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In 1947 the House Un-American Activities Committee, or HUAC, started a trial and investigation of communism in the Hollywood motion picture industry. The Committee, including Chairman J. Parnell Thomas a young Congressman from California, and Richard M. Nixon tried many celebrities asking them question about what they knew about communism and who they knew that were involved. Here is a quote from the trial.
SPOKESMAN: "Do you recall the names of any of the actors in the Guild who participate in such activities?" ROBERT TAYLOR, Actor: "Well, the one chap I am thinking of currently is Mr. Howard De Silva -- he always has something to say at the wrong time. Karen Morley also usually appears at the guild meetings. " This was very much the same as times in Salem because many people were being accused of being witches because young girls were giving out the names of people responsible for their pain. All the people that were named would be on trial for witchcraft, a crime that would be paid for by death.
In Hollywood, people would be put in prison if they were convicted of communism. After the celebrities and studio bosses testified, seven writers two directors and one producer were called before the committee. They were questioned about membership in the Communist Party. They did not cooperate, but challenged the committee's right to judge their personal opinions. They became known as the "Hollywood Ten. " The Ten tried to fight the anti Communist committee, but in 1950, their time ran out.
All ten had to leave their families and spent one-year in the prison. This was very similar to Salem because, like John Proctor and others, when they would not give names of other witches, they would be hung. This is what happened here. The Ten did not give out any names so they were put in prison. In l 951, they started a second set of hearings both in Washington and in Hollywood.
Over 100 people were called to testify. Like the ten, many refused to cooperate with the committee. However, some of those called to testify did cooperate with the committee by confessing what they knew, so they would be let free. Writers, like Martin Berkeley and Leo Townsend, named hundreds of people.
The Crucible was very influenced by this era because Arthur Miller, the author of this book, was one of the Hollywood Ten. I think that he really related to John Proctor when he wrote this book because you can see many similarities between them. You can really tell that a lot of people in both times were very scared of what was happening because of the accusing that was going on, nobody wanted to be accused so they would put the blame on others. This assignment was interesting to see how the two were so closely related to each other.
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Research essay sample on Hollywood Ten John Proctor
