Michael Wilson

Michael Wilson was born on 1st July, 1914. He attended the University of California before moving to Hollywood where he found work as a screenwriter. Early films include The Men in Your Life (1941), Bar 20 (1943), Border Patrol (1943), Colt Comrades (1943) and Forty Thieves (1944).

In 1947 the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) began an investigation into the Hollywood Motion Picture Industry. The HUAC interviewed 41 people who were working in Hollywood. These people attended voluntarily and became known as "friendly witnesses". During their interviews they named several people who they accused of holding left-wing views.

One of those named, Bertolt Brecht, an emigrant playwright, gave evidence and then left for East Germany. Ten others: Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Albert Maltz, Adrian Scott, Samuel Ornitz,, Dalton Trumbo, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr., John Howard Lawson and Alvah Bessie refused to answer any questions.

Known as the Hollywood Ten, they claimed that the 5th Amendment of the United States Constitution gave them the right to do this. The House of Un-American Activities Committee and the courts during appeals disagreed and all were found guilty of contempt of congress and each was sentenced to between six and twelve months in prison.

In September, 1951, Wilson refused to identify people who were members of left-wing groups. Although he had just won an Academy Award for the screenplay of A Place in the Sun (1951), Wilson was blacklisted by the Hollywood studios.

After raising their own finance, Wilson worked with Herbert Biberman on Salt of the Earth (1954), a film about a mining strike in New Mexico. Although the film earned critical acclaim in Europe, winning awards in France and Czechoslovakia, it was not allowed to be shown in the United States until 1965.

Wilson moved to France where he continued to write under assumed names. This included The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955), Friendly Persuasion (1956), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Two-Headed Spy (1958) and Tempest (1958). After the blacklist was lifted he wrote the screenplays for: Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Sandpiper (1965), Planet of the Apes (1968) and Che! (1969).

In 1976 Michael Wilson made a speech at the Writers Guild of America where he argued: "I don't want to dwell on the past, but for a few moments to speak of the future. And I address my remarks particularly to you younger men and women who had perhaps not established yourself in this industry at the time of the great witch hunt. I feel that unless you remember this dark epoch and understand it, you may be doomed to replay it. Not with the same cast of characters, of course, or on the same issues. But I see a day perhaps coming in your lifetime, if not in mine, when a new crisis of belief will grip this republic; when diversity of opinion will be labeled disloyalty; and when extraordinary pressures will be put on writers in the mass media to conform to administration policy on the key issues of the time, whatever they may be. If this gloomy scenario should come to pass, I trust that you younger men and women will shelter the mavericks and dissenters in your ranks, and protect their right to work. The Guild will have the use and need of rebels if it is to survive as a union of free writers. This nation will have need of them if it is to survive as an open society."

Michael Wilson died in California, aged 63, on 9th April, 1978.

Primary Sources

(1) Michael Wilson explained the reaction of his agent, Paul Kohner, when he was interviewed by Victor Navasky, the author of Naming Names (1982)

Paul Kohner telephoned me before my HUAC appearance and begged me not to ruin my career. When I decided not to heed his advice, he sent his deputy agent, Ilse Lahn, to attend my hearing, and she remained a devoted friend and in fact later got me a couple of black-market jobs.

Shortly after my appearance before HUAC, Kohner was at a bullfight in Tijuana, where he saw John Wayne. Kohner walked up to him and said, "Hello, how are you?" Wayne stared at him and said, "I don't shake hands with people who represent Commies." This did it for Kohner. He knew from that time forward he was not going to represent me. He would let his assistant Ilse Lahn do it, but not he himself. He never took a militantly hostile position toward any of the blacklisted people, but he didn't go out of his way to get them work with the independents - and he did have such contacts.

(2) Michael Wilson, speech at a meeting of the Writers Guild of America (1976)

I don't want to dwell on the past, but for a few moments to speak of the future. And I address my remarks particularly to you younger men and women who had perhaps not established yourself in this industry at the time of the great witch hunt. I feel that unless you remember this dark epoch and understand it, you may be doomed to replay it. Not with the same cast of characters, of course, or on the same issues. But I see a day perhaps coming in your lifetime, if not in mine, when a new crisis of belief will grip this republic; when diversity of opinion will be labeled disloyalty; and when extraordinary pressures will be put on writers in the mass media to conform to administration policy on the key issues of the time, whatever they may be. If this gloomy scenario should come to pass, I trust that you younger men and women will shelter the mavericks and dissenters in your ranks, and protect their right to work. The Guild will have the use and need of rebels if it is to survive as a union of free writers. This nation will have need of them if it is to survive as an open society.