Budd Schulberg's heroism

LA Times ^ | August 12, 2009 | John Meroney

[Wanpeirui]

Imagine if one of America's foremost writers had once been privy to a shadowy plot by Hitler's Germany to take control of the motion picture industry through its labor organizations and force writers to clear scripts with Nazi censors, and then he courageously stepped forward to blow the whistle on the whole operation.

Wouldn't it be bizarre if, when this man died, instead of being celebrated for such heroism, he was criticized and even attacked by colleagues for revealing the identities of those who were behind the intrigue?

This strange scenario isn't far from what unfolded ...

[Wanpeirui]

I've always found it odd that the Hollywood screenwriters who refused to admit that they were Party members, and who refused to name names are held up as heroes. Here is a true hero.

[Signalman]

I’m stunned that this would be in the LA Times.

[nkycincinnatikid]

Me too. When did this sea change occur. Did earth actually stop, is it going to start rotating in the opposite direction? Who is in control now?

[dsc]

Don’t forget that a lie succeeds best when she baits her hook with a little truth.

Maybe they’re trying to get some credibility back so they can better deceive people in the future.

[Borges]

John Meroney is working on a book about Ronald Reagan. He seems to be a good guy.

[Wanpeirui]

That it was posted in the LA Times was yet another reason this is news. We live in interesting times. Old political alliances are shifting, people are starting to reassess what they believe in, and others who previously hid their views are starting to speak up.

[ozzymandus]

Good article until he started praising the little weasel John Dean, now a frequent anti-American guest on MSNBC.

And Hollywood’s still full of commies.

[downtownconservative]

I’m stunned...stunned I tell you!

Ann Coulter brought this out in one of her early books. The whole McCarthy Committee on Un-American Activities was spot on.

Liberals find such common-ground with communists because they have the exact same Machiavelian value system and social goals. They incorrectly rationalize this by seeing themselves as having only the purest of elitist motives. In short, they’re delusional.

[LibFreeOrDie]

Here is a true hero.

As was film director Elia Kazan, who was booed by the Hollywood lefties at the 1999 Academy Awards.

"On the Waterfront" is still a powerful film 55 years later, because it's the personal story of both the writer (Schulberg) and the director (Kazan).

[dsc]

“He seems to be a good guy.”

Yeah, but the LA Times does not have a reputation for publishing columns by good guys. Out of character for them.

[dsc]

“Liberals find such common-ground with communists because”

All leftist thought, from the limousine liberalism of a George Clooney to the mass murders of Mao, Stalin, or Pol Pot, is of and from Satan. It is a contaminant in the human cognosphere, not a natural component of it.

Liberal, communist...it’s only a matter of degree.

[VanShuyten]

Review your history. McCarthy was a senator. It was the House Committee on Un-American Activities. There is a big difference on what each did.

[Arthur McGowan]

McCarthy was a Senator.

The Committee on Un-American activities was in the House.

[Sans-Culotte]

Elia Kazan was equally heroic. Kazan directed (and Schulberg co-wrote) the film masterpiece On the Waterfront which glorifies taking the stand and naming names.