4. Hearts and minds
J. Edgar Hoover and allies like Ayn Rand scrutinise movies, even classics like It鈥檚 a Wonderful Life, for 鈥渟ubversive鈥 leftist propaganda.
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and allies like Ayn Rand were convinced that Hollywood was infested with communists. Now they started scouring the movies themselves for evidence of propaganda. Anti-communist figures in the movie business, including John Wayne and Gary Cooper, create the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals to counter groups like the Writers Guild. Even American classics like It鈥檚 a Wonderful Life came under FBI scrutiny. Studios began to feel the pressure 鈥 even changing seemingly innocuous scripts to avoid political heat.
Archive:
The Locket, directed by John Brahm for RKO Pictures, 1946
Robert F Wagner on National Labour Relations Act, Labor Comes of Age, ABC Television, 1965
Ayn Rand interviewed by Mike Wallace, ABC Television, 1959
Interviews with Dalton Trumbo, UCLA Department of Communication Archive, 1972
Woman of the Year, directed by George Stevens for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1942
Hedda Hopper鈥檚 Hollywood Show, 14 January 1951
It鈥檚 a Wonderful Life, directed by Frank Capra for RKO Pictures, 1946
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Next
Featured
-
.
Broadcasts
- Wed 13 Mar 2024 04:32GMT成人论坛 World Service
- Wed 13 Mar 2024 11:32GMT成人论坛 World Service
- Wed 13 Mar 2024 18:32GMT成人论坛 World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Wed 13 Mar 2024 23:32GMT成人论坛 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa & 成人论坛 Afghan Radio
- Sat 16 Mar 2024 02:32GMT成人论坛 World Service News Internet, Europe and the Middle East & East Asia only
- Sat 16 Mar 2024 22:32GMT成人论坛 World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
Podcast
-
Hollywood Exiles
A story of glamour, duplicity and the FBI's battle against communism in Hollywood