Hollywood Exiles in Europe: The Blacklist and Cold War Film Culture

Documents the untold story of the American directors, screenwriters, and actors who emigrated to Europe as a result of the Hollywood blacklist. During the 1950s and early 1960s, these Hollywood exiles directed, wrote, or starred in almost 100 European productions, their contributions ranging from crime film masterpieces like Du rififi chez les hommes (dir. Jules Dassin, 1955) to international blockbusters such as The Bridge on the River Kwai (scr. Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, 1957) to acclaimed art films like The Servant (dir. Joseph Losey, 1963). At once a lively portrait of a lesser-known American lost generation and an examination of an important transitional moment in European cinema,the book presents a compelling argument for the significance of the blacklisted exiles to our understanding of postwar American and European cinema and Cold War cultural relations. The experiences of the blacklisted in Europe not only suggest the need to rethink our understanding of the Hollywood blacklist as a purely domestic phenomenon, but, by shedding new light on European cinema's changing relationship with Hollywood, illuminates the postwar shift from national to transnational cinema-- Introduction -- The radical community in Hollywood -- Life on the blacklist : production and politics in postwar Europe -- The blacklist and runaway production -- The blacklist, exile, and the transatlantic noir -- Cosmopolitan visions, Cold War fears -- Blacklisted directors, art cinema, and the caprices of film criticism -- The legacy of the blacklist. Rebecca Prime. Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-237) and index.