| Abstrakt: |
This paper aims at defining and theoretically defending the existence of so-called Red Scare films. These were part of an anti-Communist cycle of films, approximately forty feature movies, produced in the United States at the beginning of the Cold War. Although historians and journalists did analyse these films to a certain extent, insufficient attention has been paid to the fact that the prevailing arguments stand on a limited sample of films, here in this study referred to as Red Scare films. The first chapter provides a contemporary context with regard to the institution's influence on political decision-making. With the assistance of the tools of normative institutionalism, the text points out that anti-Communism in the United States was enforced by an influential anti-Communist network. The stimulus of these institutions and persons is behind the origins of the Red Scare films. This background is enhanced by the second chapter, which also summarises current thought concerning the anti-communist cycle and attempts to problematize ingrained myths involving this production. The last chapter describes how the institutions interacted with these titles concerning the plots and formal approaches. This ranged from their entrance into the private lives of citizens, to the hegemonic position of the FBI, to unpremeditated applications which indirectly undermined the arguments of the supervisory institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
