We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
COMMUNISM IN MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY 61
\vt)ul(l help the war effort. I said all right. They said the gentleman wonld be out tomorrow. The next day I got a call from Lowell Mellett. I met him at the Brown Derby in Beverly Hills and he had with him a man named Pointer. They told me they wanted to make a short showing Congress enacting a law. It was a little strange to me, because I couldn't figure how that was going to help the war effort.
The Chairman. I didn't get the name of the picture.
Mr. Wood. A short showing the Congress enacting a law. And when they told me what the subject was, I said, I was a little surprised and then they immediately started to refer to "Joe" — different Members of the Congress, referred to them by their first names. They were a little amused about the gentleman "Joe." In the meantime I thought it over and I said, "How is that going to help the war effort.^" and they looked at me a little strangely, and in a few minutes the thing was over, and I didn't hear any more of it. So maybe I spoke too quickly.
Mr. Stripling. Did you gain the impression that they thought it ridiculed Congress?
Mr. Wood. I had an idea from the conversation that they didn't think highly of them.
Mr. Stripling. Do you know whether Mr. Mellett was a representative then of the Motion F'icture Section of the Office of War Information ?
Mr. WoDD. I don't know positively. I presume he was. Spivak told me these gentlemen were coming out and I presume they were conducted with them.
Mr. Stripling. Can you tell the committee whether or not in the past there have been efforts to discredit certain institutions of the American Government by constantly referring to the Members of Congress as being crooks, and so forth, in the pictures ?
Mr. Wood. I think there has been an effort. Of course, if you go back in pictures you will find frequently the banker or the man in l>ublic life, the doctor, any one of them would be the heavy in the picture. I think it is particularly bad if that is constantly shown, every night you go to the pictures you see a dishonest banker, or Senator, you begin to think that the whole system is wrong. That is the way they work on it. They figure if you can break down or destroy the confidence of the people in the Government, or the gentlemen who are executing it, then it is a very simple thing to have a newidea for them — and, believe me, they have got one for you, too.
Mr. Stripling. Those are all the questions at this time.
The Chairman. Mr. Wood, do you have any questions?
Mr. John S. Wood. Mr. Wood', how many people are members of the Writers Guild?
Mr. Wood. I think, sir. about eleven or twelve hundred members.
Mr. John S. Wood. This other organization; what was that?
Mr. Wood. Motion Picture Alliance?
Mr. John S. Wood. Yes. How many members are there of that?
Mr. Wood. Well, we have probably 1.100 members, but then we have tlie heads of labor and they control a great many votes. We have a lot of people, thousands more of people, who are indirectly interested with us through other associations.
67683—47 5