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3534 COMMUNISM IN HOLLYWOOD MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY Representing the actors who came to discuss this were Karen Morley and Lloyd Gough; and for the directors, John Berry and Bernard Vorhaus. Mr. Tanenner. Was the last-named person known to you to be a member of the Communist Party ? Mr. Roberts. Was Bernard Vorhaus? Yes. No one was at these meetings who was not a member of the Communist Party. That is something I am quite sure of. In addition to this, everybody in this group was a professional of some sort; was connected with the motion- picture business. The only non-motion-picture businessman who at- tended was a man named John Stapp. I was very curious about what he did, and I was told that he was in charge of party labor organizing. That is all I know about Mr. Stapp. But he is the only nonprofes- sional ever to attend these meetings. Mr. Tavenner. Did you subsequently learn that he was a function- ary of the Communist Party? Mr. Roberts. Yes; I learned that a good deal later. I was extremely curious as to whether he was. The only thing is that he was the only new face I saw in terms of people I did not know in the industry. I would like to say, too, that, even with this group here, the results were completely ineffectual; they accomplished nothing. The Screen Writers went out of existence, as it should have. The CSU, nothing happened as far as protecting Mr. Sorrell was concerned. The CSU was finished, and the Communists certainly helped drive nails into that. Another project was the Hollywood Writers' Mobilization. Mr. Tavenner. Before you come to that, what activity did John Stapp engage in in connection with these meetings ? Mr. Roberts. He only arrived once; he was only at one meeting, and it is as if it were a pep talk to the group, to stress the importance of why the Sorrell unions must survive. That was all. I mean, there was no procedure suggested, and I was never in on any negotiations, nor did I meet Mr. Sorrell or anything in that regard. Mr. Tavenner. Now, if you will, proceed to the Hollywood Writers' Mobilization. Mr. Roberts. They also seemed very interested in protecting the Hollywood Writers' Mobilization. My knowledge of this organization was that it was originally founded by the Screen Writers' Guild, in conjunction with a great many other guilds, to further the war effort against Germany. It was used to channel material to actors for war- bond drives, to do everything possible to promote the war. As the war began to finish, the Communists saw a wonderful chance to use it, and it is at this point that they stepped in and used the organization for a totally different function. They were determined to keep the Hollywood Quarterly alive, and to use this as a front for their activities. Again, the Hollywood Writers' Mobilization was defeated. This is the only example I know of where they did not originate the organization, where they picked up an existing organization and used it for their own purposes. Mr. Tavenner. From your knowledge of the operation of the Holly- wood Writers' Mobilization, do you consider that the Communists gained control of it ?