Jurisdictional disputes in the motion-picture Industry : hearings before a special subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, first-session, pursuant to H. Res. 111 (1948)

MOTION-PICTURE JURISDICTIONAL DISPUTES 1549 studio, to destroy the lATSE as a collective-bargaining representative of the studio unions, and to install in its place a pro-Communist industrial type of union which would, at the appropriate time, join hands with the pro-Communist elements in the studio talent guilds, and especially in the screen writers guild, so as to place the motion picture industry under the domination of the Communists and their pro-Communist friends and sympathizers. (/) The following documents are annexed hereto in support of the foregoing, I do not know whether these documents are in order. Mr. Kearns. I have looked through them, so I doubt wliether they are. Mr. Levt. All right, I will try to pick them out. Following are excerpts from the Senate Journal of February 19, 1946, containing a partial report of the Joint Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities in California, showing the record of Herbert K. Sorrell. The record of Herbert K. Sorrell, president of Conference of Studio Unions and strike leader in Hollywood strike called March 12, 1945. Mr. OwEXS. You are vouching for that record, of course, Mr. Levy ? You are vouching for the correctness of that record ? Mr. Levy. We vouch for every statement presented in this bulletin. I want to make clear that I was not present in Hollywood in 1938, up to the present time, so I was not personally present in order to watch all of the activities of the president of the Conference of Studio Unions. This record is based upon documents which came to the attention of Mr. Roy M. Brewer, the international representative of the lATSE in Hollywood, since the early part of 1945. The following compilation is made from subject's participation in known Communist "front" organizations, and his association with known Communists, and support of the activities of such known Communists. Subhead, "Motion Picture Democratic Committee Brands Roosevelt a 'War-Monger'." This organization was a proven Communist-controlled "front." It was set up in the spring of 1938 and went out of existence about 1 year after the signing of the Stalin-Hitler Pact on August 23, 1939. During the lifetime of the organization it followed the Communist Party line faithfully and when the Communist Party of the United States changed over from the "United Front" or anti-isolation to the "imperialist war" position, to an antiRoosevelt position and opposition to aid to England, the Motion Picture Democratic Committee did likewise. The official literature of this organization will show that right up to the time of the Stalin-Hitler pact, it supported Franklin D. Roosevelt and advocated his running for a third term. It will also show that right after the announcement of the Stalin-Hitler pact, when the Communist Party line changed to isolation, it opposed Franklin D. Roosevelt and his foreign policy of aiding the Allies. ^ Two members of the executive board, Melvyn Douglas and Phillip Dunne, resigned because of the Communist control of the organization. Mr. Douglas and Mr. Dunne introduced the following proposals to the executive board of the Motion Picture Democratic Committee shortly after Soviet Russia invaded Finland in December 1939, at which time Russia and Germany were in virtual alliance: "1. The Motion Pictui'e Democratic Committee reaffirms its support of the Roosevelt foreign policy. "2. It conmiends the President for his condemnation of Russian aggression and his request that the Finnish war-debt payments be reserved for Finnish use. "3. The Motion Picture Democratic Committee is in fundamental disagreement with the Communist Party and other organizations and individuals who supported the President until the Russian aggression and have since turned on the administration with attacks. 67383— 48— vol. 3 4