Honors Program Theses
Award/Availability
Open Access Honors Program Thesis
First Advisor
Kenneth Basom, Honors Thesis Advisor
Keywords
Anti-communist movements--United States; Communism and motion pictures--United States; Motion picture industry--Political aspects--United States--History--20th century;
Abstract
During the Second Red Scare from 1947 to 1957, anti-communist sentiment was rampant and affected Hollywood and the types of movies being made. This was due to governmental agencies—as well as non-governmental institutions and people—being suspicious of and investigating anyone who was suspected of having communist ties. This caused a level of fear that affected what was shown in the content of the movies and who could make them. It is important to examine how the movies and film industry was influenced by the Second Red Scare. This is because Hollywood was strongly affected not only at this time but also years into the future. People’s lives were directly impacted by the paranoia that was rampant during this period, whether because they had a communist past or if they were only indirectly associated with communists.
In this paper, I will focus on why movies during this time had either blatant or subtle anti-communist themes. I will be researching movies from this period to get a sense of the types of messages being portrayed. They will be split into four categories: propaganda, subtle anti-communism, liberal opposition, and movies that are interpreted to be both anti-communist and anti-Red Scare hysteria. I will also be looking at the people in the film industry, some participating in the anti-communist sentiment, and some being in opposition to it. Lastly, I will be looking at whether this era of paranoia was even necessary.
Year of Submission
2021
Department
Department of Political Science
University Honors Designation
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the designation University Honors
Date Original
5-2021
Object Description
1 PDF file (17 pages)
Copyright
©2021 Maddy Everson
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Everson, Maddy, "Anti-communist politics of the Second Red Scare and how it affected Hollywood and the types of movies being made" (2021). Honors Program Theses. 464.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/hpt/464
