Eleanor Parker in Caged (1950). Photograph: Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Alamy View image in fullscreen Eleanor Parker in Caged (1950). Photograph: Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Alamy Film American witchhunt: how the McCarthy blacklist annihilated the Hollywood left A retrospective at the Locarno film festival looks back at the era of Huac’s domination of US culture, uncovering some sobering lessons for now
Prefer the Guardian on Google I n September 2025, Disney and ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel and his late-night talkshow would be taken off the air indefinitely , after a conservative backlash against the host’s comments about the murder of far-right influencer Charlie Kirk. President Donald Trump personally championed the decision, calling it “great news for America” . He further called for other programmes critical of his administration to be removed. Though Kimmel’s suspension was reversed within a week, many commentators viewed this concerning development not as a sudden escalation of crisis, but a continuation of Hollywood’s habitual acquiescence to authoritarian pressure.
View image in fullscreen Edward Dmytryk answers questions before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1951, in Washington. Photograph: Associated Press In a guest essay for the New York Times , journalist and Trump biopic] The Apprentice screenwriter Gabriel Sherman explicitly linked Kimmel’s cancellation to the Hollywood blacklist of the 1940s and 1950s, during which hundreds of film workers were accused of communist sympathies and unpatriotic subversion, barred from practising their craft, some forced into exile. “Each time, studios claimed they had no choice,” writes Sherman. “Each time, they did – and they made it.”
This sordid chapter in Hollywood history – and the long shadow it continues to cast – comes under renewed scrutiny at this year’s Locarno film festival. Curated by Iranian film-maker/critic Ehsan Khosbakht, director of Celluloid Underground , an expansive retrospective programme showcases features, shorts, archival newsreels and recent documentaries. The bulk of the screenings are devoted to blacklisted stars, writers and directors and the works they made at the height of the “red scare” – much of which was produced under pseudonyms. But Khosbakht has also made space for controversial figures such as Elia Kazan and Edward Dmytryk, infamous for informing on their peers in front of Congress. It’s a fascinating juxtaposition that finesses the popular Us-v-Them narrative, and illustrates one of the most tragic outcomes of the blacklist, namely the annihilation of a once-thriving Hollywood left. Under McCarthyism, people previously united by shared political ideology found themselves enemies.
View image in fullscreen Marked man … John Garfield with Shelley Winters in He Ran All the Way (1951). Photograph: Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Perhaps the most prominent victim was John Garfield, a consummate actor of rare intensity and one of the pioneers of method acting on screen in films such as The Postman Always Rings Twice, Body and Soul and Gentleman’s Agreement. His studio assignments soon dwindled and his career was cut short when he declined to name names to the House Un-American Activities Committee (Huac). Garfield’s precarious final years are eerily mirrored in He Ran All the Way , from 1951, the actor’s final film before his death at 39 from a heart attack. In this taut noir, one of the highlights of the retrospective, he plays a thief…