Milly S. Barranger is a distinguished professor emerita of theater history and dramatic theory and a former producing director of the PlayMakers Repertory Company. She is the author of Margaret Webster: A Life in the Theater; Theatre: A Way of Seeing; and Understanding Plays.
The Hollywood Blacklist, which was in effect from the mid-1940s to
the early 1960s, has been well documented in books like Time of the
Toad, The Inquisition in Hollywood, and Fear on Trial. It has been
the subject of documentaries like Scandalize My Name: Stories from
the Blacklist (1998) and Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist (1987).
Also the stories of the Hollywood Ten, actors, playwrights, and
directors like Lee J. Cobb, James Garfield, Edward G. Robinson, Eli
Kazan, Arthur Miller, and Clifford Odets and their experiences with
HUAC have been well documented. What has not been well documented
is how the Blacklist affected some women who had a connection to
movies, television, and the theatre. With Unfriendly Witnesses,
Milly S. Barranger has attempted to rectify this oversight. In this
book, which is part of the Southern Illinois University Press
Series Theatre in the Americas, Barranger, a professor of Dramatic
Art at the University of North Carolina, presents case studies of
seven prominent women, and places them within the larger context of
the "Red Scare." These women are Judy Holliday, Anne Revere,
Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker, Margaret Webster, Mady Christians,
and Kim Hunter.The movie and television industry used publications
like Red Channels, Counterattack, and Aware to gauge who was
un-American or a Communist and therefore unemployable. The names of
the above seven women appeared in these publications as possible
Communists. Judy Holiday, who starred on Broadway and went on to
star in such noteworthy films as Adam's Rib (1949), had "nine
offenses" in Red Channels. She was called before HUAC to testify,
and was subsequently dropped by CBS and ABC, even though she was
not a Communist and had no real party ties. She played her role
before the committee as she would any acting job, and showed that a
strong woman could get through it. Her career was not appreciably
affected; she continued to act on television, and became one the
performers to prevail over the Blacklist. However, Mady Christians
(I Remember Mama, 1948) was not so lucky. There is speculation that
the stress caused just by being investigated as a Communist
contributed to her cerebral hemorrhage before she even had a chance
to testify before the committee.Anne Revere (A Place in the Sun,
1951) was being watched as early as 1943, and her performance as an
"unfriendly witness" before HUAC makes her story one of the more
colorful ones. She continued to work in theatre, acting in Arthur
Miller's parable of the times, The Crucible. Interestingly, by the
time it ended its investigation, the FBI almost seemed to be afraid
of her. When Revere won a Tony for her performance in the play Toys
in the Attic, the FBI stopped its surveillance.The most interesting
chapter covers the writers Lillian Hellman (Children's Hour) and
Dorothy Parker (A Star is Born/Nothing's Sacred). Parker was a
diehard activist who worked to help the poor and disenfranchised.
Hellman, on the other hand, was involved with the noted Marxist
writer Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon). She even admitted
that at one time she had flirted with Communism. Parker ended up an
alcoholic, and never really recovered from the shock of being
investigated. However, Hellman continued to fight for the causes in
which she believed, wrote her memoires (An Unfinished Woman), and
was an iconoclast till her death in 1984.Margaret Webster was a
stage director and daughter of actress Dame May Whittey. She is
noteworthy for being the first to employ an African-American actor
in the title role of Othello, on Broadway (1944). She was deemed
guilty by being associated with folks like Paul Robeson, Jose
Ferrer, and Uta Hagan. Her innocent choices during and before the
war years came back to haunt her. Kim Hunter (The Seventh Victim,
1943) was known for her film and Broadway role of Stella Kowalski
in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire. At the hearings,
she claimed that she had nothing but disdain for Communism.
However, during her early career she had associated with groups
like Americans for Democratic Action, and had signed petitions for
the World Peace Conference. Of all those profiled by Barranger, Kim
Hunter seems to be the one who came out most unscathed. Although
she did not have any offers for work in 1954, in 1955 and 1956 she
was back appearing on network television, and her career lasted for
43 years.
It is well known that those who worked solely in theater/Broadway
were not subjected to the same kind of scrutiny that hindered
employment in movies and television. However, Barranger points out
that there was a kind of "Graylist" which seemed to make it
difficult, but not impossible, for some to get good paying jobs in
New York theater and other places.The author presents these women,
with the exception of Mady Christians, as "survivors." They were up
against terrible odds and lived through their trials. The author
ends this study with a warning that similar situations could happen
in our post 9/11 society. She cites the Patriot Act and possible
government surveillance of those deemed unpatriotic as potential
dangers. She equates the condemnation of the Dixie Chicks'
"anti-American" remarks by some radio stations to blacklisting, and
compares the few CD burnings by conservative organizations to a
modern-day book-burning.Unfriendly Witnesses documents a formerly
untold story that needs to be told and read. It is well written and
well documented, and it could be used in American History, Women's
Studies, Theater History, or Film History courses. This book is
written in a way that allows students, academics, and the general
public to find something of interest. By quoting from actual
testimonies, it also provides a unique insight into these brave
women. In the appendices Barranger has a timeline for women on the
left, 1919-1976, which helps the historical context. Excerpts from
Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and
Television 1950 is also provided for context. Barranger's
bibliography is extensive. This book is recommended for both public
and academic libraries.--Robert Weiner "Southwest Journal of
Cultures" (9/8/2008 12:00:00 AM)
"Unfriendly Witnesses is a signal contribution to our deeper
understanding of McCarthyism and its impact on the American
cultural landscape of the 1950s and beyond. This is an important
work, not only for an understanding of a particularly repressive
era in American culture but also as an insightful warning about
censorship and the repression of civil liberties in our own
time."--Daniel J. Watermeier, University of Toledo
The bulk of Unfriendly Witnesses is devoted to the seven
celebrities whom the press called "McCarthy's Women" -- Judy
Holliday, Mady Christians, Anne Revere, Kim Hunter, Margaret
Webster, Lillian Hellman, and Dorothy Parker. Barranger gives an
in-depth history of each woman, noting family history and early
career successes. This provides the reader with the contrast of
each woman's life after being blacklisted and brings a tragic
element to the facts as they are presented. In each woman's case a
chorus seems to ring through Berranger's writing: "She did not
provide names" (p. 47). Their friends and colleagues became
informants, yet these women refused. Many were barred from
Hollywood and their careers crumbled. Some found solace in New
York working on the stage for significantly less pay. All of these
seven women, save one, are portrayed as survivors. That one, Mady
Christians, was perhaps the most tragic: as her successful career
abruptly came to a halt when she was blacklisted, Christians was
unable to find work, and her health deteriorated. She became just
another performer who, as Victor Navasky is quoted saying, "seemed
to die of the blacklist" (p. 48).The book captures the paranoia,
oppression, fear and ignorance of the McCarthy era, and Barranger
astutely compares those undertones to those that permeated a
post-9/11 America, pointing to patterns that may perhaps emerge in
times of political turmoil. The text is relevant and informative.
Barranger has constructed a women's history that deserves further
scholarship. --Autumn Shiley --Autumn Shiley "Feminist Collections"
(9/7/2011 12:00:00 AM)
120Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONE120Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONE120Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONEThe
bulk of Unfriendly Witnesses is devoted to the seven celebrities
whom the press called "McCarthy's Women" -- Judy Holliday, Mady
Christians, Anne Revere, Kim Hunter, Margaret Webster, Lillian
Hellman, and Dorothy Parker. Barranger gives an in-depth history of
each woman, noting family history and early career successes. This
provides the reader with the contrastof each woman's life after
being blacklisted and brings a tragic element to the facts as they
are presented. In each woman's case a chorus seems to ring through
Berranger's writing: "She did not provide names" (p. 47). Their
friends and colleagues became informants, yet these women refused.
Many were barred from Hollywood and their careers crumbled. Some
found solace in New York working on the stage for significantly
less pay. All of these seven women, save one, are portrayed as
survivors. That one, Mady Christians, was perhaps the most tragic:
as her successful career abruptly came to a halt when she was
blacklisted, Christians was unable to find work, and her health
deteriorated. She became just another performer who, as Victor
Navasky is quoted saying, "seemed to die of the blacklist" (p.
48).The book captures the paranoia, oppression, fear and ignorance
of the McCarthy era, and Barranger astutely compares those
undertonesto those that permeated a post-9/11 America, pointing to
patterns that may perhaps emerge in times of political turmoil. The
text is relevant and informative. Barranger has constructed a
women's history that deserves further scholarship.
--120Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONEAutumn Shiley --Autumn
Shiley "Feminist Collections" (9/7/2011 12:00:00 AM)
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