re: #213 Justanotherhuman

I started watching a movie on TCM last night and it wasn’t mentioned in the description that he was in it.

It was made in 1945 when he was fairly young and good-looking in a bland sort of way, and probably pretty liberal at the time. Don’t forget that he was President of the Screen Actors Guild (elected in 1947). He was a supporter of FDR, a union activist, and a liberal for 30 years of his life—before 20 Mule Team Borax and GE came into the picture.

He wasn’t very liberal as the president of the Screen Actors’ Guild. Here’s an excerpt from his testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee, delivered in October of 1947:

Mr. STRIPLING: As a member of the board of directors, as president of the Screen Actors Guild, and as an active member, have you at any time observed or noted within the organization a clique of either Communists or Fascists who were attempting to exert influence or pressure on the guild?

Mr. REAGAN: Well, sir, my testimony must be very similar to that of Mr. (George) Murphy and Mr. (Robert) Montgomery. There has been a small group within the Screen Actors Guild which has consistently opposed the policy of the guild board and officers of the guild, as evidenced by the vote on various issues. That small clique referred to has been suspected of more or less following the tactics that we associate with the Communist Party.

Mr. STRIPLING: Would you refer to them as a disruptive influence within the guild?

Mr. REAGAN: I would say that at times they have attempted to be a disruptive influence.

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