PicoBlog

When I had my first interview with Kim Hunter—in April of 1989—I was living in the apartment of Dorothy Hart Drew, a portrait painter who was also, as I was discovering, actively involved in naming artists as “subversive,” and, in some cases, leading to the suspension of their passports.

When I arrived at Hunter’s apartment, at 42 Commerce Street, she led me to the kitchen where she and her husband, writer Robert Emmett, were putting the finishing touches to dinner. Out of the corner of her mouth, while stirring a sauce, Hunter asked me if I actually lived with Dorothy Hart Drew. (Hunter had called for me during the day, when I was at work, and Dorothy had given her name. Hunter, thankfully, did not give hers.)

Dorothy, I said, had a real interest in Joseph McCarthy and his crusade. “I’ll say,” Hunter replied. “She came after me. She and George Dondero.”

[George Dondero was a Republican member of Congress from Michigan—Hunter’s home state—and he considered virtually all modern art, all modern drama, to be a cesspool of Communist intent. His goal, he told Hunter, was to return her to the “good” roots he knew she possessed from her Michigan birth.]

After dinner, Hunter and I sat on a love seat in her living room and discussed the political climate of that time, which she claimed began for her in 1952.

JG: “How did you first meet Dorothy?”

KIM HUNTER: “I never met her. I spoke to her. She was enlisted to call me—on behalf of George Dondero—to ask about my ‘affiliations,’ my commitment to ‘coming clean,’ to, quite frankly, ‘name names,’ and I was polite to a point, and then I told her to go to hell. Or somewhere. I wasn’t polite.

JG: “Why were you blacklisted?”

KIM HUNTER: “Before I answer you, let me ask this: Why was anyone blacklisted? It never was illegal to be a member of the Communist Party. It never was illegal to believe—to believe or to think about—certain philosophies or political parties. I grew up being taught that one of the things that made being an American so wonderful and envious was that we had the right—the inalienable right, the fought-for right—to believe precisely as we wished. I was never a member of the Communist Party. I sponsored a leadership conference that was formed to use the arts to bring about peace in the world. I signed petitions against segregation. Those were among my sins, because, certain members of our government claimed, the organizations to whom I had submitted myself…”

ROBERT EMMETT: "…No, Kim. What they said was that you had, and the grammar is theirs, ‘lain down with swine and wallowed in their filthy beliefs.’ And then spread them.”

KIM HUNTER: “Leave it to the writer to remember that! That is true. That is how they spoke and wrote. And they wanted the names of everyone with whom I had been with at these conferences or who had also signed petitions or agreed to sponsor things. Well, they had that! They had the names of the signers right in front of them. They had the petitions. What they wanted was to drag us in front of the cameras, in front of that intimidating committee, and to name names and hurt other people. They wanted to brag that they had forced, compelled, Kim Hunter to give up other people. And I would not do it. I would not confirm the names they had in front of them, and I would not, although Dondero intimated this, name other people who might have been similarly sympathetic to the causes that were causing me so much trouble.

“I heard from some man who operated lists that went to sponsors of television programs, and he said he would tell me what my problems were and how I could fix them. For $200. I think he ran something called ‘Counterattack!’ Then there was the grocer who communicated directly with networks about ‘bad’ actors. I mean ‘bad’ as in pro-Communist, not any statement on their talent. I did a few television things here in New York, on television. New York producers were much more bold and tolerant and took their risks. I worked in the theatre. There was no blacklist in the theatre. None. The theatre community sustained me.

“There were heroes in Los Angeles, I want to add. I had finished a film with Humphrey Bogart, and he was a real gent. He stayed in touch. He offered help. There were heroes. I got off the blacklist after about five years, I think, because someone was dumb enough to spell out in a letter that my problems could go away for the right amount of money. So I was clear in that I could work.”

JG: “How do you feel about [Elia] Kazan? There’s so much anger toward him for how he behaved. Or didn’t.”

KIM HUNTER: “And I understand that anger. What he did, I would never do. I had no information of any merit to give, but what they wanted from me was confirmation, and I would not do it. Gadg [Kazan] defended himself by saying that he was only giving names that they already had, as though that was okay. It was not okay. It was a thick line he placed beneath their names. It was more publicity that they were or might be subversive. It deepened the hurt they were already experiencing. Gadg says that those people approved his actions. What could they do? Beg him not to? Demand that he not do it? People were terrified and powerless.

“I honor most requests for interviews about that time because I am here to tell you that it could happen again. Little versions of it keep happening. It is a terrible trait among us humans that we like to hurt people who don’t think or behave as we do. But I want to say something about people who come here and ask me questions. Many of them weren’t even born during the blacklist, and they are so harsh and unforgiving of so many people, including Gadg, and I always tell them as I tell you: I would not have done what he did. What he did was wrong. But I also know the man, and he was terrified. He was under a great deal of pressure. He remains tortured by what he did. Now I know him. I owe him a great deal. He made me an actress. But I forgive all of those who bowed down to the committee, because I was in that situation. I know how terrifying it was. I also can’t live my life hating people who did something I wouldn’t do, because then I’m just like that committee. I’m just like those so-called patriots who wanted us all to go away or never work again or, as in my case, atone for my bad ways. And I won’t do that. I wouldn’t name names, and I will not condemn people who behaved badly in a time when very few people knew what to do.

“Elia Kazan did no one any favors, but Elia Kazan did not blacklist anyone. I don’t think his refusal to appear before the committee would have changed anything, and it would have destroyed even more lives. I understand the anger toward him, but I can’t participate in it.”

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