Red Hollywood

Red Hollywood^[1] is a 1996 American documentary film by film essayists Thom Andersen and Noël Burch about the films made by the blacklisted writers and directors during the 1930s-1950s.^[2][3][4]

Summary

Narrated by African-American filmmaker Billy Woodberry, the essay (originated by Andersen in 1985 before being expanded in book form by Bruch) is a revisionist history of the left-leaning filmmakers that were responsible for Hollywood's portraits of the social issues of the 20th Century drawing from 53 features.^[5][6][7][8]

Interviewed were some of The Hollywood Ten including Abraham Polonsky and Ring Lardner, Jr. alongside fellow blacklisted artists Paul Jarrico and Alfred Levitt.^[9][10][11]

Reception

Red Hollywood received a 75% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[12]

See also

• Social realism
• Film gris
• Mcarthyism
• Message picture
• Los Angeles Plays Itself - 2003 video essay by Andersen
• What Do Those Old Films Mean? - 1985 documentary miniseries by Bruch about silent films in social contact
• United States in the 1950s