On The Waterfront, the back-story The scandal behind the man behind the film As you already know,

the script for On The Waterfront was based on the struggles of the longshoremen (or dockworkers) on the New York docks. However, there is another back-story to the film, centering on the actions of the director, Elia Kazan. Elia Kazans testimony to The House Un-American Activities Committee (which you already know of from your study of the play The Crucible) in 1952 led him to be criticized by many people in Hollywood. By presenting a heroic informer in On The Waterfront, Kazan was justifying his own actions. He later wrote about the night the film won its eight Oscars: I was tasting vengeance that night and enjoying it. On the Waterfront is my own story; every day I worked on that film, I was telling the world where I stood and my critics to go ---- themselves. Research the back-story to the film in more depth and write a brief paragraph about who/what each of the following people/groups are, and how they played a part in the scandal behind the film.

The House of Un-American Activities An investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1938 till 1975. Its role was to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having communist or fascist ties. Its role in the movies scandal was that the H.U.A.C was investigating alleged communist ties in Hollywood as they saw it as a cesspit of communist and fascist. Many people were branded by the H.U.A.C or was an informant for the committee- Elia Kazan named people to the committee so to either save himself or out of a misjudged patriotic duty. Soon over 300 members of Hollywood were blacklisted-including the infamous Hollywood Ten. The Group Theatre A theatre troupe and organization with many famous members including Kazan, who followed the early versions of the method acting style. Many of its members were blacklisted for not naming people as communist to the H.U.A.C. While others like Kazan avoided the fate of his former colleagues by naming names and publicly supporting the committee.

Elia Kazan Kazan a patriot chose to list name of alleged communist to the H.U.A.C, among them was one his greatest friends- Arthur Miller, who was imprisoned for years due to the persecution of the committee. Kazan wrote and produced On the Waterfront as a reaction to his actions and the events involving his confession of names and the H.U.A.C. This cause much criticism and scandal, as people were questioning his decision and the motives of his movie. (Kazan still defends his actions in relation to the H.U.AC.) Arthur Miller Once Kazans close friend, once Kazan named him to the H.U.A.C they did not speak to each for over ten years. Millers reaction was to write and research on the Salem witch trials which led to creation of his work The Crucible which analyses and criticize the nature of prosecution combined with hysteria.

Budd Schulberg The writer of the screenplay for Kazans On the Waterfront, another member of Hollywood that listed names of members of the communist party to the H.U.A.C. It seems many of those who worked on On the Waterfront agreed with the politics surrounding it. Gave the idea to Kazan through a real local mobster from an actual waterfront.