One of the political Left's favorite bedtime stories is about the Hollywood Blacklist. Kudos to Allan Ryskind in his new book, "Hollywood Traitors," for finally blowing that tired old myth out of the water.
For those who still doubt, the book includes the Communist Party card numbers of every one of the late, lamented Hollywood Ten and records in great detail their efforts to steer films Joe Stalin's way.
For further proof, try to find a copy of their greatest hit, the 1943 Warner Brothers film, "Mission to Moscow," which ends with an avuncular Comrade Stalin talking about all the Soviet Union's great accomplishments under his leadership. There's even a delightful scene at the Moscow show trials where the defendant calmly points the finger at himself and the hero of the film, U.S. Ambassador Joseph Davies, praises the trials for meeting the norms of international law. It would be almost comic if you were unaware of the millions of dead that lay strewn in Stalin's wake.
As you can well imagine, Warner Brothers celebrates that film about as much as the New York Times recalls Walter Duranty's Pulitzer for looking the other way when Stalin was busily at work.
