by C McGivern
Alliance members co-operated fully with the HUAC, providing detailed lists of known Communists working within the industry, and when subpoenas were issued, the leaders of the Communist Party were correctly targeted. Authorities said there were 50-60 high profile activists at the core of the Hollywood radical movement in the forties, and the HUAC took 19 known left-wingers to court. Although Duke undoubtedly welcomed Government intervention to rid Hollywood of the threat of Communism he always carefully avoided the “naming names” issue so that when the FBI carefully scrutinized Alliance activity there is no mention of John Wayne in any of their detailed reports. When the hearings began in 1947 Alliance members like Cooper, Ronald Reagan and Robert Taylor, testified against those on the list, but Duke refused to give evidence before the House Committee. He was even prepared to stand in their defense when he thought someone was being unfairly treated.
At each of the hearings the Communists pleaded the Fifth Amendment, standing on their right as American citizens to refuse to discuss their political beliefs, and Duke also believed that an American had as much right to be a Communist as he had to be a Republican or Democrat. On the other hand he also knew that the power of the movie was too strong to leave in the hands of Communists who intended to use it to indoctrinate ordinary Americans. His own experiences making films like Back To Bataan had shown how easy the Communists were finding it to force everyone else out of the business. He could not sit back and allow it to happen because they weren’t fighting fair.
Whilst few confessed to being members of the communist party, refusal to answer questions meant the end of careers. For most that was preferable to jail, and of those subpoenaed only “The Unfriendly Ten” were sentenced, the rest faced the blacklist. Alliance members claimed that they had been blacklisted for years and Duke agreed, saying members of the MPA were constantly faced with ugly smear campaigns over the years.
He opposed any form of blacklist and his own production company never blacklisted anybody, and he remained willing to work with any fellow professional. None of that made any difference, once he joined The Alliance in 1948 and was elected to its Executive Board, he found himself described as a right-wing extremist. The label stuck and nothing he ever said or did changed the way he was portrayed. He tried to ignore the growing press frenzy against him, but in 1949 when he replaced Robert Taylor as president of The Alliance, he found even some sections of the public turned against him.
He had originally turned the post down but pressure was exerted until he had finally given in. He made a very short acceptance speech, saying he believed both Hollywood and the nation faced a crisis, and that he saw no reason why America should tolerate a political party within, that was controlled by the country’s Cold War rival, and that was opposed to the nation’s existing political and economic system. He later explained his position more fully, saying he believed the Communists to be both rotten and corrupt, “actually we were the real liberals. We believed in freedom. We believed in the individual and his rights. We hated Soviet Communism because it was against all religion, and because it trampled on the individual, because it was a slave society.”
It had been a complex mix of personal worries and international events that led to Duke’s political awakening but he found a strange contentment in fighting a cause, in pulling his weight. Politics became a distraction from the other problems in his life and he immersed himself in his new crusade, warming to his subject, studying economic policy and political science, determined to be enlightened on every aspect. His prolific reading led him from a vague mistrust of Communism to a hearty dislike and whilst he continued to regard himself as liberal in his outlook, he came to understand why others might see him as conservative.
Because his politics were a mixture of many ideologies, because he walked the way he wanted to go, he left himself wide open to attack from all sides. His opponents were often confused by his stance, and believed him to be ignorant. The Press found he could be provoked into making outrageous comments, which he later tried to explain; the explanations of course were never included in the reports. He made it easy for them to portray him as extreme and even stupid. Those who happened to disagree with his views would not be interested in finding out why he held them. Despite the way the Press presented him, he personally was tolerant of different opinion, even attending President Carter’s inaugural celebrations, and calling himself a member of the “loyal opposition.”
He liked to talk about the thing he enjoyed most, work, and it depressed him that the only things most people ever wanted to discuss with him were his politics or cancer, and he hated the fact that people either loved or despised him simply because of what they read about his politics. He had never understood why that had been the case, “They say I’m a right wing extremist, a monster, yet I hate politics, I’ve stood up for one or two people of both sides of the political fence, and for that I’m branded.”
He had become embroiled in politics but the integrity of the movie industry was really all he cared about. If Hollywood had not been targeted by the Communists in the forties he would have remained forever aloof from a world fraught with personal danger, a world he didn’t particularly enjoy inhabiting. But as with all things “John Wayne” once he got involved he was deeply involved, branded simply because he did everything with such enthusiasm and force. When he made a political statement it was done with absolutely no regard for the rules of the game or the fashions of the day; he said exactly what he thought in a huge voice and in uncompromising language, he did it even though what he thought was completely out of vogue. He could do nothing half-heartedly; full steam ahead was the order of the day and the force of his presence was enormous. He took huge risks and left himself easy prey; he could hardly complain when the Press baited him, setting traps that he fell into time and again. Interviewers generally started talking to him about films, one political question might be tossed in, he would give the rash answers that so delighted them, or even better, a pithy comment that could be printed out of context. It bothered him greatly that his sincerity allowed them to paint him an extremist, “In my own mind I’m liberal to the point where I listen to every point of view, which I believe takes me out of the extremist class on both sides. And I have much love for my fellow man, and I enjoy them as much as anyone. I wish I could show you the mail I get everyday… I’ve got two secretaries, one just to separate the fan mail from the other kind.”
He believed he was deliberately misrepresented, particularly in the infamous Playboy interview that he gave in 1971, where he made some flippant and extreme remarks and emerged looking racist, authoritarian, a super-patriot and a reactionary. Lewis, the editor of Playboy, took on the role of Prosecutor, and sharply cross-examined him about his attitude to Indians, Communists and politics in general.
Throughout the interview he was questioned and then not permitted to clarify his answers. Naively, Duke allowed him to get away with it, “My remarks were taken out of context, blown up out of all proportion. They would not take a premise. I thought that was obvious in the Playboy interview. Now I’ve done as much as any man to give human dignity to the Indian. I assume the Indians know that I have a great deal of respect for them. Well this guy (Lewis) and I were talking about funny things and he says, “Well, what do you think about the Indians taking over Alcatraz?”
Well, it’s such a ridiculous thing. What did he want, a serious comment about it? So I said, “Let them have it. Nobody that ever lived there wants to go back and none of the guards wants it. I think they ought to pay for it, like we paid for Manhattan.” Now when it comes out in the magazine it came right after something serious, so all of a sudden I start getting letters from Indians. It looked like I was belittling them, and I wasn’t. I was talking about a bunch of jerks, not the entire race. Good God, they’re American citizens, they have every right we have and some we don’t. I always tried, in my pictures to show the Indian as noble. I, probably more than anyone else in the industry, gave them an image of a stro
ng moral-coded people.”
Lewis had been searching for the headlines he wanted, he wasn’t interested in printing the truth, he was printing the legend. Wayne gave thousands of dollars away to anyone in trouble, even buying clothes for complete strangers, people only had to put pen to paper to ask for his help and he gave whatever they wanted. He just didn’t like being told by government what to spend his money on. Despite the fact that everyone knew he was a soft touch his acts of generosity were rarely reported.
From the mid-forties onward Duke’s political convictions were also shaped by his worries about his personal financial situation. For the first time in his life he was earning large amounts of money, and seeing his tax bill rocket accordingly. In 1944 he owed the Government 68% of his earnings if he took more than $100,000 a year, 88.6% when his income was in excess of $500,000. Mary St John said, “He worried about taxes all the time I worked for him. Sometimes he felt there was no point in working so hard when so much of what he earned went straight to the government. Especially as he hated politicians and big government.”
Duke himself said, “Human behavior won’t change much. We’re being conned into Keynesianism and socialism right now, but it isn’t going to stop the selfishness of human behavior. It isn’t going to stop the greed. If you take twenty dollars and give a dollar to every son of a bitch in a room and come back a year later, one of the bastards will have all the money. It’s just human nature; you’re not going to whip it with laws. I think as communication gets better and you make people conscious of somebody in trouble, the average person will help. I’m optimistic about that.” Later he explained, “It was a confused time, dissension because one clique wouldn’t go along with another. Hysteria on the right; the liberal writers trying to run people out of the business, high taxation, high government spending, blacklisting, the threat of Communism.”
He could not ignore what was happening any longer and the position he took could never have been in any doubt. Still he found it all an irritant, something demanding time he could ill afford. He would have preferred to keep making films, non-stop, for that was the only time he was really happy, the only time he was fully focussed. Circumstance had eventually forced him into action, but he was a man with little patience or time for the external aspects of life. It was his total dedication that had made him a star in the first place, effort that set him apart, and above all the other stars of his era. Now he was being pulled and pushed in directions he didn’t want to go.
Whenever he spoke about accepting the presidency of The Alliance he talked about the atmosphere of the time, the influence of his friends, about his tax problems, and the danger to the industry and the country he loved; he never mentioned the guilt he felt about the war. Mary believed he definitely regretted not having served, and that guilt was the prime mover in his decision, “He was not the kind of man to dwell on it or talk about it, but you always knew he did. You could see it in his face when anyone mentioned his war record. He would just tell them that he had not served, and it made him feel like a hypocrite.”
If he had managed to avoid trouble before, his acceptance of the presidency at exactly the time the Cold War was entering its toughest phase put him in harm’s way more than he could ever have anticipated. To him and to people around the world it appeared that the Communists were willing to go to war to achieve their objectives-it was not an idle threat and the dangers were real. The intention of Russia and the Communist Block was the destruction of the Capitalist system. He stood as president for four years from 1949 to 1953 - the most crucial years of the Cold War, years that saw Communist victory in China, that saw the Soviet Union successfully detonate the atomic bomb, the emergence of Joseph McCarthy, and the outbreak of the Korean War. It was a period that shaped the political futures of many and turned Duke into an outspoken advocate of the right. He was dragged unwillingly into the fray but once there he stood his ground and shouted his beliefs for all to hear, including those who mocked him, at the top of his voice, and by some miracle whilst he became the butt of the progressive elements he also made the politics of the right popular and acceptable to many who might otherwise have found Conservatism staid, abhorrent or even just boring.
His politics were those of the establishment, but he had never been seen as part of the system, his image had always been that of the loner, the individual, “I’ve always rebelled against something in society. I was never much of a joiner. Kids join things, but they like to consider themselves individuals capable of thinking for themselves. So do I. Mine is a personal rebellion against the monotony of life, against status quo. The rebellion of today’s kids seems to be a kind of dissension by rote.” When John Wayne said something, even though the Press and the Left attacked him for saying it, people listened. Because he said it, it became possible for other people to stand up and admit they too supported the right. He might be ridiculed mercilessly for his patriotism, but it also won him the adoration of millions of like-minded souls, “John Wayne is a champion, but out on the streets no one claims him.” His intentions were honest, he didn’t fool around, he said what he meant, there was no coyness about his words. He was an easy and obvious target because he didn’t hide in an era of security leaks, loyalty oaths, the enemy within, political paranoia, an era when whole nations rose and fell and of wholesale change to the values and systems of world governments, when nations were seen as “absolutely good or absolutely evil.”
Duke navigated the raging domestic political waters with some success; at least he didn’t go under like so many others. In every Press release he gave out the same message he exuded from the screen, and his private life became further entangled with public perception. Increasingly the images became blurred in his own mind as well as in those of his audience. As the classic nineteenth century hero of the screen he had always been identified with the American ideal of self-sufficiency and individualism, he had lovingly created the image over many years. And John Wayne, the man, was a survivor, was himself a typical product of 19th century America. He was becoming one with the screen persona, turning into the living incarnation of the Western hero he so often played, racing to the defense of society, the 19th century hero defending 20th century culture. He was undoubtedly displaced in time, but still, in an age of hype and hysteria his words held the constant steadfast ring of truth, people trusted what he said because he was “John Wayne,” a personality generated in the public mind through a film image of quality, strength and honesty, repeated time after time, repetition solidifying his stature as an honest man. John Wayne did not lie. He was a man of his word, and even the unforgiving media gave out his message.
Duke’s highly emotional and all-out attack on the Communists made him unpopular in some quarters but it also touched the hearts of the millions of Americans that Duke called “The silent minority.” His importance to the Right lay in the warm affection in which he was held by those people and in the immense attraction of his screen image. They used him mercilessly in an age of political hysteria, turning him into the voice and persona of the far Right.
During the forties many producers promised the actors of the Alliance that they wouldn’t employ communist writers, or anyone who they suspected of advocating the overthrow of the American government by force or illegal means. Duke knew the producers never kept their word and that if they had done the situation might have eased quickly and without any of the ensuing difficulties. A handful of the three hundred Hollywood Communists might have been blacklisted, but members of The Alliance said it was their members who continued to suffer at the hands of the producers who felt Alliance members made it difficult to get on with the job of making films. They preferred not to employ its members, and during the late forties and early fifties many right-wing actors also found themselves unemployable. When Duke joined the Alliance he faced enormous danger from within the industry. He stood at a watershed; following the release and successes of Fort Apache, Red River and Three Godfathers. Herbert Yates advised him once again to stay
out of trouble as he still desperately tried to protect his interest, his star was worth more to him now than he had been at any other time. Yates had successfully kept him out of the war, now he warned, “This’ll put you on the skids in Hollywood Duke.” All his financial advisors agreed and advised him, “Just keep your head down and keep working.” This time he would listen to no one. He hoped, but was far from certain, that his position in the industry was strong enough now to enable him to say what he wanted, but later admitted, “I was a victim of a mud-slinging campaign like you wouldn’t believe-I was called a drunk, a pervert, a woman-chaser, a lousy B picture western bit player, an unfaithful husband, an uneducated jerk, a tool of the studio heads.”
By his second term as president the Executive Committee of the Alliance stated that Communists constituted a clear and present danger to society and demanded that all members of the party should be registered by Los Angeles City Council; the Committee saw this as a step toward “delousing Hollywood.” In 1951 The Screen Actors Guild, The Screen Directors Guild and even the Screen Writers Guild openly supported the HUAC, and had all offered their complete co-operation and support.
When the HUAC first targeted the communists in Hollywood they offered them the choice of confessing, renouncing their beliefs and getting on with their lives, or face going to jail or being blacklisted. Those who confessed were expected to name other communists. Americans were worried about the inroad Communism was making into their way of life through the back door, through the movie industry, but The Red Scare was not just an issue in Hollywood and the film world, and anti-communist activity extended well beyond the brief of the HUAC. The country’s two leading unions purged its membership of Communists, and opposed US recognition of the Soviet Union. The Executive Council of the Congress of Industrial Organizations said in the early fifties, “If Communism is an issue in any of your unions throw it the hell out… and throw its advocates out along with it. When a man accepts office… paid office in a union… to render service to workers, and then delivers service to outside interests, that man is nothing but a damned traitor.” The Purges were even common in left wing organizations, to the extent that the only organization open to American Communists at the time was the Communist Party of the United States of America itself. Duke was hardly out of step in his beliefs and what he said was more than acceptable in mainstream America. He tended to be a little softer in his personal attitude toward the communists than most, and he was always willing to forgive. Hollywood, under his leadership, was happy to welcome back former Communists who confessed to the HUAC. He stood open armed accepting them home despite the clamor for their heads throughout the rest of the country and even his own industry.