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

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486 COMMUNISM IN MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY Another individual who appeared on the scene was an individual named Pomerance. Mr. Tavenner. How do you spell it ? Mr. Brewer. P-o-m-e-r-a-n-c-e, William. He had been the field examiner for the National Labor Relations Board at the time the election proceeding was held which determined the issue of representa- tion in 1939, and I understand he had been discharged—no, I am sorry; I am not sure he was discharged. In any event, he left the National Labor Relations Board as an examiner and became employed, at the behest of Mr. Sorrell, I am sold, as secretary of the Screen Cartoonists' Guild about the time of the Disney strike. You will find in Walt Disney's testimony in 1947 that Mr. Sorrell placed Mr. Pomerance in charge of the Screen Cartoonists' Guild and later Pomerance went as secretary of the Screen Writers' Guild and remained there during much of the period about which this committee has heard. He left in 1946 when an issue arose as to the strike. His successor in the Screen Cartoonists' Guild was an individual by the name of Maurice Howard. Mr. Tavenner. Spell it. Mr. Brewer. M-a-u-r-i-c-e H-o-w-a-r-d. Both the Screen Cartoon- ists' Guild and the Screen Writers' Guild were close adherents to the Communist Party line, as it developed in subsequent periods. A third individual appeared on the scene who came from the War Labor Board. His name is Milton Gotlieb. He came out of nowhere and became secretary of the Screen Publicists' Guild. Mr. Tavenner. Spell that name, please. Mr. Brewer. G-o-t-l-i-e-b, I believe, Milton Gotlieb. So we had three men within a relatively short period of time who moved from the Government into these fields, and each became part and parcel of this pro-Communist element that was attempting to create discord among A. F. of L. unions. Mr. Velde. You said Mr. Gotlieb came out of nowhere. Mr. Brewer. So far as the studios were concerned, he was not a man who had any background for the job which he was picked for. He had been a representative of the War Labor Board in San Fran- cisco and appeared suddenly as an important officer. In ordinary union procedure, a man is elected to that type of an office after he works his way up in the union. Mr. Gotlieb was brought in from the outside, so to speak, and his background was with the War Labor Board. Mr. Kearney. These men all had formerly held Government em- ployment? Mr. Brewer. Yes. At the same time, the Conference of Studio Unions began to move to bring all of these groups under the painters' union. Of course, to a labor man it was a rather ridiculous thing that a group of screen publicists should be brought in as a part of the painters' union. But Mr. Sorrell was a painter, and they got a charter and became painters. They then proceeded to organize the secretaries, and I am sure that you will find that the testimony given by Mr. Hayden with reference to Bea Winters would show that connection. The secretaries also became members of the painters' union. Mr. Kearney. They were painters, too? Mr. Brewer. They were painters.