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116-412: The film follows a swimming instructor and his four differently-abled students – Diana, whose leg has been amputated; Oscar, who refuses to speak; Dani, who has Down Syndrome; and Rodrigo, who has a mobility issues – and the tense conflict that arises between them. It was described as "contemplative and enigmatic" by Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter . Jaie Laplante , Director of Programming of

232-711: A 65th-anniversary article in 2012, Wilkerson's son apologized for THR' s role in the blacklist and added that his father was motivated by revenge for his own thwarted ambition to own a film studio. In late September 1947, drawing upon the lists provided in The Hollywood Reporter , the House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenaed forty-two persons working in the film industry to testify at hearings. The HUAC had declared its intention to investigate whether Communist agents were sneaking propaganda into American films. Of

348-405: A blog called Heat Vision , which covers comic books, science fiction, and horror content. As of August 2013, Comscore measured 12 million unique visitors per month to the site. THR ' s editors have included Janice Min (2010–2017), Elizabeth Guider (2007–2010), Cynthia Littleton (2005–2007), Howard Burns (2001–2006), Anita Busch (1999–2001), and Alex Ben Block (1990–1999). Alex Ben Block

464-408: A conspiracy outside all the legal processes to undermine the very fundamental American concepts upon which our entire system of democracy exists. Stander was clearly speaking of the committee itself. The hunt for subversives extended into every branch of the entertainment industry. In the field of animation, two studios in particular were affected: United Productions of America (UPA) was purged of

580-427: A famous pro- Loyalist speech by La Pasionaria about it being 'better to die on your feet than to live on your knees' into a pep talk delivered by a football coach." Others have argued that Communists did affect the film industry by suppressing production of works they politically opposed. In a Reason magazine article entitled "Hollywood's Missing Movies", Kenneth Billingsley cites a case where Trumbo "bragged" in

696-480: A form of suicide on the installment plan." For all that transpired in the HUAC hearings, the proof that Communists actually used Hollywood films as vehicles for subversion remained hard to come by. Schulberg reported how his manuscript for the novel What Makes Sammy Run? (later a screenplay also) had been subject to ideological critique by Hollywood Ten writer John Howard Lawson , whose comments he had solicited. But

812-702: A highly publicized trial and conviction, with a maximum of one year in jail in addition to a $ 1,000 fine ($ 12,700 today). The Congressional action prompted a group of studio executives, acting under the aegis of the Association of Motion Picture Producers , to suspend without pay these ten film artists – initially labeled "The Unfriendly Ten" but soon changed to "The Hollywood Ten"  – and to pledge that "thereafter no Communists or other subversives would 'knowingly' be employed in Hollywood." The blacklist eventually expanded beyond ten into

928-442: A large portion of its staff, while New York-based Tempo was entirely crushed. HUAC investigations sometimes had the effect of destroying families. For example, screenwriter Richard Collins , after a brief period on the blacklist, became a friendly witness and abandoned his wife, actress Dorothy Comingore , who refused to name names. After divorcing Comingore, Collins gained custody of the couple's young son as well. The family's story

1044-530: A man without any known political views or associations, suddenly had his career yanked out from under him because the American Legion confused him with Louis Pollack, a California clothier, who had refused to co-operate with HUAC." Orson Bean recalled that he had briefly been placed on the blacklist after dating a member of the Party, despite his own politics being conservative. During this same period,

1160-416: A new role at its parent company. Simultaneously, it was announced that longtime executive editor Matthew Belloni would take over as editorial director. In April 2020, Belloni announced he was stepping down after 14 years at the publication in the wake of recent clashes with the company's leadership over editorial issues. At the end of April 2020, The Hollywood Reporter (THR) named Nekesa Mumbi Moody as

1276-641: A number of major industry events and awards ceremonies. It hosted 13 such events in 2012, including the Women in Entertainment Breakfast, where it announced its annual Power 100 list of the industry's most powerful women; the Key Art Awards (for achievement in entertainment advertising and communications); Power Lawyers Breakfast; Next Gen (honoring the industry's 50 fastest-rising stars and executives age 35 and under); Nominees Night; and

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1392-464: A number of powerful newspaper columnists covering the entertainment industry, including Walter Winchell , Hedda Hopper , Victor Riesel , Jack O'Brian , and George Sokolsky , regularly suggested names that should be added to the blacklist. Actor John Ireland received an out-of-court settlement to end a 1954 lawsuit against the Young & Rubicam advertising agency, which had ordered him dropped from

1508-659: A redesign by the time competitor Variety took to the web in 1998. In 2002 the Reporter ' s website won the Jesse H. Neal Award for business journalism. In November 2013, The Hollywood Reporter launched the style site Pret-a-Reporter. THR.com, The Hollywood Reporter ' s website, re-launched in 2010, offers breaking entertainment news, reviews and blogs; original video content (and film and TV clips) and photo galleries; plus in-depth movie, television, music, awards, style, technology and business coverage. The website includes

1624-471: A small number of editorial workers, including senior editor of diversity and inclusion Rebecca Sun and longtime TV editor Lesley Goldberg, who has been with the outlet since 2003. Founder Billy Wilkerson served as the publisher of THR until his death in September 1962. Wilkerson's wife, Tichi Wilkerson Kassel , took over as publisher and editor-in-chief when her husband died. Robert J. Dowling, who

1740-401: A studio. On April 11, 1988, Tichi Wilkerson Kassel sold the paper to BPI Communications , owned by Affiliated Publications , for $ 26.7 million. Robert J. Dowling became THR president in 1988, and editor-in-chief and publisher in 1991. Dowling hired Alex Ben Block as editor in 1990. Block and Teri Ritzer damped much of the sensationalism and cronyism that was prominent in the paper under

1856-545: A witch hunter if the witches are Communists. I am a Red-baiter . I would like to see them all back in Russia." Unlike the friendly witnesses, other leading Hollywood figures—including directors John Huston , Billy Wilder , and William Wyler ; and actors Lauren Bacall , Lucille Ball , Humphrey Bogart , Bette Davis , Henry Fonda , John Garfield , Judy Garland , Sterling Hayden , Katharine Hepburn , Danny Kaye , Gene Kelly , Myrna Loy , and Edward G. Robinson —protested

1972-500: A year later for an editorial job at Variety . In July 2007 THR named Elizabeth Guider as its new editor. An 18-year veteran of Variety , where she served as Executive Editor, Guider assumed responsibility for the editorial vision and strategic direction of The Hollywood Reporter ' s daily and weekly editions, digital content offerings and executive conferences. Guider left The Hollywood Reporter in early 2010. In addition to hiring Eric Mika, Rose Eintstein and Elizabeth Guider,

2088-479: Is at once loaded and ; the scarcity of dialogue or spoken communication simultaneously suggests scar, respite, and threat. This article related to Cuban film is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . The Hollywood Reporter The Hollywood Reporter ( THR ) is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film , television, and entertainment industries. It

2204-481: Is published by Brainstore Media under license from The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. It is a multimedia platform covering local, national and European events aimed at the global market, with a focus on the Italian film, TV industry and culture. Concita De Gregorio was appointed as the magazine's first chairman, and served in the role until February 2024, being subsequently replaced by Boris Sollazzo . Since March of

2320-611: Is published by Hersey Shiga Global under license from The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. It covers film, TV and entertainment news with a special focus on the Japanese Film and TV market, which includes Japan's vast anime industry and talent agencies. Its chairman is Tsukasa Shiga . The Hollywood Reporter Roma was launched in April 2023 in Italy as the first European edition of The Hollywood Reporter . The Hollywood Reporter Roma

2436-584: Is really sportsmanlike. I don't think this is American. I don't think this is American justice. Parks ultimately testified, becoming, albeit reluctantly, a "friendly witness", and found himself blacklisted anyway. The legal tactics of those refusing to testify had changed by this time. Instead of relying on the First Amendment, they invoked the Fifth Amendment 's shield against self-incrimination (although, as before, Communist Party membership

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2552-479: Is today referred to as the Waldorf Statement . The statement said the ten uncooperative witnesses would be fired or suspended without pay and not re-employed until they were cleared of contempt charges and had sworn that they were not Communists. The first Hollywood blacklist was in effect. The HUAC hearings failed to turn up any proof that Hollywood was secretly disseminating Communist propaganda, but

2668-622: The Daily Worker about quashing films with anti-Soviet content: among them were proposed adaptations of Arthur Koestler 's anti- totalitarian books Darkness at Noon and The Yogi and the Commissar , which described the rise of communism in Russia, and Victor Kravchenko 's I Chose Freedom . Authors Ronald and Allis Radosh make a similar point in Red Star over Hollywood that prominent anti-Communist books were only influential "in

2784-606: The due diligence phase. On 1 July, Sollazzo and the rest of the writing staff officially resigned from their jobs at the magazine. The Hollywood Reporter India was launched in 2024 in India . The Indian edition of The Hollywood Reporter has been launched under a licensing agreement between Penske Media Corporation and RPSG Lifestyle Media. Anupama Chopra has been appointed as the Editor of The Hollywood Reporter India. Hollywood Ten The Hollywood blacklist refers to

2900-573: The Academy Awards (Oscars). The feature was first published in February 2013 as a single interview with an anonymous director titled "An Oscar Voter's Brutally Honest Ballot". The magazine typically publishes three to four interviews each year. The Washington Post called the feature "the best part of Oscar season". In April 2023, the Academy introduced a rule change aimed at curtailing

3016-470: The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), or on the basis of their refusal to assist Congressional or FBI investigations into the Party's activities. Even during the period of its strictest enforcement from the late 1940s to late 1950s, the blacklist was rarely made explicit nor was it easily verifiable. Instead, it was the result of numerous individual decisions implemented by studio executives and

3132-618: The FBI . The following year, the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals (MPA), a political action group co-founded by Walt Disney, issued a pamphlet written by Ayn Rand and entitled "Screen Guide for Americans". It advised film producers on the avoidance of "subtle communistic touches" in their films. The pamphlet's advice was encapsulated in a list of ideological prohibitions, such as "Don't Smear

3248-517: The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The ten men— Alvah Bessie , Herbert Biberman , Lester Cole , Edward Dmytryk , Ring Lardner Jr. , John Howard Lawson , Albert Maltz , Samuel Ornitz , Adrian Scott and Dalton Trumbo —had been subpoenaed by the committee in late September to testify about their Communist affiliations and associates. The contempt citation included a criminal charge that led to

3364-444: The Reporter hired the following staff in 2007: However, staffing levels began to drop again in 2008. In April, Nielsen Business Media eliminated between 40 and 50 editorial staff positions at The Hollywood Reporter and its sister publications: Adweek , Brandweek , Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek . In December, another 12 editorial positions were cut at the trade paper. In addition, 2008 saw substantial turnover in

3480-573: The Times returned to THR , filing a report on a party for Academy Award nominees the magazine had hosted at the Los Angeles restaurant Spago . Noting the crowd of top celebrities in attendance, the Times alluded to the fact that many Hollywood insiders were now referring to THR as "the new Vanity Fair ". Ad sales since Min's hiring were up more than 50%, while traffic to the magazine's website had grown by 800%. In January 2014, Janice Min

3596-617: The "alien minded Russian Jews in Hollywood." Mississippi congressman John E. Rankin , an HUAC member, held a press conference to declare that "one of the most dangerous plots ever instigated for the overthrow of this Government has its headquarters in Hollywood ... the greatest hotbed of subversive activities in the United States." Rankin promised, "We're on the trail of the tarantula now, and we're going to follow through." Reports of Soviet repression in Eastern and Central Europe in

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3712-467: The 25 Most Powerful Stylists Luncheon. The Hollywood Reporter has produced the group interview shows Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter and Off Script with The Hollywood Reporter . Since 2013, The Hollywood Reporter has published an annual feature called "Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot" where anonymous members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences explain their voting choices for

3828-539: The Constitution of the United States by depriving artists and others of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness without due process of law ... I can tell names and cite instances and I am one of the first victims of it ... [This is] a group of ex-Fascists and America-Firsters and anti-Semites, people who hate everybody, including Negroes, minority groups, and most likely themselves ... [T]hese people are engaged in

3944-865: The Free Enterprise System", "Don't Smear Industrialists", "Don't Smear Wealth", "Don't Smear the Profit Motive", "Don't Deify 'the Common Man'", and "Don't Glorify the Collective." On July 29, 1946, William R. Wilkerson , publisher and founder of The Hollywood Reporter (THR), titled his front-page "Tradeviews" column, "A Vote for Joe Stalin ". In the column, Wilkerson named as Communist sympathizers Dalton Trumbo , Maurice Rapf , Lester Cole , Howard Koch , Harold Buchman, John Wexley , Ring Lardner Jr. , Harold Salemson , Henry Meyers, Theodore Strauss, and John Howard Lawson . Over

4060-511: The HUAC and formed the Committee for the First Amendment (CFA). A sizable CFA delegation flew to Washington, D.C. on a chartered plane in October to voice their opposition to the government's political harassment of the film industry. A few CFA members, such as Hayden, had privately assured Bogart they were not Communists. During the HUAC hearings, a local Washington paper reported that Hayden

4176-658: The HUAC released a report in 1938 claiming that communism was pervasive in the movie industry. Two years later, Dies privately took testimony from a former Communist Party member, John L. Leech, who named forty-two movie professionals as Communists. After Leech repeated his charges in supposed confidence to a Los Angeles grand jury, many of the names were leaked to the press, including those of stars Humphrey Bogart , James Cagney , Katharine Hepburn , Melvyn Douglas and Fredric March , among other Hollywood figures. Dies said he would "clear" those who cooperated by meeting with him in what he termed "executive session". Within two weeks of

4292-612: The HUAC when it was discovered he had written some music reviews for a Communist newspaper. After he refused to name names, pointing out that he had never attended a Communist Party meeting, he found himself composing music for movies such as Cat Women of the Moon . While there were film artists like Parks and Dmytryk who eventually cooperated with the HUAC, other friendly witnesses gave damaging testimony with less apparent hesitation or reluctance, most notably director Elia Kazan and screenwriter Budd Schulberg . Their willingness to describe

4408-580: The House committee's investigation as unconstitutional – political pressure mounted on the film industry to demonstrate its "anti-subversive" bona fides. Late in the hearings, Eric Johnston , president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), vowed to the committee that he would never "employ any proven or admitted Communist because they are just a disruptive force, and I don't want them around." On November 17,

4524-550: The May 1948 issue of Photoplay magazine, that vigorously denied he was a Communist sympathizer. The Tenney Committee , which had continued its state-level investigations, summoned songwriter Ira Gershwin to explain his involvement with the First Amendment Committee because involvement alone was sufficient to arouse suspicion. A number of non-governmental organizations participated in enforcing and expanding

4640-473: The Miami Film Festival gave the film a positive review: In Carlos Machado Quintela's debut feature film, which held its North American premiere at the 2013 Miami Dade College's Miami Film Festival, a minimalist aesthetic and extraordinary control of frame and composition question traditional patterns of cinematic syntax. The boundaries of the swimming pool wash away into the endless horizon, which

4756-505: The Red-baiting activities of J. Edgar Hoover 's FBI. Adversaries of HUAC such as lawyer Bartley Crum  – who defended Hollywood Ten members in front of the committee – were themselves branded as Communist sympathizers and targeted for investigation. The FBI tapped Crum's phones, opened his mail, and placed him under continuous surveillance. As a consequence, he lost most of his clients and, unable to cope with

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4872-536: The Screen Actors Guild voted to make its officers swear a loyalty pledge asserting each was not a Communist. On November 24, the House of Representatives voted 346 to 17 to approve citations against the Hollywood Ten for contempt of Congress. The next day, after a meeting of 50 film industry executives at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria hotel, MPAA President Johnston issued a press release that

4988-582: The Screen Writers Guild or CPUSA, citing their First Amendment right to freedom of speech , opinion, and association. Most of the Ten challenged the legitimacy of the committee itself. John Howard Lawson said during his testimony: "I am not on trial here, Mr. Chairman. This committee is on trial here before the American people. Let us get that straight." Among the questions they declined to answer

5104-407: The U.S. Congress now under Democratic control, HUAC launched a second investigation of communism in Hollywood. As actor Larry Parks said when called before the panel, Don't present me with the choice of either being in contempt of this committee and going to jail or forcing me to really crawl through the mud to be an informer. For what purpose? I don't think it is a choice at all. I don't think this

5220-589: The Wilkersons. In 1994, BPI Communications was sold to Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen (VNU) for $ 220 million. In March 2006 a private equity consortium led by Blackstone and KKR, both with ties to the conservative movement in the United States, acquired THR along with the other assets of VNU. It joined those publications with AdWeek and A.C. Nielsen to form The Nielsen Company . Matthew King, vice president for content and audience, editorial director Howard Burns, and executive editor Peter Pryor left

5336-770: The annual Life is Beautiful music festival and an investment in the SXSW festival franchise that is expanding beyond its Austin, Texas roots next year with an edition in Sydney, Australia. In April 2020, at least 20 staffers were laid off, including executive vice president and group publisher Lynne Segall. On August 5, 2022, Boehly pulled out of the MRC joint venture, and bought back the assets he had contributed to it, including The Hollywood Reporter. In June 2023, digital media writer J. Clara Chan and at least two other staffers were laid off. A year later The Hollywood Reporter laid off

5452-447: The author was entirely free to accept it or reject it as he or she pleased without incurring the slightest "consequence" or sanction.'" Much of the onscreen evidence of Communist influence uncovered by the HUAC was flimsy at best. One witness remembered Stander, while performing in a film, whistling the left-wing " Internationale " as his character waited for an elevator. "Another noted that screenwriter Lester Cole had inserted lines from

5568-430: The blacklist were played out metaphorically on the big screen in various ways. As described by film historian James Chapman, " Carl Foreman , who had refused to testify before the committee, wrote the western High Noon (1952), in which a town marshal (played, ironically, by friendly witness Gary Cooper ) finds himself deserted by the good citizens of Hadleyville (read: Hollywood) when a gang of outlaws who had terrorized

5684-634: The blacklist; in particular, the American Legion , the conservative war veterans' group, was instrumental in pressuring the studios to ban Communists and fellow travelers. In 1949, the Americanism Division of the Legion issued its own blacklist – a roster of 128 people who it claimed were part of the "Communist Conspiracy". Among the names on the Legion's list was that of playwright Lillian Hellman . Hellman had written or contributed to

5800-429: The blacklisted Dalton Trumbo inadvertently received screen credit for having written, years earlier, the story on which the screenplay for Columbia Pictures ' Emergency Wedding was based. But "lapses" of that kind were not repeated. There were no more instances of film accrediting of blacklisted individuals until 1960. For example, the name of Albert Maltz , who had written the original screenplay for The Robe in

5916-468: The cases arrived before the Supreme Court . Among the submissions filed in defense of the Ten was an amicus curiae brief signed by 204 Hollywood professionals. After the court denied review, the ten men began serving their prison sentences in 1950. One of them, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo , said during an interview for the documentary film Hollywood On Trial (1976): As far as I was concerned, it

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6032-416: The cast of the television sitcom The Aldrich Family , in which she had been cast as Mrs. Aldrich. NBC had received between 20 and 30 phone calls protesting her being in the show. General Foods , the sponsor, said that it would not sponsor programs in which "controversial persons" were featured. Though the company later received thousands of calls protesting the decision, it was not reversed. In 1951, with

6148-532: The damage it would cause, but was apparently encouraged by the priest to go ahead with it. The column contained the first industry names, including Dalton Trumbo and Howard Koch , on what became the Hollywood blacklist, known as "Billy's list". Eight of the 11 people Wilkerson named were among the " Hollywood Ten " who were blacklisted after hearings in 1947 by the House Un-American Activities Committee . When Wilkerson died in 1962, his THR obituary said that he had "named names, pseudonyms and card numbers and

6264-631: The decade until reaching 66,000 in 1939. Although the CPUSA lost substantial support after the Moscow show trials of 1936–1938 and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, the organization's membership was still well above its pre-1933 levels. With this as a backdrop, the U.S. government began turning its attention to possible links between the CPUSA and Hollywood. Under then-chairman Martin Dies, Jr. ,

6380-584: The editorial and sales staff increased nearly 50%, respectively. Min hired various recognized journalists in the entertainment industry, most notably Variety film critic Todd McCarthy after his firing from Variety in March 2010, as well as Kim Masters of NPR, Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle , Lacey Rose of Forbes , Pamela McClintock of Variety and Eriq Gardner of American Lawyer. The Hollywood Reporter sponsors and hosts

6496-469: The editorial director who was expected to begin on June 15, 2020. In September 2020, Penske Media assumed the day-to-day operations of Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter through a joint venture with MRC known as PMRC. The agreement also included opportunities for MRC to develop content based on PMC's publications. Established in 2020, PMRC is the parent company of THR, Variety , Rolling Stone , Billboard , Vibe , Music Business Worldwide ,

6612-624: The editors of Counterattack had direct access to the files of both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and HUAC; the results of that access became widely apparent with the June 1950 publication of Red Channels . This Counterattack spinoff listed 151 people in entertainment and broadcast journalism, along with records of their involvement in what the pamphlet meant to be taken as Communist or pro-Communist activities. A few of those named, such as Hellman, were already being denied employment in

6728-521: The feature, saying that Academy voters "may not discuss [their] voting preferences and other members' voting preferences in a public forum. This includes comparing or ranking motion pictures, performances, or achievements in relation to voting. This also includes speaking with press anonymously." The Hollywood Reporter Japan was launched in February 2023 in Japan as the first international edition of The Hollywood Reporter . The Hollywood Reporter Japan

6844-520: The film industry was a serious one, and he named specific ex-employees as probable Communists. Reagan, who was then president of the Screen Actors Guild , testified that a small clique within his union was using "communist-like tactics" in attempting to steer union policy, but that he did not know if those (unnamed) members were Communists or not, and that in any case he thought the union had them under control. Adolphe Menjou declared: "I am

6960-492: The first 10 years, except for a brief period, then Monday-to-Friday from 1940. Wilkerson used caustic articles and gossip to generate publicity and got noticed by the studio bosses in New York and some studio lots tried to ban the paper. In 1932, Variety sued The Hollywood Reporter , alleging that THR was plagiarizing information from Variety following its publication in New York on Tuesdays, by way of phoning or wiring

7076-630: The grand jury leak, all those on the list except for actress Jean Muir had met with the HUAC chairman. Dies "cleared" everyone except actor Lionel Stander , who was fired by the movie studio, Republic Pictures , where he was under contract. Two major film industry strikes during the 1930s had exacerbated tensions between Hollywood producers and unionized employees, particularly the Screen Writers Guild , which formed in 1933. In 1941, producer Walt Disney took out an ad in Variety ,

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7192-426: The hearings swept onto the blacklist those who had never even been politically active, let alone suspected of being Communists: [O]n March 21, 1951, the name of the actor Lionel Stander was uttered by the actor Larry Parks during testimony before HUAC. "Do you know Lionel Stander?" committee counsel Frank S. Tavenner inquired. Parks replied he knew the man, but had no knowledge of his political affiliations. No more

7308-399: The hearings – and (b) the graylist – those who were denied work because of their political or personal affiliations, real or imagined. The consequences of being on either list were largely the same. The graylist also refers more specifically to those who were denied work by the major studios but could still find jobs on Poverty Row : Composer Elmer Bernstein , for instance, was called before

7424-425: The hundreds. On June 22, 1950, a pamphlet-style book entitled Red Channels was published. Focused on the field of broadcasting, it identified 151 entertainment industry professionals as "Red Fascists and their sympathizers" who had infiltrated radio and television. It wasn't long before those named, along with a host of other artists, were barred from employment in the entertainment field. The Hollywood blacklist

7540-530: The industry trade magazine, declaring his conviction that "Communist agitation" was behind a cartoonists and animators' strike . According to historians Larry Ceplair and Steven Englund, "In actuality, the strike had resulted from Disney's overbearing paternalism, high-handedness, and insensitivity." Inspired by Disney, California State Senator Jack Tenney , chairman of the state legislature's Joint Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities , launched an investigation of "Reds in movies". The probe fell flat, and

7656-408: The industry was nonetheless transformed. The fallout from the inquiry was a factor in the decision by Floyd Odlum , the primary owner of RKO Pictures , to leave the industry. As a result, the studio passed into the hands of Howard Hughes . Within weeks of taking over in May 1948, Hughes fired most of RKO's employees and virtually shut the studio down for six months while he had the political views of

7772-468: The information back to Hollywood, so that THR could publish the information before Variety reached Hollywood three days later on Friday. Then, in 1933, Variety started its own daily Hollywood edition, Daily Variety , to cover the film industry. Wilkerson became friends with Howard Hughes and the paper wrote many favorable stories about him and his film plans. In return, Hughes, in addition to advertising revenue, also provided financial assistance to

7888-444: The largest total distribution of any entertainment daily. In December 2009, Prometheus Global Media, a newly formed company formed by Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners , and chaired by Jimmy Finkelstein , CEO of News Communications, parent of political journal The Hill , acquired THR from Nielsen Business Media. It pledged to invest in the brand and grow the company. Richard Beckman , formerly of Condé Nast ,

8004-471: The latest on Hollywood fashion and lifestyle. The Reporter published a primitive " satellite " digital edition in the late 1980s. It became the first daily entertainment trade paper to start a website in 1995. Initially, the site offered free news briefs with complete coverage firewalled as a premium paid service. In later years, the website became mostly free as it became more reliant on ad sales and less on subscribers. The website had already gone through

8120-421: The lead role in a TV series it sponsored. Variety described it as "the first industry admission of what has for some time been an open secret – that the threat of being labeled a political non-conformist, or worse, has been used against show business personalities, and that a screening system is at work determining these [actors'] availabilities for roles." The Hollywood blacklist had long gone hand in hand with

8236-488: The many scoops THR had generated, adding that the new glossy format seemed to be succeeding with its "rarefied demographic", stating: "They managed to change the subject by going weekly... The large photos, lush paper stock and great design are a kind of narcotic here." In 2011, Deadline Hollywood , a property of Penske Media Corporation , sued The Hollywood Reporter for more than $ 5 million, alleging copyright infringement . In 2013, THR ' s parent company settled

8352-469: The masthead." Gossip blogger Roger Friedman joined The Hollywood Reporter as a senior correspondent in May 2009, a year after being fired by Fox News for writing an article reviewing an illegally bootlegged copy of the movie "Wolverine". Business Insider described it as a surprising and risky move. In March 2010, Friedman's employment agreement was not renewed by The Hollywood Reporter . When Janice Min and Lori Burgess came on board in 2010,

8468-479: The mid-1940s, was nowhere to be seen when the movie was released in 1953. As William O'Neill notes, pressure was maintained even on those who had ostensibly been cleared: On December 27, 1952, the American Legion announced that it disapproved of a new film, Moulin Rouge , starring José Ferrer , who used to be no more progressive than hundreds of other actors and had already been grilled by HUAC. The picture itself

8584-518: The mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from working in the United States entertainment industry. The blacklist began at the onset of the Cold War and Red Scare , and affected entertainment production in Hollywood , New York , and elsewhere. Actors , screenwriters , directors , musicians , and other professionals were barred from employment based on their present or past membership in, alleged membership in, or perceived sympathy with

8700-472: The motion picture, TV, and radio fields; the publication of Red Channels meant that scores more were placed on the blacklist. That year, CBS instituted a loyalty oath which it required of all its employees. Jean Muir was the first performer to lose employment because of a listing in Red Channels . In 1950, Muir was named as a Communist sympathizer in the pamphlet, and was immediately removed from

8816-493: The names of friends who posed as the actual writers (those who allowed their names to be used in this fashion were called "fronts"). Of the 204 who signed the amicus brief on behalf of the Hollywood Ten, 84 were themselves blacklisted. There was a general chilling effect in the entertainment business. Humphrey Bogart, who had been a key member of the Committee for the First Amendment, felt compelled to write an essay, printed in

8932-536: The next two months, Wilkerson published more columns containing names of other suspected Communists and " fellow travelers " working in Hollywood. His daily column earned the moniker "Billy's Blacklist" or simply "Billy's List". When Wilkerson died in 1962, his THR obituary stated that he had "named names, pseudonyms and card numbers and was widely credited with being chiefly responsible for preventing communists from becoming entrenched in Hollywood production – something that foreign film unions have been unable to do." In

9048-602: The online department: THR.com Editor Melissa Grego left her position in July to become executive editor of Broadcasting & Cable , and Managing Editor Scott McKim left to become a new media manager at Knox College . With the entertainment industry as a whole shrinking, "Hollywood studios have cut more than $ 20 million from the Motion Picture Association of America budget this year. The resulting staff and program reductions are expected to permanently shrink

9164-402: The other committee members that "we oughta fold." Besides the twenty-three friendly witnesses, there were also nineteen "unfriendly" or "hostile witnesses" who announced they would not cooperate with the HUAC. Many of the nineteen were alleged to be CPUSA members. Thirteen of them were Jewish. When the hearings for the "Hollywood Nineteen" commenced on Monday, October 27, the nation's attention

9280-597: The paper in a wave of layoffs in December 2006; editor Cynthia Littleton, widely respected throughout the industry, reported directly to Kilcullen. The Reporter absorbed another blow when Littleton left her position for an editorial job at Variety in March 2007. Web editor Glenn Abel also left after 16 years with the paper. From 1988 to 2014, Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter were both located on Wilshire Boulevard , along Miracle Mile . In March 2007, The Hollywood Reporter surpassed Daily Variety to achieve

9396-418: The paper when necessary. Wilkerson ran The Hollywood Reporter until his death in September 1962, although his final column appeared 18 months prior. Wilkerson's wife, Tichi Wilkerson Kassel , took over as publisher and editor-in-chief when her husband died. From the late 1930s, Wilkerson used The Hollywood Reporter to push the view that the industry was a communist stronghold. In particular, he opposed

9512-469: The people subpoenaed by the HUAC, twenty-three were deemed "friendly", some of whom had previously testified in closed HUAC sessions in Los Angeles. The October hearings in Washington, D.C. began with appearances by fourteen friendly witnesses, among them Walt Disney , Jack L. Warner , Gary Cooper , Ronald Reagan , Robert Taylor , and Adolphe Menjou . Disney asserted that the threat of Communists in

9628-581: The political leanings of their friends and professional associates effectively brought a halt to dozens of careers and compelled a number of artists to depart for Mexico or Europe to find employment. Director Jules Dassin was among the best known of these. Briefly a Communist, he dropped out of the Party in 1939. He was blacklisted after Dmytryk and fellow filmmaker Frank Tuttle named him at HUAC hearings. Dassin left for France, and spent much of his remaining career in Greece. Scholar Thomas Doherty describes how

9744-491: The rare intellectual atmosphere of the East Coast" but were kept apart from Hollywood's consideration. In 1952, the Screen Writers Guild – founded in 1933 by three future members of the Hollywood Ten – amended its screen credit rules to authorize the studios to omit the names of any individuals who had failed to clear themselves before Congress. This agreement prevented a recurrence of what happened in 1950. That's when

9860-486: The remaining employees investigated. Then, just as RKO swung back into production, Hughes made the decision to settle a long-standing federal antitrust suit against the Big Five studios . This was one of the crucial steps in the collapse of the studio system that had governed Hollywood for a quarter-century. In early 1948, all of the Hollywood Ten were convicted of contempt. Following a series of unsuccessful appeals,

9976-403: The same year, the writing staff of The Hollywood Reporter Roma publicly denounced the state of financial crisis affecting the magazine, with journalists, translators and external contributors reportedly not getting paid for months; an Il Post inquiry revealed a significant discrepancy between Brainstore Media's declared budget and the original financial plan presented by the company to PMRC in

10092-744: The scope and size of the six-studio trade and advocacy group." Staffing at THR in 2008 saw even further cutbacks with "names from today's tragic bloodletting of The Hollywood Reporter ' s staff" adding up quickly in the hard economic times at the end of 2008. "The trade has not only been thin, but only publishing digital version 19 days this holiday season. Film writers Leslie Simmons, Carolyn Giardina, Gregg Goldstein, plus lead TV critic Barry Garron and TV reporter Kimberly Nordyke, also special issues editor Randee Dawn Cohen out of New York and managing editor Harley Lond and international department editor Hy Hollinger , plus Dan Evans, Lesley Goldberg, Michelle Belaski, James Gonzalez were among those chopped from

10208-517: The screenplay for Exodus (1960). Several months later, actor Kirk Douglas publicly acknowledged that Trumbo wrote the screenplay for Spartacus (1960). Despite Trumbo's breakthrough in 1960, other blacklisted film artists continued to have difficulty obtaining work for years afterward. The first systematic Hollywood blacklist was instituted on November 25, 1947, the day after ten left-wing screenwriters and directors were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions before

10324-464: The screenplay writers' trade union, the Screen Writers Guild , which he called the "Red Beachhead". In 1946 the Guild considered creating an American Authors' Authority to hold copyright for writers, instead of ownership passing to the studios. Wilkerson devoted his "Tradeviews" column to the issue on July 29, 1946, headlined "A Vote for Joe Stalin ." He went to confession before publishing it, knowing

10440-499: The screenplays of approximately ten motion pictures up to that point; she was not employed again by a Hollywood studio until 1966. Another influential group was American Business Consultants Inc., founded in 1947. In the subscription information for its weekly publication Counterattack , "The Newsletter of Facts to Combat Communism", it declared that it was run by "a group of former FBI men. It has no affiliation whatsoever with any government agency." Notwithstanding that claim, it seems

10556-628: The significance of such interactions may have been exaggerated. As historian Gerald Horne notes, many Hollywood screenwriters had joined or associated with the local CPUSA chapter not because of allegiance to communism, but because the CPUSA chapter "offered a collective to a profession that was enmeshed in tremendous isolation at the typewriter. Their 'Writers' Clinic' had 'an informal "board" of respected screenwriters' – including Lawson and Ring Lardner Jr. – 'who read and commented upon any screenplay submitted to them. Although their criticism could be plentiful, stinging, and (sometimes) politically dogmatic,

10672-512: The stress of ceaseless harassment, committed suicide in 1959. Intimidating and dividing the left is now seen as a central purpose of the HUAC hearings. Fund-raising for once-popular humanitarian efforts became difficult, and despite the sympathies of many in the industry there was little open support in Hollywood for causes such as the Civil Rights Movement and the opposition to nuclear weapons testing . The struggles attending

10788-486: The suit on the courthouse steps. Kilcullen "exited" Nielsen in February 2008 "to pursue his passion as an entrepreneur." In April 2010 Lori Burgess was named as publisher. Burgess had been publisher of OK! magazine since October 2008. Michaela Apruzzese was named associate publisher, entertainment in May 2010. Apruzzese previously served as the director of movie advertising for Los Angeles Times Media Group. Lynne Segall, former vice president and associate publisher,

10904-443: The suit. According to The Wall Street Journal , "The lawsuit [was] widely viewed in Hollywood as a proxy for the bitter war for readers and advertising dollars... The two sides agreed on a statement reading in part: 'Prometheus admits that The Hollywood Reporter copied source code from Penske Media Corporation's Web site www.tvline.com ; Prometheus and The Hollywood Reporter have apologized to Penske Media. ' " By February 2013

11020-560: The town several years earlier (read: HUAC) returns." Cooper's lawman cleaned up Hadleyville, but Foreman was forced to leave for Europe to find work. Meanwhile, Kazan and Schulberg collaborated on a movie widely seen as justifying their decision to name names. On the Waterfront (1954) became one of the most honored films in Hollywood history, winning eight Academy Awards , including Oscars for Best Film, Kazan's direction, and Schulberg's screenplay. The film featured Lee J. Cobb , one of

11136-572: The war's aftermath added more fuel to what became known as the " Second Red Scare ". The growth of conservative political influence and the Republican triumph in the 1946 midterm elections , which saw the GOP take control of both the House and Senate , led to a major revival of institutional anti-communist activity, publicly spearheaded by the HUAC but with an investigative push by J. Edgar Hoover and

11252-432: Was a completely just verdict. I had contempt for that Congress and have had contempt for several since. And on the basis of guilt or innocence, I could never really complain very much. That this was a crime or misdemeanor was the complaint, my complaint. In September 1950, Hollywood Ten member Edward Dmytryk announced that he had once been a Communist and was prepared to give evidence against others who had been as well. He

11368-433: Was appointed as CEO. In 2010, Beckman recruited Janice Min , the former editor-in-chief of Us Weekly , as editorial director to "eviscerate" the existing daily trade paper and reinvent it as a glossy, large-format weekly magazine. The Hollywood Reporter relaunched with a weekly print edition and a revamped website that enabled it to break news. Eight months after its initial report, The New York Times took note of

11484-442: Was based on the life of Toulouse-Lautrec and was totally apolitical. Nine members of the Legion had picketed it anyway, giving rise to the controversy. By this time, people were not taking any chances. Ferrer immediately wired the Legion's national commander that he would be glad to join the veterans in their "fight against communism". The group's efforts dragged many others onto the blacklist: In 1954, "[s]creenwriter Louis Pollock,

11600-671: Was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper , and in 2010 switched to a weekly large-format print magazine with a revamped website. As of 2020, the day-to-day operations of the company are handled by Penske Media Corporation through a joint venture with Eldridge Industries . The magazine also sponsors and hosts major industry events. The Hollywood Reporter was founded in 1930 by William R. "Billy" Wilkerson (1890–1962) as Hollywood's first daily entertainment trade newspaper. The first edition appeared on September 3, 1930, and featured Wilkerson's front-page "Tradeviews" column, which became influential. The newspaper appeared Monday-to-Saturday for

11716-400: Was hired as editor for special issues in 1990, and was promoted to editor of the daily edition in 1992. After Block left, former Variety film editor, Anita Busch, became editor between 1999 and 2001. Busch was credited with making the paper competitive with Variety . In March 2006, Cynthia Littleton, former broadcast television editor and deputy editor, was named editor, but left the role

11832-567: Was in fact a Communist. After returning to Hollywood, Bogart shouted at Danny Kaye, "You fuckers sold me out." The CFA was attacked for being naïve. Under pressure from Warner Bros. to distance himself from the purported Hollywood Reds , Bogart negotiated a statement, syndicated in Hearst newspapers under the title "As Bogart Sees It Now", which did not denounce the CFA but said his trip to D.C. had been "ill-advised, even foolish." Billy Wilder told

11948-421: Was later dramatized in the film Guilty by Suspicion (1991), in which the character based on Comingore "commits suicide rather than endure a long mental collapse." In real life, Comingore succumbed to alcoholism and died of a pulmonary disease at age 58. According to historians Paul Buhle and David Wagner, "premature strokes and heart attacks were fairly common [among blacklistees], along with heavy drinking as

12064-656: Was mocked in Variety headlines. The wartime alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union brought the CPUSA newfound credibility. During the war, Party membership climbed back up to 50,000. As World War II drew to a close, however, perceptions changed again, with communism increasingly becoming a focus of American fears and hatred. In 1945, Gerald L. K. Smith , founder of the neofascist America First Party , began giving speeches in Los Angeles assailing

12180-521: Was named president of THR when Kassel sold the company, became editor-in-chief and publisher in 1991. Tony Uphoff assumed the publisher position in November 2005. John Kilcullen replaced Uphoff in October 2006, as publisher of Billboard . Kilcullen was a defendant in Billboard ' s infamous "dildo" lawsuit, in which he was accused of race discrimination and sexual harassment. VNU settled

12296-515: Was named publisher and senior vice president in June 2011. The weekly print edition of The Hollywood Reporter includes profiles, original photography and interviews with entertainment figures; articles about major upcoming releases and product launches; film reviews and film festival previews; coverage of the latest industry deals, TV ratings, box-office figures and analysis of global entertainment business trends and indicators; photos essays and reports from premieres and other red-carpet events; and

12412-481: Was not illegal). While this usually allowed a witness to avoid "naming names" without being indicted for contempt of Congress, "taking the Fifth" in one's HUAC testimony guaranteed membership on the industry blacklist. Historians sometimes distinguish between (a) the "official blacklist" – i.e., the names of those who were called by the HUAC and, in whatever manner, refused to cooperate or were identified as Communists in

12528-471: Was not the result of formal legal statute. Nevertheless, the blacklist directly damaged or ended the careers and incomes of scores of persons working in film, television, and radio. Although the blacklist had no official end date, it was generally recognized to have weakened by 1960, the year when Dalton Trumbo  – a CPUSA member from 1943 to 1948 and one of the "Hollywood Ten" – was openly hired by director Otto Preminger to write

12644-534: Was promoted to President/Chief Creative Officer of the Entertainment Group of Guggenheim Media, giving her oversight of THR and its sister brand Billboard . Min is joined by co-president John Amato, who is responsible for business initiatives. Guggenheim Partners announced on December 17, 2015, that it would sell the Prometheus media properties to its executive Todd Boehly. The company

12760-670: Was released early from jail. Following his 1951 HUAC appearance in which he described his past Party membership and named names, his directorial career recovered. The other nine remained silent and most were unable to obtain work in American film and television for many years. Adrian Scott , who had produced four of Dmytryk's films – Murder, My Sweet ; Cornered ; So Well Remembered ; and Crossfire  – was one of those named by his former friend. Scott's next screen credit did not come until 1972 and he never produced another feature film. Some blacklisted writers managed to work surreptitiously, using pseudonyms or

12876-430: Was riveted, especially given the presence in Washington, D.C. of movie stars from the First Amendment Committee. As it turned out, only eleven of the nineteen were called to testify. One of them, émigré playwright Bertolt Brecht , decided after legal advice to answer the HUAC's questions, though he did so evasively and fled the U.S. the very next day, never to return. The other ten refused to answer whether they were in

12992-594: Was rooted in events of the 1930s and early 1940s, encompassing the depths of the Great Depression , the Spanish Civil War , and the U.S.-Soviet alliance in World War II . The widespread economic hardships in the 1930s, as well as the rise of fascism in the world, caused a surge in Communist Party USA (CPUSA) membership. Levels had remained below 20,000 until 1933 and then steadily grew during

13108-448: Was said about Stander either by Parks or the committee – no accusation, no insinuation. Yet Stander's phone stopped ringing. Prior to Parks's testimony, Stander had worked on ten television shows in the previous 100 days. Afterwards, nothing. When Stander himself appeared before the HUAC, he began by pledging his full support in the fight against "subversive" activities: I know of a group of fanatics who are desperately trying to undermine

13224-402: Was sold to Eldridge Industries in February 2017. On February 1, 2018, Eldridge Industries announced the merger of its media properties with Media Rights Capital to form Valence Media (later rebranded in 2020 as simply MRC). In February 2017, Min announced she was stepping down from her role as President/Chief Creative Officer overseeing The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard to take on

13340-570: Was the one now generally rendered as, "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party ?". The HUAC formally charged the ten men with contempt of Congress and began criminal proceedings against them in the full House of Representatives . In light of the Hollywood Ten's defiance of the HUAC ;– in addition to refusing to answer questions, they also tried unsuccessfully to read opening statements decrying

13456-645: Was widely credited with being chiefly responsible for preventing communists from becoming entrenched in Hollywood production." In 1997 THR reporter David Robb wrote a story about the newspaper's involvement, but the editor, Robert J. Dowling, declined to run it. For the blacklist's 65th anniversary in 2012, the THR published a lengthy investigative piece about Wilkerson's role, by reporters Gary Baum and Daniel Miller. The same edition carried an apology from Wilkerson's son W. R. Wilkerson III. He wrote that his father had been motivated by revenge for his thwarted ambition to own

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