"One of the Hollywood Ten" attempts to tell two fascinating stories: one about writer/director Herbert Biberman and the other about the filming of "Salt of the Earth." This film could not have had a very big budget, and the direction is not very good, so how anyone expected to accomplish these massive feats is anyone's guess.I am at a disadvantage: I can't possibly write anything that can compare to the comments about this film posted on IMDb, and I haven't seen Salt of the Earth. I did, however, grow up amidst the Red Scare. We in Catholic schools were warned by the nuns that the commies were coming. They would hold guns to our heads, ask us our religion, and when we answered "Catholic" (like we were all going to be real anxious to do that), we'd be shot. Communism was going to destroy the world, there were Communists under every bed, and everybody was insane on the subject. I have read and seen a good deal on HUAC, the McCarthy hearings, and Red Channels. Am I an expert? No.I will reference a couple of the IMDb postings. One states that Gale Sondergaard was NOT a major actress and that Biberman was a minor writer. I'm unsure of the implication the poster was trying to make, but I venture to say that if Biberman and Sondergaard (who were married for 40 years, until Biberman's death in 1971) had been allowed to work for the next 20 years or so, who knows what might have happened to their careers? This insanity ruined lives.Another poster made a comparison to tactics used by today's government. Well, I'll second that emotion. As he states, freedom of speech is not to be taken lightly. No, it isn't. And if anyone believes there isn't a move afoot to squelch it today, they're wrong.Others mentioned inaccuracies. I'll bring up one. According to writer Patricia Bosworth, whose father, attorney Bartley Crum, defended the Hollywood Ten, the "Hollywood Ten" were not friends, and in fact, many of them did not know one another. Crum advised them all to tell the truth at the hearings -- that when asked if they were now or had been a member of the Communist party, to disarm the committee by answering truthfully. This was shot down by whomever their adviser was because asking about anyone's political leadings is unconstitutional, and the Ten wanted to fight the hearings on constitutional grounds. In the film, one got the impression they were all friends. Crum, by the way, labeled a subversive, was haunted by the FBI until he finally got rid of them by killing himself in 1959. Also, I know this is off topic a bit, but the FBI's largest file was on Frank Sinatra, who was believed to have been sent by the communists to influence the youth of America. Great group.As far as this film, the stories were interesting, the direction was detached, and overall, it's not great. Jeff Goldblum is marvelous as Biberman, and there are some other excellent performances as well. I think the most important thing were the points made on the chirons at the end, one of which is that Salt of the Earth is the only film ever to be blacklisted. I am so grateful that it was; otherwise, we would all be communists today. Right.

Unfortunately, any film chronicling a specific period in history that most Americans are only barely knowledgeable about is going to have to be somewhat pedantic. To encompass the varied complexities of those `Reds' in Hollywood would come off as a history lesson that would last longer than `The Wings of War'. So a made-for-cable film like this must brush its canvas with wide strokes. This film focuses not so much on the agenda of the HUAC -for that I recommend "Tail Gunner Joe" and "Citizen Cohn"-, but on a select few of the victims of their persecution. For the most part, this film succeeds in showing what it was that these people, and other leftists in this country believed in (and still believe in). There's a great line in this film by the owner of the land where the director Biberman wants to film. He says, `I'm a Jeffersonian American'. It was Thomas Jefferson who wrote: "Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others." That form of liberty and equality has been a fight by the Left in this country for every generation since this country's inception. There has always been and always will be tyrants (fascists) who will try to squash that, and other tyrants (communists) who will promise liberty and equality in order to get the people to embrace their brand of tyranny. No doubt, there were many communist dupes in this country. There certainly were communist spies lurking in this country, and Stalinist and Maoist communism were verifiable threats the world over. But in post-WWII America, tyranny was used against the people in order to fight the THREAT of tyranny against the people. The principles that this country claimed to be so frightened of losing were tossed out altogether. In the USSR, people who didn't name names were sent to Siberia or executed. In the USA, the penalties were much less severe, but the process of unveiling ‘dissidents' was the same. Plus, there was the very audacious fact that most of those brought up in front of the HUAC were in fact the `real' Americans; the Jeffersonian Americans who believed in democracy and the principles of liberty and equality. `One of the Hollywood Ten' is a good introduction to those who wanted desperately to bring those principles to every American. They knew that a country that is oppressive and does not value equal rights for all is perfect bait for communism (as well as for fascism –the two are strikingly similar in practice). They also knew that if they didn't present the populace with the very real struggle that the millions of oppressed people in this country faced, those oppressed people might very well embrace the false liberty that communists promised. Everyone is aware of the fact that the silver screen (broadened today by TV) is a very powerful tool. But it cannot be manipulated to make people join another system of government if their own system government is sound. The left wing of Hollywood set to make it sound (something that people who opposed free speech, integration and decent housing and safe working environments did not want to see). Had the Hollywood Ten been able to continue their mission, perhaps the equalities and freedoms we enjoy today would have come sooner. And there would have been more great cinematic achievements like `Salt of the Earth'. I do think that `One of the Hollywood Ten' should have shown more of the conditions in this country that were so perfectly depicted in `Salt of the Earth' (such as racism, shameful poverty, and unsafe working conditions). But it does at least give us a valued glimpse of the hearts and minds of those who retained this country's greatness in its darkest hour.

Why, sorry? Because I played a part in this (call it a) movie and cannot be proud that I did.This was my second piece in a movie. Not a word to speak, but a name part, all the same. At first, I was thrilled... For, yes, it really was a privilege, having Jeff Goldblum's fine FINE work to watch and learn from, over the three days that I was on set. And, yes, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and working with names I had long known, such as Shane Rimmer (Out of Africa, The Spy Who Loved Me) Greta Scacchi (Presumed Innocent, Le Violon Rouge) and Peter Bowles (To The Manor Born, The Irish R.M.). And, I'll, certainly, never forget comedian John Sessions' hilarious impersonations - between takes - of Robert de Niro, Anthony Hopkins, Joe Pesci and Roger Moore.However, I am forever embarrassed and disgusted with myself at not having trusted my own judgement and at having, instead, allowed "director" Carl Francis to "not direct" me. I would have used "misdirect", only all I saw him do (over three days) was pout and moan, but never once direct nor even misdirect the actors. I should have known not to trust him when, having been auditioned by Mr Francis, in person, I was called in to play some guy called Ring Lardner, though not told till the day before and - because I had no lines to speak - was ignored and given no background material on the character. The character, I found out, later, just happened to be one of lead character Herbert Biberman's closest friends!! Instead, I was just told to "stand there" or "sit there", with only my common sense and inexperience to rely on (I had only had a played another minor film role, prior to this).My part may have been insignificant compared to, say, Jeff Goldblum's Biberman or, indeed, compared to anyone else's. But when a director and his team decide to overlook the supposed "minor" details, you can be sure they do so because they're having trouble coping with the "bigger" stuff. And, if you ever waste a second of your life watching "One of the Hollywood Ten" you'll see what I mean!This film is a free-for-all; a riot, in the saddest sense of the word. If you had the vast self-assuredness and professional aplomb of someone like Mr Goldblum or Ms Scacchi, you were sure to do a good job (no-one to stop you!) even if your effort was later completely wasted or misplaced within the haphazard confines of Mr Francis' movie. If, on the other hand, you were a beginner, then, you were finished before you'd even had a chance to start. A cast brimming with professionals might just have made it happen, regardless of the movie's directing. Sadly, however, this was not the case, for many of the "minor" parts in the cast (and there were many slightly-above-extra roles in this film) had been filled with inexperienced English-speaking film actors, such as myself, most of us living here, in cheap-labour Spain, which is where most of the film was shot.As with any society, a film is a universe, where everything - from its subatomic particles, through to its larger atoms and, even, the greater moons and planets - needs to feel it has its place; an orbiting code. Without codes, chaos and voids appear.This film is a chaos and a void. Avoid this film!

I recently saw One of the Hollywood Ten at a screener. I think Jeff Goldblum does an exceedingly good job as Herbert Biberman as were some of the supporting players, especially the Spanish actors. I did have a problem with the overall style of the film which played more like a set of moving images rather than a "movie". Photographed quite beautifully by Nigel Walters but ultimately rather loosely and sloppily directed (almost amateurishly) with a number of obvious Brits putting on American accents, namely the usually brilliant John Sessions! This may win awards in the Icelandic Film Festival but Oscar will look the other way.