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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2074 COMMUNISM IN HOLLYWOOD MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY Mr. Wheeler. Additional information developed by the committee reflects that in 1944 you were issued CP Card No. 36106. Do you re- call of ever having been issued a card ? Mrs. Frank. No, sir; I don't. Mr. Wheeler. Do you recall registering in the Communist Party ? Mrs. Frank. No, sir; I don't. I got a card and I tore it up. Mr. Wheeler. The card was in your real name ? Mrs. Frank. Yes, sir. Mr. Wheeler. While a member of the Communist Party do you recall if any literature was distributed during the meetings ? Mrs. Frank. Yes; it was. Mr. Wheeler. Do you recall what literature? Mrs. Frank. People's World, New Masses. Mr. Wheeler. Did you ever subscribe to the Daily People's World ? Mrs. Frank. No ; I didn't subscribe to it. I might have subscribed to it. I remember mostly buying it at newsstands but I might have subscribed to it. I want to be truthful. It is certainly possible that I subscribed to it. Mr. Wheeler. Were you ever given an assignment by the Commu- nist Party to make a study of any given subject and later give a lecture on it before the group ? Mrs. Frank. No, sir. Mr. Wheeler. Do you recall what was generally discussed at these meetings ? Mrs. Frank. Well, the evening went something like this: First there would be discussion of the agenda, which was ended and then there would be a discussion of current events. For instance, there would be an analysis of what was presently happening in the war, then a discussion of local problems. I remember particularly one time talking about raising money for the benefit of the Mexicans in the Sleepy Lagoon case, the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee. Then we would talk about the elections—this was an election year—and what we could do on a city, State, and national basis to elect candidates of the Democratic Party. Mr. Wheeler. Why did you join the Communist Party, Miss Ray? Mrs. Frank. In the spring of 1943 the world was at war and I had very strong feelings about the issues involved. I was strongly anti- Hitler, anti-Mussolini, anti-Franco and pro-Roosevelt. I wanted then what I want now, a better world for the people in it. I believed in Franklin Delano Roosevelt and all he stood for. I was against racial discrimination and for social security, economic security, public health, and universal education. In those days I felt a peculiar sense of frustration at not being able to do enough to bring about this better world. I was led to believe that the Communist Party wanted the same things that I did, and in addition were doing something about it. That is why I joined. Mr. Wheeler. Why did you leave the Communist Party ? Mrs. Frank. My husband was violently opposed to my member- ship in the party. We argued constantly the first few months of our marriage. It was his point that one could be anti-Hitler and pro-Roosevelt, in fact all the things I believed in, without being a member of the Communist Party, an organization which I began to realize was inordinately concerned with the welfare of the Soviet