The last of the Hollywood Ten has died. Ring Lardner, Jr., who stood up to the abuse of Senator Joseph McCarthy's Anti-American Activities witch hunt, died of cancer on Halloween night at the age of 85. It was the end of a story that must never be forgotten so it can't happen again.

Ring Lardner, Jr. was born in Chicago on August 19th, 1915, the son of a famous author whose writings on baseball are among the most entertaining you'll ever find. Dad's talent for words was obviously passed on to the younger Lardner, who wrote dozens of hit screenplays during his long career, including Cloak and Dagger, Laura, A Star Is Born, Woman Of The Year, Nothing Sacred and M*A*S*H. These titles alone assured his place among the greats.

In 1936, as the Great Depression trudged on, Lardner, like many intellectuals of his day, was attracted to the ideals of communism. After all, it was a time when capitalism wasn't looking like such a great system. He joined the Communist Party, not with anti-American intent, but with a vision of a better system. In later years he would look back on that time and assess things in his usual, thoughtful fashion. "Communism is like Christianity," he said. "It turned out to be a very beautiful theory that has never been put into practice. Given human nature, I'm not sure it can be."

When HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) called Lardner to testify in the communist witch hunts in 1947, committee chairman J. Parnell Thomas asked him the question of the day: "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?" While many others took the fifth to avoid answering the question, Lardner and the others who would become known as the Hollywood Ten took a different approach. They felt doing that would be tantamount to saying it was wrong to be a member of the communist party. Instead, Ring Lardner made history by looking the chairman straight in the eyes and saying "I could answer the way you want, Mr. Chairman, but I'd hate myself in the morning."

Chairman Thomas was one of the few observers who was clearly not amused. Lardner was cited with Contempt of Congress and, after the usual run of appeals, spent ten months in the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut. A harsh punishment for a "crime" that this country's constitution declared to be a basic right. Freedom of choice, freedom of speech, the right to assemble, on and on. All of these rights went by the wayside in what is now widely regarded as one of our country's most shameful hours.

Lardner, like many others, found work difficult to obtain. He was on the infamous "blacklist." As a blacklisted member of the Hollywood fraternity, he was forced to write under pseudonyms, give credit to non-blacklisted members or simply write uncredited. Despite the fact that America had long since slapped Joe McCarthy and exposed him for the self-serving weasel that he was, the blacklist continued to hold back the talents of many great writers, directors, actors... hmmm. Do you see a pattern here? McCarthy, the publicity-hungry crook, went after people in the entertainment field. Said they were influential and therefore dangerous. Yeah, and that's where the cameras were, too, Joe. If there's any justice, Uncle Joe is doing a coal-walk somewhere in Hell at this writing. We know there's at least a little justice. Committee chairman J. Parnell Thomas was convicted of embezzlement in 1950 (salary fraud) and became a co-inmate of Lardner's at Danbury.

And so the last breathing member of the Hollywood Ten has shuffled off this mortal coil. He left with only a few regrets about that infamous event, one of which, surprisingly, was in regards to the decision not to take the fifth amendment. "It turned out to be a bad idea," he said in later years, "and just made us seem to be more evasive than we were, and it didn't accomplish anything in the end." Perhaps Ring Lardner, Jr. was being a bit hard on himself. Maybe it did accomplish something. It certainly widened the spotlight, shedding light on what was really going on there. People noticed, and they still remember. If nothing else, he took a stand for his rights, and the importance of such a thing should never be underestimated. May he rest in peace.

(C) 2000 - DJ Johnson