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COMMUNISM IN MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY 491 began to try to find out, and for the most part where they have known it and it was a certainty to them, they have cleaned them out. The difficulty has been—and I think this is not only a problem for Hollywood, I think it is a problem for America—the difficulty has been to understand the nature of this problem. Many of the officials did not understand it. They did not realize what it consisted of, and would not have tolerated it had they known it. The fact that the Communists were able to so cleverly disguise their real aims points up the danger of the Communist movement not only in Hollywood but throughout the country. Mr. Kearney. You think the country is waking up ? Mr. Brewer. I think they are, but I think they have a great deal to learn, and I think the disclosures before this committee will help point up the real danger of it, because we can swing so far we will lay the groundwork for another invasion. Mr. Kearney. I hope the country is waking up. Mr. Potter. Concerning this character assassination, I know it has been suggested by some of the professional people in Hollywood that they now are paying the penalty for anti-Communist attitudes they had in this critical period. Mr. Brewer. I think the character assassination program they had, and the domination which they had over the life of the community, that is, the social and intellectual thought in the community, was very effective. Sometimes it would be a minor clerk in a casting office, or a secretary, who would indicate that so-and-so probably wouldn't be any good for that part: or maybe it would be one of the stories they would circulate that had no foundation, that so-and-so was a lousy writer. They had the machinery by which they could create the impression that so-and-so was not a good writer or that he had done something wrong and therefore would not be good for a part. They had that organization, and it was effective beyond the widest scope of your imagination. Mr. Tavenner. You spoke of the possibility of people in a clerical position or otherwise influencing the employment of persons if they were members of the Communist Party, and as I understood it, you said it was your opinion that practice had been resorted to. Do you have any information or any knowledge of any instances in which a secretary or other employee who was a Communist influenced the employment of a Communist or the failure to employ a non- Communist ? Mr. Brewer. No, I don't. I was not really close enough to that to know. I had my hands full with my own problems. That was a secondary line, and I didn't develop that. I know the Screen Office Employees' Guild had a large segment that responded to the Com- munist cause, so it would seem to me only the natural thing if that happened. Mr. Tavenner. I would like for you to state the full name of the Motion Picture Alliance. Mr. Brewer. Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. Mr. Potter. Who is the president of that ? Mr. Brewer. John Wayne is chairman and I am chairman of the executive board. 81595—51—pt. 2 13