Movie-Time U.S.A.: The Motion Picture Industry Council in Postwar Politics

In the wake of the House Un-American Activities hearings on communism in Hollywood, the newly constructed Motion Picture Industry Council (MPIC) worked with the Truman and Eisenhower administrations during the postwar period to promote a new image of Americanism rooted in the free market. Using MPIC minutes from monthly meetings and correspondences, this paper explores previously unstudied connections and conversations between directors, actors, and studio executives and key government officials from 1948-1959 that reveal how members of the MPIC, notably Ronald Reagan and George Murphy, traveled the country throughout the 1950s to make a consumer citizenship without government regulation palatable to Americans. Ronald Reagan served on the council during the entirety of its existence, and this research will not only recast current narratives about the influence of Hollywood in postwar politics, but will also contribute significantly to scholarship on the political development of the former actor and future president. Contemporary literature on Ronald Reagan points to his time with General Electric during the 1950s as a key turning point in his politicization and move to the right. This paper, however, will show that during his Hollywood years—which continued after his silver screen career fizzled with his participation in the MPIC—he developed the skills, connections, and political ideology that not only shaped his tenure as California governor and United States President, but also made Hollywood publicity, style, and communication tactics essential in joining the market place and the political sphere for the American public.