Donald T. Critchlow: When Hollywood Was Right
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Fotografie und Film 83 Donald T. Critchlow: When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics New York: Cambridge UP 2013, 235 S., ISBN 978-0-521-19918-6, € 23,80 The interconnectedness between poli- Bryan Cranston is set to star in a biopic tics and entertainment in the dream of Dalton Trumbo, the famous blackli- factory remains a pertinent topic, even sted author of Spartacus (1960). more so in the post-Schwarzenegger In his study of „the rebuilding of age. Moreover, the labels ‚Communist‘ the Republican party in California“ and ‚Socialist’ continue to be used in (p.2) between 1930 and 1980, Donald order to belittle political opponents in T. Critchlow challenges the prevai- the United States, even as Hollywood ling view of Hollywood as a hotbed of frequently voices its sympathy for the liberal Democrats. Though the Great political left on screen. To give an Depression pushed the majority of the exam ple: Breaking Bad (2008–2013) star studio employees to the political left in 84 MEDIENwissenschaft 01/2015 the 1930s and they started to organize What Critchlow does not engage themselves in unions, many actors and with is how the dream factory’s politi- powerful studio heads like Cecil B. cal tendencies informed its productions. DeMille or Walt Disney leaned more Aside from a few brief case studies of towards the right. genuine propaganda films such as Most of the chapters in Critchlow’s Mission to Moscow (1943) or the John book trace the making (and un-making) Wayne-directed, anti-Vietcong flick of political careers in California, where The Green Berets (1968), this is politi- the gubernatorial races frequently saw cal history for those who are interested celebrities campaigning for the candi- in the formation of political alliances dates and where future Presidents like and the role of fundraising and ad cam- Richard Nixon or former actor Ronald paigns. The author presents findings Reagan (initially a Democrat) earned from his thorough archival work, and their political spurs. Hollywood Repu- his detailed knowledge of the various blicans engaged in political rallies usu- political players is impressive. However, ally tended to sail more under the radar he is on much less firmer ground when than their Democrat opponents, yet he discusses film history, getting various the ‚dramatis personae‘ of prominent names and facts wrong in the process: Republicans which Critchlow assem- he attributes twelve Academy Awards bles in his book is still impressive: it to Elia Kazan’s 1954 union drama On includes politically up-front direc- the Waterfront (the film received eight); tors (John Ford, Sam Wood), writers confuses Otto Preminger’s Exodus (Morrie Ryskind, Charles Brackett, (1960) with Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Ayn Rand), and actors (John Wayne, Commandments (1956); and legendary James Stewart, Gary Cooper), and the Hollywood Republicans like director affiliation of the latter group with the Mervyn LeRoy or actor John Gavin Western genre may not be a coinci- find themselves referred to as „Melvin dence. Due to the author’s background Leroy“ (p.171) or „John Galvin“ (p.181), in political history and his many publi- respectively. cations on American conservatism, the In addition, the author’s own politi- major emphasis is on political mecha- cal opinion occasionally clashes with his nisms and on election campaigns such objectivity as a researcher. By both impli- as Barry Goldwater’s 1964 bid for the citly and explicitly positioning himself White House. Critchlow’s account of as an opponent of Communism and by the 1947 HUAC hearings makes for taking sides with Hollywood stars who fascinating reading, as it is meticulously were (unfairly, according to Critchlow) researched and very thorough in the too often ridiculed „as narrow-minded way the author dispenses with popular right-wingers“ (p.42), the author loses myths surrounding the ‚Hollywood Ten‘ a degree of credibility. Not only does and their colleagues. Their allegiances he get carried away in his admiration and sympathies were far more differen- for those „dedicated men and women“ tiated than [it] is often acknowledged. who „remade both their state and their Fotografie und Film 85 country“ (p.6) and who „fought the good Reagan’s rise to President of the United fight, defeating the communist faction in States, a key moment in the history of Hollywood“ (p.213), he also goes so far American politics and of Hollywood’s as to attribute near-messianic qualities involvement in it, the author makes a to Ronald Reagan („After wandering convincing case that it was, ironically, in the desert for nearly thirty-five years, the triumph of this former actor which conservatives had marched to the Pro- marked the end of celebrity Republicans’ mised Land led by a former actor who involvement with political campaigns, as had gotten his start fighting commu- Reagan’s team preferred the support of nism in Hollywood a generation before“ background players (such as executives [pp.212]). As a consequence, Critchlow and agents) to that of singers and cow- never really engages with the Commu- boy actors. nist project and its actual ideas, emplo- In spite of its shortcomings, the book ying it as a rather vague signifier for an contains many valuable findings and unspecified threat, for men and women should serve as an invitation to inve- whose patriotism appears questionable. stigate further chapters of the shared He effectively denigrates all supporters history of politics and entertainment in of the Communist cause in Hollywood the future. As the author only briefly as renitent individuals who signed up hints at the many ties which existed out of feelings of guilt, confused idea- between individual actors, studio heads, lism, boredom, or because they were and political candidates (many of which downright naïve (see pp.58-63). have not yet been investigated), there is What makes this a recommended plenty of work ahead for scholars wor- read in spite of the factual errors and the king in political science as well as in ideological bias is Critchlow’s impressive media studies. knowledge of the political apparatus. In his compelling account of Ronald Wieland Schwanebeck (Dresden).