Communist infiltration of Hollywood motion-picture industry : hearing before the Committee on Un-American activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-second Congress, first session (1951)

COMMUNISM IN MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY 95 Mr. Parks. No, sir; I don't believe this is true. I really and hon- estly don't believe that this is true. Because every studio You see, there are, I think, on the average of about 400 pictures made in Hollywood, approximately. I don't know the exact number. I think it's something like that. This is divided up among a number of studios. A script passes through usually—and unfortunately—as an actor I think this—through too many hands. My personal opinion is that a script should be written by one man and it should be directed by the same man. But this happens hardly ever to my knowledge. It passes through several writers usually. They think if one man is good for jokes, they put him in for jokes. And another man, if they want a tear-jerker, they will assign him to that particular portion of it. It goes to an associate producer, a producer, the heads of the studios. And I think you are familiar with the men that are the heads of the studios in Hollywood. And it is my opinion, it is my personal opinion, my studied opinion, that this is an impossibility. And to bear me out Mr. Wood. And didn't happen ? Mr. Parks. I do not believe that this has ever happened. Mr. Wood. Very well. Now Mr. Parks. In my opinion. Mr. Wood. Now, you're leaving a very decided impression on my mind that in your thinking there was nothing, no attempt to influence the character of the pictures or other entertainment that emanated from the studios that your group was connected with, and that there was nothing off color about the action or the conduct of any of the people that belonged to it. Then, how could it possibly reflect against the members of this group for the names to be known, any more than it would if they belonged to the Young Men's Christian Association ? Mr. Parks. May I answer this. Congressman ? Mr. Wood. Yes. I'm asking you. Mr. Parks. Yes. As a finish to what I said before, and I think to bear me out on what I said before, you may or may not like the picture that comes out, and I am not saying that each picture is an artistic or a commercial masterpiece. This is not true. Everyone knows this. But I think this is the proof of what I say: That you cannot find one picture that has been slanted adversely deliberately. This I do not believe. Again, a man can makea mistake in judgment, Congressman. A man can make a mistake in judgment. Now, to answer your last question, I must—I feel as I do about it because myself I am a good example, I think. As I said before, it's not easy personally for me to be here. Anybody who thinks it is is out of their mind. Over and above that, it is doubtful whether, after appearing before this committee, whether my career will continue. It is extremely doubtful. For coming here and telling you the truth. You see, there were other things open to me that I could have done. But, feeling that I have not done anything wrong, that I will tell you the truth. There were other things that were open to me that I could have done, and I chose not to do them. Mr. Walter. Actually, the producers, particularly in recent years, have been very careful to examine scripts so that they would not be slanted. Is that not the fact ?