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3476 COMMUNISM IN HOLLYWOOD MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY Mr. Odets. Well, the few people that I did meet were people on the cultural front, as I have said before, like V. J. Jerome, a few people like that. Mr. Tavenner. Well, who, specifically? Mr. Odets. Well, there was Mr. Jerome. I might meet occasion- ally a drama critic of the Daily Worker. Mr. Tavenner. Who was that? Mr. Odets. A man named Nathaniel Buchwald. He wrote, I must say, really scurrilous reviews of my plays. I don't know why. Mr. Tavenner. Any others ? Mr. Odets. I undoubtedly met at that time an editor or two of the New Masses, Joe North. Mr. Tavenner. Michael Blankfort was one of the reviewers, I be- lieve, at that particular time, of the New Masses, and I believe he was also with the Daily Worker part time. Were you acquainted with Michael Blankfort? Mr. Odets. I knew him vaguely. But I didn't like him. That is because he was a budding playwright, too, I think. He wrote scur- rilously of my plays. Mr. Tavenner. Well, he placed you highly, too, didn't he? Mr. Odets. Well, when he had to he did. But when he could get away from it, he didn't. As I said before, there was not always un- animity of opinion, so that a play of mine might be reviewed very badly and then someone else on the left would say "Just a minute, this play is much better than you put in New Masses, so you must let me write a second article." Mr. Tavenner. Can you assign any reason for that change of attitude ? Mr. Odets. No, sir. I am sure they wanted to keep me there. They would have liked to have had me write what they would call, with quotes around the word, "progressive plays." They would like me to write plays on what themes they would think would be burning issues of the day. I am sure, for instance, the Communist Party thought that the war in Spain was a burning issue of the day. I think a great number of liberals did, too. Mr. Tavenner. And they attempted to direct you in that course of writing? Mr. Odets. In the sense, sir, of saying, "This man is wasting his time. He is stupid, he has too much talent. He is wasting his time writing about ordinary, middle-class life when he could be writing a glorious play about the war in Spain." It was in that sense that they would try to influence one, chiefly in that sense. Mr. Tavenner. Well, did you follow the suggestion which you received by way of criticism through the Communist press, and other ways? Mr. Odets. I am afraid I never did. Mr. Tavenner. Why? Mr. Odets. I didn't believe it. I didn't respect any person or any party or any group of people who would say to a young creative writer "Go outside of your experience and write outside of your experience a play." I knew that as fumbling as my beginnings were, and they certainly were, that I could only write out of my own experience, out of my own incentive. I couldn't be given a theme and handle it. It was