Editing Lewis Milestone (section)

==Red Scare and the Hollywood blacklist==

At the onset of the [[Cold War]], Hollywood studios, in alliance with the US Congress, sought to expose communist-inspired content in American films. Milestone's pro-Soviet Union film ''The North Star'' (1943), which was made at the behest of the US government to encourage American support for its wartime alliance with the USSR against the [[Axis powers]], became a target. Other pro-Soviet Union wartime films, such as  [[Michael Curtiz]]'s ''[[Mission to Moscow]]'' (1943), [[Gregory Ratoff]]'s ''[[Song of Russia]]'' (1944) and [[Jacques Tourneur]]'s ''[[Days of Glory (1944 film)|Days of Glory]]'' (1944), were "to haunt their creators in the McCarthy era" when any hint of sympathy for the Soviet Union was considered subversive to American ideals.<ref>Millichap, 1981 pp. 116&ndash;117: Films produced after the [[Hitler–Stalin pact]] was broken and Russia joined the [[Allies of World War II|Allied Powers]] were to haunt their creators in the McCarthy era, when various witch hunters would try to sniff out any sympathy with Communism. In most cases, this romanticizing of the Eastern Front seems more commercially than politically motivated.</ref><ref>Cojoc, 2013 pp. 93&ndash;95: "in the wake of the Cold War the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee), the [[National Legion of Decency|Catholic League of Decency]], the [[Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals|Motion Picture Alliance]] and the Alliance for Preservation American Values put up together the infamous blacklists of people presumed to be members of the Communist Party, or have communist beliefs. Hearings regarding Communist infiltration of the Motion Pictures were held by HUAC in 1947, and the main targets were the contributors to wartime [Hollywood] pro-Soviet pictures"</ref>

Milestone's alignment with liberal causes such as the [[Committee for the First Amendment]] compounded suspicions he harbored pro-communist sentiments during the [[Red Scare]]. The [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] (HUAC) summoned Milestone and other filmmakers for questioning. According to Joseph Millichap:

{{blockquote|The Russian-born Milestone, always a liberal intellectual with Leftist inclinations, was a natural target for the witch hunters of the HUAC. As early as November of 1946, Milestone appeared before the committee as an 'unfriendly witness'; in other words, he claimed his constitutional right not to testify. In 1948, the anti-communist writer Myron Fagan implied that Milestone was a Red sympathizer, [a claim made explicit] by Hedda Hopper in her nationally syndicated Hollywood column. Unlike the Hollywood Ten and many others, Milestone was able to keep working.{{Clarify|date=June 2023|reason=Which of these sources does this text come from?}}<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 142: Quoted from a 1979 interview with Milestone conducted by Millichap. See footnote in Millichap.</ref><ref>Cojoc, 2013 pp. 93&ndash;95: "Director Lewis Milestone was part of the group of the Hollywood directors (who invoked the first [fifth] amendment) to be summoned by the [Committee] for their [suspected] involvement with the Communist Party. He together with another seven directors and screenwriters finally managed to avoid testifying. As for the rest of the Hollywood Ten, they remained the main victims of the Hollywood Purges, each of them being tried and sentenced for contempt of the Court"<br />Millichap, 1981 p. 142: "Unlike The Hollywood Ten, he was able to keep working through these tense times."</ref>}}

The effect of the Hollywood blacklist on Milestone's creative output is unclear. Unlike many of his colleagues, he continued to find work but, according to film critic Michael Barson, the quantity and quality of his work may have been limited through industry "greylisting". Millichap said, "Milestone refused to comment on this side of his life: evidently he found it very painful".<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 142<br />Barson, 2020: "Although suspected of having communist leanings, Milestone was never called to testify before the HUAC, and he was never officially blacklisted. However, for much of the 1950s, he struggled to find film assignments{{nbsp}}.... Milestone worked in television for a few years{{nbsp}}.... Toward the end of the 1950s, Milestone's "greylisting" was lifted.<br />Higham and Greenberg, 1968 p. 17: "a period of fear, betrayal and witch-hunting hysteria{{nbsp}}... the ranks of key contributors to the movie-making process were appreciably thinned."</ref><ref>Walsh, 2001: "According to some, Milestone was a victim of the blacklist"<br />Millichap, 1981 p. 142: "did guilt by association block the financial backing necessary for truly creative projects, or did pressure make him opt for 'safe' subjects in ''Arch of Triumph'', ''The Red Pony'' and ''Halls of Montezuma''?. Milestone refused to comment of this side of his life: evidently his always found it very painful." (Millichap footnote indicates his 1979 interview with the director as source.)</ref><ref>Whiteley, 2020: "In the postwar period his career was undoubtedly affected by the McCarthy Communist witch-hunts. In 1949, he was blacklisted for his left wing associations of the 1930's and for the apparent pro-Communist leanings shown in his movie 'The North Star' of 1943."</ref>