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Why did John Huston help establish the Committee for the First Amendment in 1947?

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John Huston John Huston (left) on the set of *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre* (1948).

In 1947, John Huston helped establish the Committee for the First Amendment to support individuals in the film industry who were being targeted by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) during its initial wave of investigations into alleged communist affiliations.1

Huston, alongside other industry liberals, sought to defend those who took a confrontational stand when subpoenaed to testify before the committee. As part of a delegation that included Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Huston traveled to Washington, D.C., to protest the proceedings. While he was ultimately put off by the aggressive behavior of the witnesses who became known as the Hollywood Ten, he remained deeply critical of the HUAC’s tactics, which were widely condemned for violating constitutional rights and fostering an era of fear and blacklisting within the entertainment industry.123