Islington Tribune
Publications by New Journal Enterprises
spacer
  Home Archive Competition Jobs Tickets Accommodation Dating Contact us
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
Islington Tribune - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 4 September 2009
 
Wrong witch-hunt

• REVIEWING a book entitled Witch-Hunt in Hollywood, Gerald Isaaman claims that Senator Joseph McCarthy’s “bullying actions brought tragedy to thousands, uprooting lives and crashing careers, and no more so than in Hollywood, in a decade of fear from the late 1940s where McCarthy directed his search for subversive Communists in the magical world of the movies” (McCarthy’s bad guy role in a dark Hollywood drama, August 21).
No, he didn’t. The Hollywood blacklist began in 1947 and lasted 'til the early 1950s. Joseph McCarthy did not come to prominence until February 1950, when he first made accusations of communist infiltration, specifically into the federal government and US military. He played no part in the investigation of the entertainment industry.
McCarthy was a member of the US Senate; the House Committee on Un-American Activities that conducted the witch-hunt in the film industry was created, as its name implies, by the House of Representatives. The names are often connected, falsely.
Not having read the book, I cannot say whether the author, Michael Freedland, makes the same error, though its subtitle, McCarthy’s War against the Movies, makes me wonder.
Your liberal use of McCarthy’s photograph to illustrate this article is certainly incorrect.
ROGER HUGHES
Courthope Road, NW3

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, Islington Tribune, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@islingtontribune.co.uk. Deadline for letters is midday Wednesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld . Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

Comment on this article.
(You must supply your full name and email address for your comment to be published)

Name:

Email:

Comment:


 

 
 
 
spacer














spacer


Theatre Music
Arts & Events Attractions
spacer
 
 


  up