By Myself and Then Some (34 page)

There were five hundred signatures. And the press became aware of us and of our thoughtful, sane protest against the activities and methods of the Committee. There was also a Republican and Democratic Joint Committee of Hollywood for Preservation of Civil Liberties. Another group in New York with a long list of signatures was protesting as we were – among its distinguished members was Helen Hayes. It was a disturbing and frightening period in Hollywood. Everyone was suspect – at least, everyone to the left of center.

One night a group of us were asked to go up to Willie Wyler’s house to hear on a telephone set-up from some of the people in Washington what was going on there. It was a cry for help. I remember Adrian Scott describing the gavel-pounding of Mr Thomas and the way the cards had been stacked against everyone there. They wanted a group of us to come to Washington to give them moral support. Oh, I became very emotional about it. It was my first grown-up exposure to a cause, and my reaction should have clued me in as to how cause-prone I could be. We all listened very carefully. There was no talk of Communism – from our point of view, Communism had nothing to do with it. It had to do with the Hitlerian tactics being employed. I was up in arms – fervent. I said to Bogie, ‘We must go.’ He felt strongly about it too, but at first I was the more outspoken. My reaction was based on emotion: How dare that bastard Thomas treat people this way? What was happening to our country? He must be stopped. What kind of a world were we living in anyway, and what would happen to motion pictures? A lot, as we’d all find out later – a lot more than we thought at the time, and the effects were longer-lasting than any of us dreamed.

So it was decided that a group of us would fly to Washington – John Huston, Phil Dunne, Ira Gershwin, Danny Kaye, Gene Kelly, Paul Henreid, John Garfield, June Havoc, Evelyn Keyes, Marsha Hunt, Jane Wyatt, Sterling Hayden, Robert Ardrey, Jules Buck, Joseph Sistrom, Richard Conte, David Hopkins (a publicist son of Harry Hopkins), Larry Adler, Bogie, and me. Huston and Dunne were to be the official spokesmen. Howard Hughes offered us a plane for our trip.

The night before our departure a meeting was held at Dave Chasen’s restaurant at which Willie Wyler told us we must not look like slobs. We were representing a lot of people in the industry, we must make a good impression – the women were to wear skirts, not slacks; the men, shirts and ties. It was so exciting – there’s nothing like the charge you get out of being one of a group of people doing the same thing for the same reason – pure in thought and purpose, on a crusade. It’s a fever. You feel so strongly, you’re certain you can carry anyone – everyone – along with you.

Bogie released a statement about the trip:

There was a petition for redress of grievances addressed to House Speaker Joseph Martin, Jr – we were to march to the Capitol and present it to him.

The plane stopped along the way to Washington and some of us made speeches to waiting crowds. We were a serious group – reasonably well-informed, bright, and we all cared. John, Bogie, Danny Kaye, Gene Kelly, and I made most of the short speeches. At the end of mine I was sure I could run for office and, what’s more, be elected. The airport crowds were large and vociferous – cheers went up – God, it was exciting. I couldn’t wait to get to Washington. Wouldn’t it be incredible if we really could effect a change – if we could make that
Committee stop? Innocence is guileless and trustful. I was due for a big surprise.

The press greeted us at the airport and asked us to pose for pictures in front of the plane. Later we saw that the name of the plane was the
Red Star
. Coincidence or design?

We settled into the Statler Hotel. John Huston told the press we had not come to attack anybody, nor to defend the unfriendly witnesses. Just wished to fight the growing voluntary censorship in Hollywood.

We were to attend the hearings the next three days, hold press conferences, present our petition at the Capitol, meet with some Senators and Representatives for advice in the battle for freedom – and, hopefully, see President Truman.

We were led into the hearings, a back row being reserved for us. Following us continually were photographers and reporters. At the center of the raised platform sat J. Parnell Thomas, gavel in hand. As the witnesses were called, they refused to answer the charge of being a Communist. Our friend Quentin Reynolds, who was covering the hearings for
PM
, wrote, ‘There is no doubt that the storm of criticism heaped upon the rather shiny pate of Mr Thomas by the press of the country has had a chastening effect. A dozen times Mr Thomas has said that the witnesses are not on trial: that the Committee is a mere fact-finding board.’ And then Robert E. Stripling, the Committee’s counsel and its chief inquisitor, spilled the beans. ‘You have been charged with being a Communist,’ Stripling told Alvah Bessie, ‘and now you are being given a chance to answer that charge.’ The witnesses were treated as defendants in a trial – bearing no resemblance to what Mr Thomas said the Committee function was. When witnesses such as Bessie, Dalton Trumbo, and Albert Maltz were asked ‘Are you a member of the Communist Party?’ and refused to answer, they were exercising their rights as defined in the Bill of Rights. They wouldn’t answer whether they were members of the Screen Writers’ Guild either. Political affiliation was not the business of the Committee, but Stripling demanded a yes or no answer, would not allow the witnesses to make statements of their own – and Thomas was gavel-happy. I couldn’t believe what was going on – that jerk sitting up there with his title had the power to put these men in jail! It was frustrating to watch. I was full of sound and fury, sounding off at the drop of a hat. Our press conference was attended by representatives of
every important newspaper in the country. Huston was holding forth in one corner. Danny Kaye in another was saying, ‘It’s like walking out on a stage and being given the raspberry before you open your mouth.’ Gene Kelly, Bogie, me – and so forth. And I remember May Craig, a tough and terrific newswoman from Maine, saying, ‘But didn’t you know what it would be like in Washington? Didn’t anyone tell you? You are so naïve.’ We certainly were. Some of the questions put us on the defensive – we had to admit we didn’t know whether any of the witnesses were Communists, and suddenly that became the important thing. But we weren’t defending Communism (which in any case had not been outlawed), we were defending something else. I was so fired up that I wrote a piece for the Washington
Daily News
that appeared on the front page.

Perhaps I’m the girl whom some Americans remember as having said a certain line in a certain picture.

If I am, and you know me, then let’s forget about it for the moment.

I’m speaking to you now as a person who shares the same rights any of you do – those given to an American citizen.

It’s possible that in all the excitement and confusion, our purpose in coming to Washington has not been made clear. But I would like to take this opportunity to speak to you as an individual – as someone who has a job and gets paid for it, and wants to see that that job is protected.

I have been reading about the investigation by the House Committee on Un-American Activities with a great deal of interest and a certain amount of fear. I am a person who has always believed in the First Amendment to our Constitution, which gives us the right as Americans to freedom of speech and freedom of political belief.

According to what I’ve read, it seems to me that those freedoms are being jeopardized, and it’s always been my feeling that when you’re attacked, or your job is threatened, you ought to fight back. You ought to do something about it.

So I, together with other members of the motion picture
industry, decided we should come to Washington and see if there wasn’t something we could do.

Well, I want you to know that I attended two sessions of the hearings and it frightened me. When I left the House Office Building I couldn’t help but feel that every American who cares anything at all about preserving American ideals should witness a part of this investigation.

You may think it’s very easy for me to make a trip to Washington – that I can afford it. Well, that’s beside the point. Believe me when I tell you that what’s going on here can happen to you.

I don’t want to alarm you, but I think you should be aware of the dangers that arise out of investigations like this that follow the procedure that this one has followed.

When they start telling you what pictures you can make, what your subjects can be, then it’s time to rear up and fight!

It starts with us, but I’m sorry to say I don’t think it will end with us.

If this committee succeeds in indicting people without giving them a chance to defend themselves, then they can stretch out their arms and reach all industries all over the United States.

Before I go further, I want it clearly understood that I’m not defending or attacking any of the witnesses who have appeared or will appear. And I am not questioning the committee’s right to ask any questions it sees fit. I am questioning its right to ask questions and allow only monosyllabic answers.

As you no doubt know, a person’s reputation is as valuable and sacred a thing as his life. When one is attacked on such a grand scale, and the whole world can read about the job he does and the beliefs he has, his very livelihood is threatened.

You know, most of us in the motion picture industry can last only so long. Maybe 10 years, and then somebody new comes along. So we hold the time we have very dear. If this investigation continues along the lines it has followed up to now, our homes and families are as good as gone.

So it’s nothing to be treated lightly. The only way I can think of to point up the seriousness of this is to explain to you what will happen to the motion pictures you go to see two or three times a week.

You have no idea of the fear that has overtaken Hollywood.

A producer is afraid to produce, a director is afraid to
direct, and a writer is afraid to write for fear anything he might say or do will be controversial to the point that he might be accused of the same thing that the witnesses who have been called here have been accused of.

Which means in simple language that good adult entertainment flies out the window and shallow water flows in the door.

Westbrook Pegler was staying in the same hotel. He wrote pieces on Hollywood glamour people who came to Washington and didn’t know what the hell it was all about – how Bogie tipped a waiter fifty cents (which horrified Mark Hellinger, who made a continual joke of it, even writing a check for the amount to reimburse Bogie for his extraordinary educational expenditures). Much of what he said was twisted, though none was taken too seriously except by his devotees – not even the suggestions that we were better on screen back in Tinsel Town than in politics in Washington. What we didn’t realize until much later was that we were being used to some degree by the Unfriendly Ten, in that our focus was subtly altered to defending them individually and collectively.

We left Washington still caring as much, but with a bit of the wind taken out of our sails. We never did get to see Truman, who – wisely, from his point of view – did not wish to involve himself with our group. The whole trip was exhilarating, but there were repercussions. It was suggested to Bogie that he issue a statement saying he was not a Communist and had no sympathy for Communists, and denouncing the unfriendly witnesses. This he refused to do. Less than two years earlier, ironically, the world had been praising Russia and American women had knitted sweaters in the great drive for Russian war relief. It still stuns me, the speed with which ideological shifts take place.

On our next trip East, Bogie did see someone high up in the Hearst organization and made clear to him the reasons for our protest. The Committee had had that much effect, and Bogie was furious that he’d been convinced of the necessity of any kind of explanation. He took no oath, swore to nothing, just made his stand clear – and did he resent it! I don’t know now whether the trip to Washington ultimately helped anyone. It helped those of us at the time who wanted to fight for what we thought was right and against what we knew was wrong. And we
made a noise – in Hollywood, a community which should be courageous but which is surprisingly timid and easily intimidated. The movie people were all worried about their bank accounts hurting. The effects of that investigation were far-reaching and lasted a long time. Some went to jail – many had to leave the country, since they weren’t allowed to work – families, marriages went down the drain – many panicked to save their own skins and lost the respect of both sides. Those in favor of the investigation were very self-righteous and asserted their Americanism as though they were the only patriots. Why do so many Republicans think they are all that stands between America and destruction? There was much exaggeration and distortion, and for quite a while many people relinquished their political opinions or at least stopped voicing them.

M
ark Hellinger had had a
heart attack earlier in the year. We’d gone to see him in the hospital – he was grayer-skinned than ever, but said he felt great. He’d have to cut down on his drinking was all – one bottle a day instead of two. He never would expose himself, never wanted a serious talk about his life, which he knew left much to be desired. He knew that we knew – that was enough. Bogie taught me something about friendship. He never pushed it – he demanded truth and loyalty, but he understood shortcomings, and accepted people more or less as they were. Whereas I wanted to know everything, be told everything – I made huge demands on my friends.