One of the most overblown times in American history is when the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities was in full swing. The left has been using it to raise paranoia (and thus votes for them) for fifty years. The fact that a fellow who got leadership was a fruitcake himself and made mockery of a serious affair by his crass stupidity hasn't helped matters.
In fact, there was extensive Soviet espionage and undermining of the American system of freedom in the 1950s. Icons of the left like Harry Hopkins, the Rosenbergs, and Alger Hiss, are now proven by Soviet records to have been agents, to their own degree, to Communist/Socialist masters.
Hollywood was rife with Communists who were perfect stooges for Stalin and his crew. Many of the same people who were in the forefront of condemning Hitler turned a blind eye to Soviet Gulags.
Although McCarthy had nothing to do with Hollywood, the "blacklisting" that went on to keep Communists who might be subversive from attempting propaganda on the screen is the part of the anti-Communist crusade that has received the most attention. Hollywood blacklisting and prejudice are usually behind the scenes, but that this was carried on openly was injurious to the American values it sought to protect.
The "Hollywood Ten" were a group of "unfriendly witnesses", who are usually made out to be talent suppressed at this period (Billy Wilder, I think, had the famous line to the effect that, only a couple of them had any real talent, the others were just unfriendly.
While a good movie can be made out of this material, this isn't it. The game cast -- including Jeff Goldblum, John Sessions, and Greta Scacchi -- try to breathe life into it, but perhaps the paranoia raised by the whole mess is finally running out of steam of its own accord.
In fact, there was extensive Soviet espionage and undermining of the American system of freedom in the 1950s. Icons of the left like Harry Hopkins, the Rosenbergs, and Alger Hiss, are now proven by Soviet records to have been agents, to their own degree, to Communist/Socialist masters.
Hollywood was rife with Communists who were perfect stooges for Stalin and his crew. Many of the same people who were in the forefront of condemning Hitler turned a blind eye to Soviet Gulags.
Although McCarthy had nothing to do with Hollywood, the "blacklisting" that went on to keep Communists who might be subversive from attempting propaganda on the screen is the part of the anti-Communist crusade that has received the most attention. Hollywood blacklisting and prejudice are usually behind the scenes, but that this was carried on openly was injurious to the American values it sought to protect.
The "Hollywood Ten" were a group of "unfriendly witnesses", who are usually made out to be talent suppressed at this period (Billy Wilder, I think, had the famous line to the effect that, only a couple of them had any real talent, the others were just unfriendly.
While a good movie can be made out of this material, this isn't it. The game cast -- including Jeff Goldblum, John Sessions, and Greta Scacchi -- try to breathe life into it, but perhaps the paranoia raised by the whole mess is finally running out of steam of its own accord.