by C McGivern
He was, however, edgy, short-tempered, a “grouchy old bear,” as filming started. He had only agreed to do the film on the spur of the moment as a favor to his friend. But he had not worked with Dmytryk before and the two didn’t hit it off, their working relationship couldn’t have been worse and the whole thing quickly degenerated into a personal, professional and political battleground.
He had been listening to political conversations in Hollywood for some time and had increasingly drifted to the right. He was unable to support Roosevelt or The New Deal, the proponents of high taxation, but his own politics remained unformed, and were not much more than a fairly random collection of ideas, values, theories and principles. He was not prepared to say one way was right and another wrong, his beliefs were his own, not those laid down by any organization. The only thing he was sure about was that Communism was a threat to Capitalism, to his world, and he was, therefore, quite naturally opposed to it.
Whilst making Back to Bataan he also found himself opposed to Dmytryk, and also to screen writer, Ben Barzman, both active members of the Communist Party in America. He made an early, halfhearted, effort to get on with them in a fragile and uneasy truce. Duke was well aware of the powerful position that every screenwriter held in Hollywood; films started and ended with them, and he was generally wary around most of them. Barzman was more powerful than most and Duke felt very uncomfortable in his presence. Whilst allowing both Dmytryk and Barzman to call him “Duke” he also let them know, in no uncertain terms, that didn’t confer friendship. As filming got under way a private war was declared; director and writer ganging up against star, hitting him with frequent script alterations, continually writing changes the night before they were due to be shot, giving Duke no time to learn his lines, and Duke hurling insults as only he could.
He would tolerate many things, but unprofessional conduct drove him crazy. He was particularly quick to pick up Barzman’s mistakes and vindictively reluctant to let them go unnoticed. It was not like him to be ungenerous on a film set, but he couldn’t abide lack of discipline. Each morning as he scanned the hurriedly written changes, Duke commented in a voice loud enough for everyone else to hear, “Now let’s see what kind of golden hero our boy genius has made me today.” He left himself wide open to attack from Barzman and Dmytryk and the writer found it easy to retaliate through his script.
He knew Duke enjoyed doing his own stunts, preferring to do the dangerous work himself. That knowledge gave him a decided edge, “Eddie and I started to invent stunts that we were sure would make Wayne cry for a double.” He never did, despite the writer’s desire for revenge being magnified by the director, who was known throughout the industry, as a man fascinated with sadism and pain. They considered no stunt too extreme and one cold night stood smugly watching as a scene was shot with Duke lying under freezing water sucking in air through a straw. Dmytryk waited in vain for him to ask for a double, though at one point, blue-lipped and dripping icy water, he emerged to take a shot of whiskey. He commented menacingly, “You better be goddamn sure we don’t find out this is something you dreamed up out of your little heads as a parting gift.”
It wasn’t his relationship with them that was the real problem however, and he could handle them both easily enough. He could have gone through the motions with his eyes closed. The real trouble started when he noticed the way they were treating army adviser, Col. George Clarke, a professional soldier, who had been one of the last men to leave the islands when the Japanese snatched them. He was a tough military man with very little sense of humor. Whenever Duke was not around the crew unmercifully made fun of his religion, his patriotism, sung the “Internationale” in front of him. Duke recalled, “This colonel came up to me and asked what was happening. They were driving him up the wall.”
Once he knew how a real hero was being treated he confronted Dmytryk, asking him outright if he was a communist. He told Duke he wasn’t, but added that he didn’t believe communism would harm American people. From that point on Duke avoided all contact with his director, the truce was over and it was a miracle the film was ever completed at all, let alone that it became hailed as a piece of classic propaganda.
Barzman and Dmytryk reinforced Duke’s developing political beliefs, and seemed almost to trigger the patriotism that distinguished all his following years. Many commentators believed it had been his failure to serve his country that later made him so fiercely outspoken, but it had just as much to do with his distaste for Dmytryk’s blasphemous jokes and the torment he and the colonel went through during the filming of Back to Bataan. He emerged from his experiences supersensitive to sneering cracks against the president, the flag, God, patriotism and American values in general, and hypersensitive to the threat of communism, “I am not a political figure. I hate politics and most politicians. But when things get rough and people are saying things that aren’t true, I sometimes open my mouth and eventually get in trouble.” It took Back to Bataan to trigger his political awakening, and he said that looking back, his politicization took him out of the narrow world where the sun rose and set only on pictures.
The War, Communism, the Alliance, and the actions of two people on a film set jolted him out of his customary habit of standing on the side line until, by 1950, he found himself firmly in the middle of the fight. In 1948 he had been one of the least politically active stars in Hollywood, doggedly steering a path away from all the heated arguments that were tearing Hollywood apart, and he would much rather have preferred to continue standing on the outside, remaining distant and personally intact, but once he was directly targeted and he understood the threat to the industry that he held so dear, he had no option but to plunge headlong in, finally prepared to roughhouse with the Left and any other enemy of the movie industry, his town and his country.
He never thought that made him a monster but once he took the step he found himself fodder for the right wing, regarded by them as a supremely attractive and powerful figurehead, already huge box-office, and worth his weight in gold, a powerful ally. And just as he became the darling of one side, those of the other were more than happy to use him as their prime target, finding him easy prey to bait and attack. Neither group judged his position accurately, and he said, “Now I always thought I was a liberal. I came up very surprised one time when I found that I was a right wing, conservative extremist, when I have listened to everybody’s point of view that I ever met and then decided how I should feel. But people never really listen to me. They make an early decision as to what I think. These people are articulate enough to influence the Press, and they force out that image to the average person. If someone wants to make a cheap shot about my films they call them “John Waynes” meaning rigid and on the right, and yet the first person I ever proselyted for was a Democrat. And I don’t think that as time goes by people will care about my politics anyway. I hope what they will look at will be my performances.”
He had spent so long listening to everyone, that his politics, once he chose to involve himself, were really neither of the right nor the left, they were simply his own. He naively expressed a loose collection of thoughts and believed that, in the land of free speech, he had the same right as the next man to speak his mind. He never understood why he was so vehemently attacked for holding Republican principles and he never assaulted anyone the way he was rounded on by those who didn’t share his opinions.
The way the Press reacted to his increasing political voice could have seriously harmed his position in Hollywood, but Duke had finally seen a way he could be of value as an American citizen. No one knew better than he did what he owed his country, and now he saw participation in the political arena as a down payment on the debt.
In 1948 his agent, Charlie Feldman, sent him a script for All the King’s Men. Duke read it carefully and by the time he had reached the end he was throwing ashtrays around the room in temper. When he replied to Feldman he asked why he thought he would have any interest in starring in a film that “smears the machi
nery of government for no purpose of humor or of enlightenment” and “degrades all relationships.” Everything about the story struck an exposed nerve; he could not understand why anyone would want to make a film that “threw acid on the American way of life.” He advised Feldman that if he had any such clients to send the script to them. Feldman was eventually proven right about the film’s potential when it won rave reviews and an Oscar for its eventual star. Duke had turned down a great role but never regretted his decision. He knew Rossen, the scriptwriter, and his reputation. He had been a target of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947 because of his ties to the Communist Party. After his dealings with Barzman, Duke, who had often willingly worked with known communists before, was worried not just about the script, but also about Rossen. The screen writers who embraced the communist ideology were no longer a small group with little influence, they held huge political sway.
When Feldman sent him Rossen’s script Duke finally decided it was time to make a stand. There were some things he just would not do any longer; lending his voice to the Communist party was one of them. The passionate letter he wrote explaining his position became his political manifesto, stating all the things he believed were right or wrong with America. He wrote it just as the political battle lines were being drawn in Hollywood, and it was his line in the sand. Elsewhere in the world the Cold War was reaching its height and there was an all-pervading atmosphere of danger and implied threat. One war had ended, but the Communist bloc countries posed a huge and realistic menace to America and the rest of the western world. Within America, Hollywood became the front line of the domestic Cold War. Here was a war being fought in Duke’s own backyard, one that threatened his very existence. His time to fight had finally arrived.
Tensions that had long existed between the Hollywood liberals and Communists on one side and the right wing on the other, increased after the war, with the left revering the politics of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, and the Republicans who were ready to stage a fight back, targeting the high taxes and deficit spending of the Democrats. American Communists, who were preaching the idea of “world revolution”, targeted Hollywood, that huge image-making machine, as their way of reaching and influencing vast world audiences. They established the Hollywood Popular Front to promote the cause. The conservatives, wary of the power the controllers of Hollywood had, resented the Communist screenwriters and producers advancing their political agenda in this way.
A letter was sent to Democratic senator Robert Reynolds, stating, “We believe in, and like, the American way of life,” and confirmed a “belief in freedom, and the right to succeed or fail as free men according to the measure of our ability and our strength.” It called his attention to the films Mission To Moscow, and The North Star, saying both were, “eulogies to Communism and The Red Army.” It warned of a developing crisis in the motion picture industry and called for an investigation. It was signed, “A Group of Your Friends in Hollywood.” As a direct result, the Joint Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activity was established by the Government and what liberals later called the “witch hunts” began.
The Alliance, under its president Sam Wood, believed many of the Hollywood guilds and craft unions were controlled by the Communists, and Walt Disney was convinced that Communist agitation had caused a strike at his plant as far back as 1941. The Communists and liberals branded Alliance members Anti-Roosevelt, anti-Semitic and even fascist; charges powerful and emotive enough to ruin Hollywood careers. Wood, Disney, and other political leaders felt the time had come to keep a check on developments. The FBI had already identified John Lawson and Robert Rossen, the screen writer that Duke had been so worried about, as being behind much of the campaign against the Alliance as the battle lines hardened.
Naturally organizations of both the left and right were busy recruiting stars according to their box-office value, and though at first he had refused to be drawn into the fight, once he was there, no one could compete with Duke at that level. Although he had now been firmly attached to the anti-Communist cause, he remained a free-thinker, still floating around the political pond and he considered himself independent of all party politics. He often alienated both Republicans and Alliance members with his expressive gut reactions without thinking about how his words might be interpreted by the media.
He believed that the best government was the one that governed least. He distrusted all politicians who supported programs where “everyone is cared for from the cradle to the grave. In my life I’ve gone without a meal or two, and I never expected the Government to give me anything. Hard times aren’t something I can blame my fellow citizens for. Years ago I didn’t have all the opportunities either, but you can’t whine and bellyache ‘cause somebody else got a good break and you didn’t. When I was at USC I was a socialist myself, but as a fellow gets older and gives more thought to his and his fellow man’s responsibilities, he finds that it can’t work out that way, some people just won’t carry their load. I believe in welfare, a welfare working program. I don’t believe a fella should be able to sit on his backside and receive welfare. I’d like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living. I’d like to know why they make excuses for cowards who spit in the faces of the police and then run behind the judicial sob sisters. I can’t understand people who carry placards to save the life of some criminal, yet have no thought for the innocent victim. I just can’t understand why our national leadership isn’t willing to take the responsibility of leadership… when you allow unlawful acts to go unpunished, you’re moving toward a government of men rather than a government of law, you’re moving toward anarchy. I’ve done a lot of things wrong in my life; I’m as imperfect as everyone else. Christ, I don’t claim to have the answers, but I feel compelled to bring up the fact that under the guise of doing good, these kids are causing a lot of irreparable damage, and they’re starting something they’re not going to be able to finish. I can’t understand politicians. They’re either yellowing out from taking a stand or using outside pressure to improve their own position.”
Whilst he stood up for the Alliance, hitting out against Communism, he also lashed the conservatives when he felt they were in the wrong and in particular over censorship in the industry. Later he even financed his own spots on radio and TV to talk about the danger he saw in that, “I’m glad I won’t be around much longer to see what they do with the motion picture industry. The men who control the big studios today are stock manipulators and bankers. They know nothing about our business. They’re in it for the buck. Some of these guys remind me of high-class whores. As much as I couldn’t stand some of the old-time moguls, especially Harry Cohn, these men took an interest in the future of the business. They had integrity. They took it upon themselves to stop making gangster movies; they were doing a discredit to the country. No censorship from the outside. They were responsible to the public. Today’s executives don’t give a damn. In their efforts to grab the box-office these sex pictures are attracting, they’re producing garbage. But they’re going to reach a point where the American people will say, “The hell with this.” And once we do, we’ll have censorship in every state and there’ll be no way you can even make a worthwhile picture then. But ratings are worthless, every time they rate a picture they let a little more go. Movies used to be made for the whole family, now the average family stays at home and watches television instead.”
He hated what he called perverted films, but he hated the idea of censorship even more, and fought against it tooth and nail. However bad he felt the films were, and however much harm he considered they did he could not support the Republican attempt to introduce national censorship. He believed in self-censorship from within the industry, a censorship that was dependent on the bankers seeing the error of their ways and suddenly becoming filled with vision, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m awfully happy there’s a thing called sex. I see no reason why it shouldn�
�t be in pictures. Healthy, lusty sex is wonderful, but when you get hairy sweaty bodies in the foreground, it becomes distasteful. I can remember seeing pictures in the thirties that were wonderfully risqué. They were done with intimation. When you think of the wonderful picture fare we’ve had through the years and then realize we’ve come to this shit, it’s disgusting. If they want to continue making these films, fine, but my career will have ended. I feel the business is going to fade out from its own vulgarity. When the curious go to see gore and violence they make the bankers think that is what the public want. They seem to forget the one basic principle of our business… illusion. We’re in the business of magic. Perhaps we have run out of imagination.”
Although he spoke against both sides, that never prevented the Left using his naturally conservative nature to foster an image of extremism for him. Duke had all the mid-westerner’s suspicion of the true believer, whichever side of the fence they sat on, but when he rounded on the Communists he was making up for previously missed chances. Cooper and Gable were happy reading prepared speeches on behalf of the Alliance, he insisted on writing his own. If he was to speak at all it would be an expression of his own ideas, in his own words. He refused to read from a script. Nothing ever made him shift from that position. He spoke from the heart when he said, “I am not in the Alliance as an actor but as an American.”
His intentions were honest but his forthright approach from the late forties onward did much harm to his reputation in the film world throughout the next years. If he had wanted acclaim for his acting talent, rather than for being an American, he knew he should have been less sincere, less naïve, and perhaps should have read the same prepared speeches that Coop and Gable read.