Dario Argento Quotes
It's incredible that they censor films. It's sad.
Murray, Noel. "Dario Argento." The A.V. Club, 23 Oct. 2002.
Arguing agaist libel and sedition prosecutions:
The editorial was in response to Congressional hearings held by J. Parnell Thomas of the House Un-American Activities Committee whereby Hollywood producers and directors were questioned about their political beliefs.
The Red Scare had affected much of the country. Congressman Thomas was the Chair of The House Un-American Activities Committee which had frightened much of the country claiming that the Communists had infiltrated the government. But when facts and proof were demanded, they came up with some workers in the Hollywood film industry who had gone to communist meetings and some who had joined the party before the War when The Great Depression was still plaguing the country. The Hollywood and TV executives caved in to the political demagogues and fired and blacklisted not only the communists but those who refused to testify. The actors and musicians could not work for several years until the country came to its senses, but the screenwriters wrote under false names. At least one Academy award was won that way.
The film won 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture. However, the Political Red Scare, Congressional Investigations, McCarthyism, and Hollywood Blacklist intimidated the Movie Studios and executives to avoid anything that was sympathetic to any reform views that the Communists also held, like anti racial discrimination, and empathy for the poor.
This was a description of the post WWII censorship in East Germany under the communists, but it applies to most political censorship in any country. The same dynamics functioned in the United States during both World Wars and during the red scare of McCarthyism.
Dario Argento is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter and critic. His influential work in the horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, has led him to being referred to as the "Master of the Thrill" and the "Master of Horror".
