Hearings regarding the communist infiltration of the motion picture industry. Hearings before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, first session. Public law 601 (section 121, subsection Q (1947)

490 COMMUNISM IN MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY (The motion pictures referred to ai'e as follows:) Accordiiif^ to the Iiiteinatioaal Molina Picture Alauinac aad other sources, Lester Cole has written the following tilais: The Honorable Johnson's, Paramount, 1930; If I Had a Million, Paramount, IIWO; Love Technique, Paramount, 1980 ; Walls of Gold. Fox, 1933 ; Charlie Chan's Greatest Case, Fox, 1933 ; Sleeiiers East, Fox, 1934; Wild G«)ld, Fox, 1934; Under Pressure, Fox, 1935: Too Toutrh to Kill, Columbia, 193.".; Hitch Hike Lady, Republic, im'>: The Affairs of Cappy Ricks, Republic, 19;i7 ; Beware of Ladies, Republic, 1937: P\»llow Your Heart, Republic, 19;:J7; The President's Mystery, Republic. 1937 ; The Man in Blue, 19:^7 ; The Jury's Secret, W4H; Midnight Intruder, Universal, 19;:i8; The Crime of Dr. Hallet, Universal, 1938 ; Sinners in Paradise. Universal. 19:^8 ; Secrets of a Nurse, Universal, 1938; Winter Carnival, United Artists, 1939; The Big Guy, Universal, 1939; The Invisible Man Returns, Universal, 1939; The House of Seven Gables. Universal, 1940; Pacific Blackout, Paramount, 1941; P'ootsteps in the Dark, Warner Bros., 1941; Night Plane for Chunking. Paramount. 1943; Hostages, 1943-44; None Shall Escape, 194:^—14; Ob.iective Burma, Blood on the Sun. and Romance of Rosey Ridge. Mr. Stkiplinu (readino:). The files, records, and publications of the Committee on Un-American Activities contain the following concerning the Comnumist-front affiliations of Lester Cole : 1. While the records of this committee do not indicate tliat Lester Cole has publicly admitted membership in the Communist Party, it is known that he has supported a Communist Party candidate for election. The People's World of October 22, 1942, page 2, and October 31, 1942, page 3, reveal that Lester Cole supported LaRue McCormick, the Communist Party candidate for the office of State senator in California from the thirty-eighth senatorial district, Los Angeles County. 2. Lester Cole has revealed his sympathies with the Soviet Union as witnessed by his signature to the statement made by American Progressives in defense of tlie Moscow trials. (See Daily Worker, April 2S. 19:iS.) The Moscow trials aroused world-wide condemnation. They were characterized by fon-ed confe.ssious and were staged as political demonstrations rather tliati trials in our sense of the term. 3. The Hollywood Reporter, edited and owned liy William Wilkerson, charged Lester Cole with holding Communist Party membership book No. 4G805 in the northwest (propaganda) section of the Communist Party, according to the Hollywood Reporter of August 19, 1946. To tlie best knowledge of this committee, this charge was never denied or refuted by ]\Ir. Cole. 4. The Communist press was active in the support of the petition for the pardon of Festus Coleman, of which Lester Cole was a signer, according to the People's World, November 24, 1942, page 1. ."). The I^eague of Araerican Writers, an affiliate of the International Union of Revolutionary Writers, with headquarters in Moscow, has been pledged to defend tlie Soviet Union and "use of art as an instrument in the class struggle." On three occasions it was cited as a Communist front iiy the Special Committee on Un-American Activities (i-eports of January 3, 1940, June 25, 1942, and March 29, 1944) as well as by Attorney General Francis Biddle, who said in the Congressional Record of September 24, 1942, page 7686. "The overt .activities of the League of American Writers in the last 2 years leave little doubt of its Ccmimuiust control." The People's World of February 11. 1943. page 5, lists Lester Cole as a speaker at the League of American Writers School. Also. New Masses of April 22, 1941. page 25 and the Daily Worker of April 5. 1941. page 7. carry the name of Lester Cole as a signer of the Call to the Fourth Congi-ess of the League of American Writers, June 6-8. 1941, New York City. This conference whicli was held a few days prior to Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union, denounced tlie war as imperialistic, attacked President Roosevelt and endorsed the American Peace Mobilization which was then picketing the White House, and denouncing President Itoosevelt as a war monger. The Chairman. Mr. Stripling, without objection, we will suspend -with further reading of this report and place it in the record at this point. Mr. Stritltng. All right. •