Edward Dmytryk

Edward Dmytryk may have been born in Canada but he was fully American He moved with his parents to the United States when he was still very young and grew up in California He attended the California Institute of Technology and after graduation he became a messenger boy at Paramount He became a film editor in 1929 and directed his first film emThe Hawkem in 1935 Over the next eight years he directed 23 films Dmytryk who became a US citizen in 1939 joined the Communist Party in 1944 and was involved in making several politically oriented films such as the antifascist emHitlers Childrenem 1943 and emCrossfireem 1947 one of the first Hollywood movies to tackle antiSemitism With emCrossfireem Dmytryk became the first Canadianborn director to be nominated for an Academy Award In 1947 the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities called him and nine other Hollywood figures to a Washington hearing All refused to answer questions about party membership They were convicted of contempt and sentenced to a year in federal prison thus becoming known as the legendary Hollywood Ten who were blacklisted When Dmytryk finished his sentence he admitted that he had been a party member In 1951 he again appeared before the House committee and identified 26 people as communists With his name removed from the blacklist he was able to find work again in Hollywood He made a string of lowbudget films for Stanley Kramer including the 1954 World War II drama emThe Caine Mutinyem starring Humphrey Bogart The films success made him an indemand director and he went on to direct such popular films as emRaintree Countyem emThe Young Lionsem and emThe Carpetbaggersem Toward the end of his career he taught filmmaking at the University of Texas and was a professor of filmmaking at University of Southern California He died of heart and kidney failure brbrbr