Hollywood On Trial

John Huston narrates HOLLYWOOD ON TRIAL, an informative, often compelling, but uneven documentary about the House Un-American Activities Committee's investigations into the motion picture industry, their direct effects and lasting repercussions. Mixing archival footage and interviews with surviving figures from the period, director David Helpern Jr. exactingly recreates events and evokes the highly charged atmosphere that marked the era.

In October 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee began investigating the motion picture industry to determine if it had been infiltrated by Communists. Several leading Hollywood figures--including actors Adolphe Menjo...