Producers claimed to be telling the whole truth even as their films made significant compromises in search of a wide audience. Of course, most of these films were as commercially oriented as any Hollywood product. Elia Kazan's Gentleman's Agreement seems rather self-important now, but in 1947 a movie targeting anti-Semitism was a very big deal. The Mervyn LeRoy-Albert Maltz-Frank Sinatra short subject The House I Live In (1945) was a simple plea for religious tolerance, yet it caused a minor conservative uproar. In his position as a studio production head, Zanuck did his best to protect 'suspect' writers and directors from the blacklist.īack in the 1940s it was an act of courage for a movie to criticize the American status quo, or to tell the truth about deplorable social inequities. Among others, they were joined by Louis de Rochemont ( Lost Boundaries) (1949) and Robert Stillman ( Try and Get Me!) (1950) in making controversial movies with the overt purpose of raising public awareness. Zanuck had been associated with subject matter considered politically leftist before the war. Sam Goldwyn's prestigious production The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) offered a realistic view of the harsh welcome extended to returning veterans, and its success encouraged a brief burst of issue-related pictures, until the movement was silenced by the blacklist. The socially progressive movies of the early postwar years were a serious movement, not a fad. Written by Carl Foreman from a play by Arthur Laurents Starring Jeff Corey, James Edwards, Lloyd Bridges, Douglas Dick, Frank Lovejoy, Steve Brodie. Street Date, 2014 / available (also on DVD) through the Olive Films website / 29.98

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