Only Victims: A Study of Show Business Blacklisting

Robert Vaughn's "Only Victims" is a necessary book with a necessary goal -- stressing the importance of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and citing the dangers of what happens when its cherished tradition is jeopardized. In the name of combatting Communism liberties were jettisoned while the art of stool pigeon information dissemination reached a feverish pitch during Hollywood's blacklist period beginning shortly after World War Two with the advent of the Cold War.The title of the book, which was the famous actor and author's doctoral dissertation at the University of Southern California, was taken from a statement by Dalton Trumbo that the blacklist period produced "only victims." Trumbo was one of the Hollywood Ten. The Danbury, Connecticut prison facility to which he was sent for failing to name names of alleged "subversives" he encountered had another notable prisoner at the same time Trumbo was incarcerated, former Congressman Parnell Thomas, chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee, before which the screenwriter appeared. In addition to ruining careers of many film industry people, the widespread crackdown on writers threatened an industry brain drain which led to some crafty countermeasures. Pierre Boule, who did not understand a word of English, received a Best Screenplay Oscar for adapting his novel, "Bridge on the River Kwai," to the screen. Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, both blacklistees, actually wrote the screenplay. Trumbo wrote the screenplay for "The Brave One" as Robert Rich. It was a 1956 release and the Oscar won by "Rich" sat on an Academy of Arts and Sciences shelf until Trumbo claimed it almost twenty years later in 1975.Robert Vaughn performed with gusto and sophistication as television's successful "Mister Uncle" series in the sixties. He performs with equal gusto and sophistication as an author, using his exhaustive research to write a thoughtful work about an important topic and period of American history.

Robert Francis Vaughn wrote a fine account of Hollywood blacklisting actors and actresses who were considered to be Communists back in the Fifties. He wrote it with a good head on his shoulders, right after his tenure with a fad TV series, his staunch anti-Vietnam views and support of RFK before the ex-Attorney General was killed.

A strong, detailed account of the Hollywood Blacklist. I first read this book for a Jurisprudence class in '72 and recently re-read it and still could not put it down. Vaughn makes a thorough and insightful case for why we should never forget.