REAL ART (and politics)
McCarthyism Flashback

From the Austin Chronicle's Letters at 3AM column by Michael Ventura:

Then Kazan read a long and detailed statement in which he named 22 people. What would that mean for those 22 people? First, public scrutiny on every imaginable level (Kazan's statement was released to the newspapers the day after his testimony). Some would instantly lose their jobs, most would be socially ostracized in the climate of fear that ruled that era (and their children would suffer at school, as was all too common then). All would be investigated by HUAC and by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. Most would be called before the committee, with the demand that they, in turn, name names. If they didn't, they could face imprisonment; at the least, they would not be permitted to work again in their chosen professions (the stage and the screen).

The day after Kazan testified, 20th Century Fox rewarded him with a contract for half a million dollars (the equivalent of roughly 3.5 million now). It was reportedly less than he would have received if he'd testified completely at his first hearing, but it was lots more than he was going to make if he didn't name names at his second "voluntarily requested" hearing. One of the people Kazan named was Tony Kraber, who said, when he was called before HUAC as a result of Kazan's action: "Is this the Kazan that signed the contract for $500,000 the day after he gave his names to this committee? Would you sell your brothers for $500,000?"

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