Federal Laws Covering Espionage and Subversive Activities]]> ]]> Spartacus film poster]]> Spartacus, Black List, performing arts]]> Spartacus. 

The Hollywood Black List destroyed or halted the careers of many Americans working in the film industry from the late 1940s through the early 1960s, one of the most notable being the screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. Trumbo, a Communist Party member, was not shy about his communist affiliations and often wrote publicly on the subject, making him a firm target of HUAC. Trumbo served 11 months in prison for his affiliations, and until he disavowed communism, was not allowed (at least publicly) to work or receive credit for the films he wrote.

Despite this, Trumbo went on to pseudonymously write some of the most well-known films of the era. It wasn’t until the end of the 1950s and the power of the Black List had weakened that Trumbo was able to again be credited under his own name and work publicly, specifically by writing 1960’s Spartacus. Directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas, Spartacus was a critical and commercial success, as well as the highest grossing film of 1960. Douglas personally went to bat for Trumbo, insisting he be given credit for the script and ultimately helping him back into the Hollywood fold.

The plot of Spartacus, which centers around a rebellion of Roman slaves, had distinct parallels with the activities of HUAC, anti-communist sentiment, and the Black List.
]]> Our Town and Inherit the Wind to Soviet audiences.]]> LIFE magazine, September 13, 1963.]]> LIFE magazine, September 13, 1963.]]>
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