MidPoint for Thursday, April 13 – Glenn Frankel, author of “High Noon”

Share

Pulitzer-Prize winning  journalist Glenn Frankel has just written his second straight book about the making of an American classic western film in High Noon:The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic.

It’s a story of Hollywood’s golden age, as High Noon achieved instant box-office and critical success. But what is often overlooked is that High Noon was made during the height of the Hollywood blacklist, a time of political inquisition and personal betrayal.

During the filming of the movie in 1951,  screenwriter Carl Foreman was called to testify about his former membership in the Communist Party. He ultimately turned his screenplay into a parable about fear, repression and the cost of courage. The book also presents never before reported details on some of the actions regarding those who were blacklisted and “graylisted” in Hollywood, unable to support themselves in the film industry after they were tainted with being a “Red.”

Frankel’s last book, 2013’s The Searchers:The Making of an American Legend, was about the real life historical event that spawned the novel and ultimately the 1956 Western classic starring John Wayne and directed by John Ford.​

You can listen back to the interview here.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

Correspondence Through Poetry. A Mind-Numbing Week.

Father Verses Sons: A Correspondence in Poems by Herbert Gold...

Woman standing at podium in white jacket with four men in the background.
GOP lawmakers want to invoke inherent contempt. Here’s what it means.

The U.S. House approved a measure finding Attorney General Merrick...

Donald Trump by WMNF
Supreme Court rules for immunity in Trump case, and Florida Democrats react

For the first time, The Supreme Court has ruled former...

Breaking News With Dr. Binoy Kampmark

Binoy Kampmark, senior lecturer at RMIT University, Melbourne is emphatic...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Follow us on Instagram

Traffic Jam - All Souls Edition
Player position: