Tag: Blacklisting

‘High Noon’

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Film

My wife hates “High Noon” and the theme song it rode in on. John Wayne didn’t like it either. I think it’s the perfect movie,  not necessarily my favorite but perfect in the way it was put together: the music, the ticking block, the fact it was shot in real-time, and the fact (which the Duke hated) that normal citizens wouldn’t help a marshal fight off a gang of bad guys that would function like a SEAL team compared to people who mainly used guns for hunting.

Wikipedia writes that “John Wayne was originally offered the lead role in the film, but refused it because he believed that Foreman’s story was an obvious allegory against blacklisting, which he actively supported.” Perhaps Wayne saw a correlation with the blacklisting nonsense, but I don’t. But then, I didn’t support blacklisting or the work of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

From the Amazon Listing

Classic western tale of a lawman whose retirement plans go awry when a revenge-seeking gunman and his gang arrive in town – will anyone stand with the marshal? Winner of four Oscars, including Gary Cooper for Best Actor.

Glenn Frankel’s Book’s Amazon Listing

“What has been often overlooked is that High Noon was made during the height of the Hollywood blacklist, a time of political inquisition and personal betrayal. In the middle of the film shoot, screenwriter Carl Foreman was forced to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities about his former membership in the Communist Party. Refusing to name names, he was eventually blacklisted and fled the United States. (His co-authored screenplay for another classic, The Bridge on the River Kwai, went uncredited in 1957.) Examined in light of Foreman’s testimony, High Noon‘s emphasis on courage and loyalty takes on deeper meaning and importance.”

From Variety’s Film Review

“The Stanley Kramer production does an excellent job of presenting a picture of a small western town and its people as they wait for a gun duel between the marshal and revenge-seeking killer, an event scheduled for high noon. The mood of the citizens, of Gary Cooper the marshal, and his bride (Grace Kelly), a Quaker who is against all violence, is aptly captured by Fred Zinnemann’s direction and the graphic lensing of Floyd Crosby, which perfectly pictures the heat and dust of the sun-baked locale.”

Yes, the film still plays well today even among viewers who know nothing of the HUAC/Blacklisting drama that was part of our culture when “High Noon” was made.

—Malcolm

What You Need To Know About QAnon 

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn issues4 Comments

QAnon is the umbrella term for a sprawling spiderweb of right-wing internet conspiracy theories with antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ elements that falsely claim the world is run by a secret cabal of pedophiles who worship Satan and are plotting against President Trump. Though some influential individuals are active in the movement, it is not an organized group with defined leadership.

Source: What You Need To Know About QAnon | Southern Poverty Law Center

Americans–or perhaps certain elements of the media–have been running amok looking for conspiracies beneath every rock and under the woodwork of everything building.  This reminds me of the McCarthyism of the 1950s when the House Unamerican Activities Committee “saw” communists everywhere.

At the time, when the committee said so and so is a communist, my response was “so what?” But in those days, communists were presumed to be working for the Soviet Union and were often blacklisted (most famously by Hollywood) by their employers.

The blacklisting is happening again. The daily news brings us reports that various people have been fired for expressing their personal opinions on Facebook as though they’re part of a conspiracy, in college lectures, in speeches, in books, and when this happens we’re all reminded that the First Amendment doesn’t protect us where we work–or on Twitter and Facebook as it turns out.

These days, if somebody “screams I’m offended,” my response is “so what?” But corporations, including colleges, are often influenced by those who are offended more than by who’s right.

This article tells us what’s behind all the shouting.

–Malcolm