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Film Criticism, the Cold War, and the Blacklist examines the long-term reception of several key American films released during the postwar period, focusing on the two main critical lenses used in the interpretation of these films: propaganda and allegory. Produced in response to the hearings held by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) that resulted in the Hollywood blacklist, these films' ideological message and rhetorical effectiveness was often muddled by the inherent difficulties in dramatizing villains defined by their thoughts and belief systems rather than their actions. Whereas anti-Communist propaganda films offered explicit political exhortation, allegory was the preferred vehicle for veiled or hidden political comment in many police procedurals, historical films, Westerns, and science fiction films. Jeff Smith examines the way that particular heuristics, such as the mental availability of exemplars and the effects of framing, have encouraged critics to match filmic elements to contemporaneous historical events, persons, and policies. In charting the development of these particular readings, Film Criticism, the Cold War, and the Blacklist features case studies of many canonical Cold War titles, including The Red Menace, On the Waterfront, The Robe, High Noon, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Film --- anno 1900-1999 --- United States --- Motion pictures --- Cold War in motion pictures. --- Communism and motion pictures --- Blacklisting of entertainers --- Political aspects --- History --- Entertainers --- Communism and moving-pictures --- Motion pictures and communism --- Blacklisting --- 20th century american culture. --- 20th century american history. --- allegory. --- american entertainment culture. --- american films. --- anti communist propaganda. --- cold war. --- communism. --- critical lens. --- entertainment blacklist. --- film and television. --- film criticism. --- film history. --- historical films. --- hollywood blacklist. --- hollywood. --- house committee on un american activities. --- huac. --- literary allegory. --- movie studies. --- police procedures. --- political. --- politics. --- postwar period. --- propaganda films. --- propaganda. --- science fiction films. --- villains. --- westerns. --- United States of America

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Before he attained notoriety as Dean of the Hollywood Ten-the blacklisted screenwriters and directors persecuted because of their varying ties to the Communist Party-John Howard Lawson had become one of the most brilliant, successful, and intellectual screenwriters on the Hollywood scene in the 1930's and 1940's, with several hits to his credit including Blockade, Sahara, and Action in the North Atlantic. After his infamous, almost violent, 1947 hearing before the House Un-American Activities Committee, Lawson spent time in prison and his lucrative career was effectively over. Studded with anecdotes and based on previously untapped archives, this first biography of Lawson brings alive his era and features many of his prominent friends and associates, including John Dos Passos, Theodore Dreiser, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Chaplin, Gene Kelly, Edmund Wilson, Ernest Hemingway, Humphrey Bogart, Dalton Trumbo, Ring Lardner, Jr., and many others. Lawson's life becomes a prism through which we gain a clearer perspective on the evolution and machinations of McCarthyism and anti-Semitism in the United States, on the influence of the left on Hollywood, and on a fascinating man whose radicalism served as a foil for launching the political careers of two Presidents: Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. In vivid, marvelously detailed prose, Final Victim of the Blacklist restores this major figure to his rightful place in history as it recounts one of the most captivating episodes in twentieth century cinema and politics.

Motion picture industry --- Theater --- Communism and literature --- Blacklisting of authors --- Screenwriters --- Dramatists, American --- History. --- History --- Lawson, John Howard, --- Lawson, J. H. --- Lewis, Edward, --- Lao-hsün, --- Lawson, John Howard, -- 1894-1977.. --- Dramatists, American -- 20th century -- Biography.. --- Screenwriters -- United States -- Biography.. --- Blacklisting of authors -- United States.. --- Communism and literature -- United States -- History -- 20th century.. --- Theater -- New York (State) -- New York -- History -- 20th century.. --- Motion picture industry -- California -- Los Angeles -- History. --- 1930s. --- 1940s. --- 1947. --- 20th century. --- america. --- antisemitism. --- biographical. --- blacklist. --- california. --- cinema. --- communism. --- communist party. --- directors. --- edmund wilson. --- ernest hemingway. --- f scott fitzgerald. --- gene kelly. --- historical nonfiction. --- hollywood ten. --- hollywood. --- house unamerican activities committee. --- imprisonment. --- infamy. --- john dos passos. --- john howard lawson. --- joseph mccarthy. --- mccarthyism. --- political figures. --- politics. --- radical politics. --- red scare. --- screenwriters. --- united states. --- us history.