PrintMarch 29, 2009
The Man Who Fought the Hollywood Reds
Once upon a time, there was a conservative anticommunist Hollywood, proudly standing up for America.In the 1940s, the director, Samuel Grosvenor Wood, was growing tired of Stalin's friend President Franklin Roosevelt, and rightly so. Hollywood's pro-appeasement culture, too, was just as irresponsible and arrogantly insensitive. Russia's gulags were real. Leftwing actresses were not. So, how did Sam challenge Hollywood? Some historians contend that Mission to Moscow, a love letter film to Red Russia, from liberal Hollywood, pushed the director over the edge.Straight Sam's response? He helped form the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, in order to challenge Hollywood's Alliance for the Preservation of Red Moscow's Ideals. And, fortunately, Hollywood's womanly women and manly men stood with Sam. Yes, there were politically indecent writers, politically indecent directors, politically indecent producers, and -- horror! -- politically indecent actors, in...(Read Full Article)
