Yesterday I got a couple of questioning e-mails asking who on earth is Elia Kazan and why were people mad at him, and I realized that of course there are many non Americans and young people out there, not to mention people who just plain weren't raised living and breathing the blacklist as I did, so following is my response.

It's not new movie news, you see, it's from the fifties during the Communist scare and the McCarthy hearing for the House Un-American Activities Committee.

There was a really intense fear of Communists infiltrating the government at that time, which ended up spilling into movies and television, where if you were named as a former or present Communist, Communist sympathizer, or even vaguely left-leaning person, you would no longer be able to get work. And it didn't actually matter whether it was true or not. It was a terrible time in Hollywood, where if you were asked to testify before the Committee you could either refuse to speak or you could name names and ruin other people's careers rather than your own. Many people were ruined, some committed suicide, and the people who named names (friendly witnesses) just went merrily on their way. Some of them, afterwards, apologized and were forgiven, but Kazan never acknowledged that he had done anything wrong.

Is it so long ago that it doesn't matter anymore? Perhaps. But my parents lived through it (they were never blacklisted, but it was the kind of thing that affected everyone, directly or indirectly) and just like I learned at my parent's knee that you don't cross a picket line, I learned about the blacklist.

If you want to know more about it, DeNiro did a pretty good movie on the subject called Guilty By Suspicion. Hey, Scorsese was in that movie, too! THAT'S why they had them give the award! Maybe not, but that's sure a funny coincidence, isn't it?

However, if you get a chance, the really great movie about the blacklist was called The Front from 1976 starring Woody Allen as a writer who works as a front for blacklisted writers (often they would get someone else to put their name on their scripts so that they could continue to work) and it's very funny and it's very sad and one of the great things about it was that every single older actor in the film was actually blacklisted in real life.

It also has one of the most incredible scenes ever in the movies. I won't say what it is, but I saw this movie for the first time with Cynthia and she told me that, and everytime there was a really good scene, I would ask "Was that it?" and she said "When I was a kid I went to see my first Marilyn Monroe movie with my mother, and everytime a girl came on the screen I would ask 'Is that her? Is that her?' and my mother said 'When it's her, you won't have to ask,' and it's the same with this scene." She was right.

Kazan will pay in hell for what he did--too bad the Academy saw fit to honour him for it.

Today's horoscope:
Volunteer to run errands at work today. Restlessness is very high. Take a business trip if you can. Don't to the same thing all day.

One year ago today:
In terms of the most exciting days in a year, there's my birthday, there's Christmas, and there's Oscar night.

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Last Updated Tues 23 March 10:32:09 1999