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Image for event: Un-American Activities: The Blacklist Era and Hollywood

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Un-American Activities: The Blacklist Era and Hollywood

Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau

2025-04-28 17:30:00 2025-04-28 18:30:00 America/Los_Angeles Un-American Activities: The Blacklist Era and Hollywood Robert Horton tells stories from Hollywood's blacklist era, and how notables such as Humphrey Bogart, Elia Kazan, and Charlie Chaplin were swept up in the frenzy. Interim Lakewood - Lakewood Meeting Room

Monday, April 28
5:30pm - 6:30pm

Add to Calendar 2025-04-28 17:30:00 2025-04-28 18:30:00 America/Los_Angeles Un-American Activities: The Blacklist Era and Hollywood Robert Horton tells stories from Hollywood's blacklist era, and how notables such as Humphrey Bogart, Elia Kazan, and Charlie Chaplin were swept up in the frenzy. Interim Lakewood - Lakewood Meeting Room

Interim Lakewood

Lakewood Meeting Room

Robert Horton tells stories from Hollywood's blacklist era, and how notables such as Humphrey Bogart, Elia Kazan, and Charlie Chaplin were swept up in the frenzy.

“Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”  

The answer to this question—or the refusal to answer it—cast hundreds of lives into turmoil at the dawn of the Cold War. The Red Scare that erupted in the 1940s allowed the House Committee on Un-American Activities to grab headlines by parading prominent Hollywood figures before the cameras. Witnesses could either defy the hearings at the risk of their own careers, or “name names”—inform on their colleagues and friends. The resulting blacklist threw many moviemaking professionals out of work.  

This presentation, illustrated with film clips, tells the stories from this heartbreaking and scandalous era, and how notables such as Humphrey Bogart, Elia Kazan, and Charlie Chaplin were swept up in the frenzy. We’ll also ask a question: With today’s politics at a boiling point, are we living in such a period again? 

Robert Horton (he/him), a member of the National Society of Film Critics, was the longtime film reviewer for the Seattle Weekly, Everett Herald, and KUOW. His books include a critical study of Frankenstein. He has been a Fulbright specialist, a Smithsonian Journeys speaker, and an instructor at Seattle University and the Architectural Association in London. He now hosts the radio program, The Music and the Movies.

AGE GROUP: | Older Adults | Adults (18+) |

EVENT TYPE: | Author event |

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