If
you went on a date to the “midnite show” at the Indiana movie theater
in Kokomo, Indiana, on Saturday November 10, 1951, you could have
watched a “SPECIAL! ‘Big Truth’ Crusade for Freedom with Ronald
Reagan.” Below we will briefly look at Ronald Reagan and his support
for Cold War Radios -- first as an actor and later as President of the
USA.
The
late 1940s witnessed the beginning of the Hollywood Blacklist when many
persons working in films were prohibited from working because of their
political beliefs and associations. In 1947, actor Ronald Reagan, as
president of the Screen Actors Guild Board of Directors, testified
before the Congressional House Committee on Un-American Activities
(HUAC) on the threat of Communism in the film industry.
Hollywood
movie giants Daryl F. Zanuck and Cecil B. DeMille were two of National
Committee for Free Europe’s original directors in 1949 and remained
active in behalf of Radio Free Europe in the 1950s.
General
Dwight D. Eisenhower announced the launch of the first Crusade for
Freedom campaign on September 4, 1950, under National Chairman General
Lucius D. Clay. On September 16, 1950, Reagan sent a telegram to
Chairman Clay:
Dear
General Clay: the more than 8,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild
are proud to enlist in the Crusade for Freedom and to take as active
part in the battle for mend’s minds now being waged around the world. We
offer you our complete support in this great counter-offensive against
Communist lies and treachery. Please call on us.
In
preparing the American public for the second Annual Crusade for
Freedom, in August 1951 the Advertising Council used the services of
actor, and future US President, Ronald Reagan in a Hearst Corporation
movie newsreel and a televised public service appeal for contributions.
Reagan also was the star and narrator of the short film entitled "The
Big Truth," which was written by Otis Carney and directed by Seymour
Friedman. Carney received a Freedom Foundation award in 1952 for his
screenplay.
The
heavy propaganda film opens with a scene of two Czech soldiers chasing a
man in a forest. They shoot at him as he crosses through the barbed
wire Iron Curtain, meets two men on the other side and eventually
appears in the film reading a script before the RFE microphone. "The
scene then switches to Ronald Reagan, who says, "This
is the story of a man whom the Communists call traitor; traitor because
he dared to speak of Freedom. Less than 24 hours ago Stefan Macochek
met with a small group of men...” Then five men are shown listening to
Radio Free Europe, one of whom is later identified as a Czech secret
police agent.
Excerpts
of the film, including a scene of Crusade for Freedom National Chairman
General Lucius D. Clay speaking in Berlin on October 24, 1950, were
then used for a television film appeal for the 1951 Crusade campaign.
The film ends with Reagan saying:
My name is Ronald Reagan. Last year the contributions of 16 million Americans to the Crusade For Freedom made possible the World Freedom Bell --
symbol of hope and freedom to the communist-dominated peoples of
Eastern Europe. And built this powerful 135,000 Watt Radio Free Europe
transmitter in Western Germany. This station daily pierces the iron
curtain with the truth, answering the lies of the Kremlin and bringing a
message of hope to millions trapped behind the iron curtain.
Grateful
letters from listeners smuggled past the secret police express thanks
to Radio Free Europe for identifying Communist Quislings and informers
by name.
General
Lucius D. Clay now asks you to join with him in a second great Crusade
for Freedom to build two more powerful Freedom Stations that will send
more messages of hope of truth and hope through the Iron Curtain. And,
to establish Radio Free Asia to stop the spread of Communism in the Far
East.
The Crusade for Freedom is your chance, and mine, to fight Communism.
Join now by sending your contributions to
General Clay
Crusade for Freedom
Empire State Building
New York City
Or, join in your local community.
most telling background of reagan, extend now to palin and hearst and charlotte. many dots can be connected in many ways but there are some dashes making it an obvious call that hearst and the charlotte choice of the dmocratic convention is going to be a real spectacle....
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