11. The HUAC resumed under Democratic control in 1951
In the 1950s mid-term elections the Democratic Party gained control of both houses of Congress. Congressmen John Wood assumed the Chair of the HUAC. Wood found witnesses appearing before the committee had changed their legal tactics. Rather than relying on their First Amendment rights of free speech and free assembly they turned to the Fifth Amendment. The latter protected them from being forced to present testimony which could be self-incriminating. While it protected them from further legal action by the committee, it did not ensure they would remain off the Hollywood Blacklist. A new group of Hollywood professionals emerged, not definitively labeled as Communists, but finding difficulty gaining employment.
Called the gray list, its members often found their careers stalled. Edward G. Robinson found himself unable to find roles equivalent to those he starred in before the hearings. The HUAC fed the gray list by calling on friendly witnesses to testify, such as noted Hollywood director Elia Kazan. Kazan readily named names, identifying them as communists or communist sympathizers. When those persons were called to testify and heard the question over their own communist leanings, most claimed their Fifth Amendment rights. When word reached the studio heads or union and guild leadership, the unfortunate entertainers found their services no longer desired in the industry.
