committee on un-american activities

Interweaves excerpts from the BBC production of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" with dramatizations of hearings convened by the Un-American Activities Committee, the communist witch hunt that inspired the play.

The career of Hollywood director David Merrill is ruined when he refuses to testify against friends before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the communist witch hunt of the 1950s.

"A cutting-edge look into a pivotal moment in U.S. history: McCarthy's infamous "witch hunt" for communists during the 1950's Red Scare. At the cusp of the Cold War, Americans were so afraid of communists living among them that they began to hunt them like witches. As Senator Joe McCarthy took up this mantle to hunt down "communists" in the U.S., citizens grew terrified of being accused, so they turned on each other--pointing fingers at neighbors, friends, and even family. Told through a unique and inviting screenplay-format, brought to life with dozens of illustrations by Tim Foley, and comprised almost entirely of quotes derived from primary sources, Witch Hunt recounts the political craze that gripped America during the Red Scare when McCarthyism forced people to go to extraordinary lengths to keep themselves and their families safe from persecution against their own government"--Provided by publisher.

"A personal story of the author's father's involvement in HUAC that offers a rich portrait of McCarthy era America"--Provided by publisher.

Profiles the film "High Noon," which waswritten and produ ced at the height of the Hollywood blacklist.

"Set against a backdrop of mounting anti-communism, Red Apple documents the personal, physical, and mental effects of McCarthyism on six political activists with ties to New York City. From the late 1940s through the 1950s, McCarthyism disfigured the American political landscape. Under the altar of anticommunism, domestic Cold War crusaders undermined civil liberties, curtailed equality before the law, and tarnished the ideals of American democracy. In order to preserve freedom, they jettisoned some of its tenets. Congressional committees worked in tandem, although not necessarily in collusion, with the FBI, law firms, university administrations, publishing houses, television networks, movie studios, and a legion of government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels to target "subversive" individuals."--Provided by publisher.