PRINT.indd 197 9780520280670_PRINT.indd 197 04/02/14 3:39 PM 04/02/14 3:39 PM 198 / ROAMING THE PL AINS deny he had been a member of the Communist Party. (In fact, Foreman was a member from 1938 to 1952.) The fallout from Foreman’s appearance resulted in both professional and personal difficulties. Stanley Kramer, High Noon’s producer, initially supported Foreman but did an abrupt about face prior to the screenwriter’s testimony. According to the 2002 documentary Darkness at High Noon, Kramer fired Foreman from his duties just days before the latter’s HUAC appearance. Kramer also tried to strip Foreman of his associate producer title on High Noon, but pressure from Zinnemann and Gary Cooper, who played sheriff Will Kane, forced Kramer to back down. Because of Zinnemann’s and Cooper’s support on the set, Foreman received a letter from Kramer reinstating him as a producer and further promising that no statements about Foreman would be issued until two months after the screenwriter’s testimony.4 Within a week, however, Kramer returned to his earlier hard-line posture . Despite their written agreement, Kramer issued a press release the day after Foreman’s testimony, announcing that he would seek to remove the screenwriter from his official duties as company treasurer. Moreover, following a few weeks of negotiation, Kramer bought out Foreman’s financial interest in the company for a sum of $250,000.5 As part of the latter agreement , Foreman once again lost his associate producer credit on High Noon. Despite the rancorous negotiations with Kramer, Foreman continued to count High Noon’s star, Gary Cooper, among a small group of supporters. On October 25 the Los Angeles Times reported that Foreman planned to start up his own production company after his unceremonious ouster and that Cooper would be one of the company’s stockholders.6 John Wayne, Hedda Hopper, and other members of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals (MPAPAI) waged a bitter campaign against Foreman, however, and the unfavorable publicity soon took its toll on Cooper. Producer Walter Wanger and MGM executive Louis B. Mayer even cautioned Cooper that the taint of Foreman’s association would harm the actor’s future employment prospects. Consequently, just ten days after the Times announcement, Cooper withdrew his resources from Foreman’s business venture. Beyond the very public disputes regarding Foreman’s involvement in High Noon, the screenwriter’s own comments reinforce its status as blacklist...

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