The blacklist, was a major issue during the 40s and 50s. It put many people out of a job due to the Communist move. Communism is a system characterized by the absence of social classes and common ownership of production means. During that time, the Communist Party was spreading through the United States of America. Many people remember it as a time where the mention of Communism might get them fired; they can also remember the major influence it had on Hollywood pictures.
             Several important people in Hollywood, as other businesses, were involved in the Communist Party. The blacklist was a way of refusing "to hire people in the entertainment industry during the 1940s and 1950s because they had been accused of being members of the Communist Party or having connection to Communism" (Schrecker). Many were fired from their jobs and were never able to find new ones as a result of the blacklist.
             The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, developed this list in the fall of 1947. They held public hearings to investigate the Communist influence in the motion picture industry. Many were called to testify. Among them was a man named Elia Kazan. Kazan became known as a "friendly witness". He felt that there was a Communist conspiracy and that it was suitable to expose it. He gave the names of several Communist members to the HUAC during a public trial. Kazan was a young member of the Communist Party in the Group Theater in New York. The group would meet secretly once a week and was ordered to take control of the Group Theater. Kazan resigned shortly afterward saying the situation was created "to stop the most dangerous thing the Party had to deal wit: people thinking for themselves." (Bernstein)
             "Kazan's basic argument was that he did not want to destroy his film career-a probable consequence of refusing t...