Committee for the First Amendment

The Committee for the First Amendment ( CFA), German "Committee for the First Amendment ," was a 1947 merger into being the called liberal Hollywood filmmakers. The name referred to the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits Congress of the United States to adopt laws against religion, speech and press freedom.

This was preceded by the establishment of the anti-communist Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals (short MPA or MPAPAI, German " film alliance for the preservation of American ideals " ) and whose testimony before the House Committee on Un - American Activities ( HUAC ) in 1947, the the political views and the possible connection filmmakers communist groupings considered. The statements made by the MPA members led to the citation and subsequent prosecution of the so-called Hollywood Ten.

In response to the subpoenas founded John Huston, then Vice President of the Screen Directors Guild union film director, William Wyler and Philip Dunne the CFA. This is followed filmmakers like Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, Sterling Hayden, June Havoc, Ira Gershwin, John Garfield and Richard Conte joined. An embassy of the CFA flew to Washington to protest against the summons of the Hollywood Ten.

After the Hollywood Ten had been convicted of refusal to the statement, the CFA HUAC member John E. Rankin soon fell apart, partly due to the pressure exerted on individual members Drucks. tried Critics such as Danny Kaye, Edward G. Robinson and Melvyn Douglas to discredit by referring to their Jewish origin. In March 1948, the magazine Photoplay published an article Humphrey Bogart under the heading " I'm no Communist " ("I am not a communist "). John Huston was suspected in the Hearst press as a communist, preferring to turn his next films abroad. The CFA members Sterling Hayden and Lloyd Bridges added in 1951 in cooperation with the HUAC and gave the names of former companions left award.