TRANSCRIPT OF JUDY HOLLIDAY'S TESTIMONY
Almost one year to the day after winning the Academy Award (and 18 months after the FBI investigation concluded she wasn't a Communist), Judy Holliday is summoned to Washington, D.C. in response to a subpoena. She appears before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee to answer questions about her alleged Communist ties. In reality, no new allegations had been made and no new evidence had surfaced since the FBI concluded its investigation. Two things had changed though. First, fueled by Senator Joseph McCarthy's crusade, the country's mushrooming paranoia about communism was reaching its peak. And secondly, the release of the film "Born Yesterday" and her surprising Academy Award victory had made Judy Holliday a major movie star...and thus a bigger target. For the politicians, nothing garnered more press or drew more public interest than their attempts to bring down celebrities.
Although this was a hearing and not a trial, there are some similarities. The subcommittee is headed by Senator Arthur Watkins, a 66 year-old Republican from Utah, who serves as the Chairman. Like a judge, he has the power to rule on matters of procedure and what is admissible as evidence, but he can also take an active role in the interrogation process. Richard Arens is the committee's Staff Director and he serves as the lead interrogator, similar to a prosecuting attorney. Judy Holliday, as the witness, is entitled to have legal counsel with her during the questioning and Simon H. Rifkind, a former New York District Court judge, is chosen by Columbia Pictures to fill that role. Unfortunately, unlike a defense attorney, his powers are very limited and he is only allowed to advise the witness whether she should answer a particular question or not.
It is quite interesting to see what became of the key players in the years following this hearing. Senator Watkins would be remembered for a mixed bag of accomplishments. He helped establish the National Safety Council, but he also introduced the "Termination" bill which stripped some Native American tribes of their government aid and forced them to the brink of extinction. You can read about that story here. Watkins is perhaps most famous for being the head of the committee that censured Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954. It would be the beginning of the end for McCarthy and his reign of terror. Ironically, following the censure, McCarthy accused Watkins and his committee of being "the unwitting hand maiden of the Communist Party." You can read more about that story here. Note the photo of the Catholic War Veterans, a group that had picketed Judy on several occasions. Richard Arens would be forced out of his congressional job in 1960, when the story broke that he was a paid consultant to a person who was giving out financial grants to anyone who could prove "Negroes are genetically inferior." You can read about that story here. And finally, Simon H. Rifkind, already a highly regarded legal mind, would go on to become one of the most respected men of his time. In addition to being a lauded advocate and scholar, he was one of the first people to take up the cause of the Holocaust survivors. You can read more about him here.
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