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The Red and the Blacklist: The Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate
Screenwriter and novelist Norma Barzman’s extraordinary memoir is a unique record of the political tempests of the post-war era and the rise of McCarthyism. Exiled to France with her screenwriter husband Ben Barzman, The Red and the Blacklist is an extraordinary account of one woman’s unique life. It is an unforgettable story studded with adventure, sex, celebrity and gossip, and features a larger-than-life cast of supporting characters including Pablo Picasso, Sophia Loren, Charlton Heston, Ingrid Bergman, John Wayne, Anthony Quinn, and a very young Marilyn Monroe. Eight pages of fascinating photographs are featured in this courageous and critically acclaimed book.
Hardcover
First published January 10, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 16, 2010
as a film studies major in college, i had the pleasure of attending a lecture given by norma barzman, discussing the book and her time in hollywood/the entertainment industry. both the lecture and the book fueled a greater passion for hollywood history and an understanding of socialism in america. the book is different enough from a lot of other generic studio-era accounts out there, i felt like i was getting real, first-person behind the scenes knowledge from someone that truly believed mccarthy was an ass, unlike most people of that generation who are either dead or still afraid to speak about it. that you just don't get on TCM.
January 24, 2010
A wonderful, fascinating, literate memoir about a period of American political history which has long intrigued me. I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Norma on the eve of her LA Times book review back in 2003 and found her to be an extraordinarily colorful woman. Her book is a reflection of all that she is -- brilliant, funny, sad, introspective, and honest.
October 29, 2025
Norma, who passed away last year, was the mother of an old and dear friend. That is not the reason I am writing this glowing review. Norma Barzman and her husband Ben were both prominent Hollywood screenwriters in the 1940s and then blacklisted in the 1950s when being on the left wasn't cool anymore. Ironically, and also inevitably, their former employer and patron John Wayne, for whom Ben wrote BACK TO BATAAN, a staple of Saturday morning television and one of my favorite World War II films, helped chase them out of the movie business and into exile in France, where my friend was raised a "Red Diaper" baby, multi-lingual and all. This is Norma's story of that scoundrel time, when the young, talented and leftist had to either write under pseudonyms, move abroad or give up on the movies, and their dreams, altogether. Norma writes passionately of Ben's disillusionment with Hollywood and politics while she held the flag for both. The movie moguls kept her away from Hollywood for decades for her politics and sex. Gradually and painfully she reestablished her contacts in America while clinging on to her political identity. By her struggle she earned rehabilitation and watched her old nemeses, Wayne and Elia Kazan among them, fade out or hide their infamy. Of such fortitude and courage are great families, and legends, made.
January 9, 2026
I wanted to read this book because I had met one of the author's sons. It was fun seeing his name mentioned, but the rest of the author's story was absolutely fascinating. I knew of the blacklist in Hollywood in the 50s but had never really stopped to think how it affected so many people who worked in the American film industry.
There were a multitude of names dropped in this book, most of whom I didn't know and which I had trouble keeping tabs on. But it was all worth it for when a truly famous person popped up - Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Picasso - and I felt like I was meeting them too but in a completely new context.
This was a thoroughly engaging memoir, from the big important themes of right-wing scaremongering, which are all too prevalent today, to the domestic stories of raising a family in exile in France. I really enjoyed it - and learnt a lot too.
There were a multitude of names dropped in this book, most of whom I didn't know and which I had trouble keeping tabs on. But it was all worth it for when a truly famous person popped up - Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Picasso - and I felt like I was meeting them too but in a completely new context.
This was a thoroughly engaging memoir, from the big important themes of right-wing scaremongering, which are all too prevalent today, to the domestic stories of raising a family in exile in France. I really enjoyed it - and learnt a lot too.
August 2, 2022
this book is a gold mine and i recommend it to anyone interested in film history, mccarthyism, how socialism affects hollywood, etc. it did take me a month to read though and set me behind on my reading goal😭
April 12, 2021
Excellent memoir of a Hollywood screenwriter who leaves the US because of the blacklist in the 40s and 50s.
January 19, 2012
The edition I read had 443 pages.
An amazing chronicle of a talented writing couple who, because politically they drove "left of center" and were named during the McCarthy era as "Fellow Travelers" were forced into exile abroad. In Mr. Ben Barzman's own words: "During the Blacklist and exile, I felt cheated and victimized. I experienced resentment, humiliation and rage. The feelings of exclusion, alienation, and uprootedness never really left me. As a writer, I felt circumscribed, a writer needs to be steeped in the mainstream of the culture he is writing about. I did not feel I was part if the French community".
The possible enactment of Pipa and Sopa make this very relevant to today. Any censorship or criminalization of ideas and suppression of expression undermines the foundation of America. Our society is predicated on the Bill of Rights. Intellectual freedom and artistic expression rely on the First Amendment. The First Amendment is on life support and too many are pulling at the plug. If the plug is pulled, we will find ourselves in a repressive society where book banning will be the norm (already happening in virulent pockets of this Country), revision of history (already happening in the Tucson School District), and neighbors, co-workers, and friends turning you in for "bad speak" or "bad thought"; committees could be formed ad hoc to ferret out free thinkers who will coerce naming of names to go easy on a hapless person who is subpoenaed. Finally, there will be standing committees and freedom of speech will be a crime and our minds will be shackled, afraid to form an original thought lest our families suffer under the threat of starvation due to being unemployable. It is happening here and there. We must wake up and not lose what we still have.
A painful, yet hopeful memoir written by Norma Barzman, a woman who lived the life of an exile. Hopeful because, although her writing dried up for two decades, she never quite let the spark be extinguished.
There were moments of exhilaration and hilarity. Two couples knew that they would be imminently served subpoenas. They lived a few miles of one another. In the middle of the night, both families moved and switched houses, so that when the Federal Marshals knocked on the door and asked if Mr. X was there, they could honestly answer "No". It was Mr. X's house, but Mr. X was living in Mr. Y's house and it was Mr. Y who answered the door at Mr. X's house. After awhile this grew tedious and they switched back. Wouldn't you know, the Marshals came knocking one night at Mr.X's door and asked for Mr. Y. Mr. X, in his rightful home could answer honestly that he was not Mr. Y. So, it worked! It allowed both couples to flee to France. Brilliant! But, on the other hand, chilling as this happened in Los Angeles within living memory.
A must read for anyone: those who lived during the era, the children of parents thwarted during this era, writers, film historians , intellectuals, children of the Cold War and anyone who thinks a little censorship isn't such a bad thing.
Personally, I am baffled by the McCarthy era. I have read many books on the subject and still cannot, for the life of me, understand why someone espousing the economic philosophy of Communism posed such a threat to the United States. Never once was it proven that any of those who were questioned by HUAC ever advocated violent over throw of the US Government or agitated to do so. Most were children of the Great Depression who thought there might be an alternative to Capitalism.
In this current climate where millions are unemployed and their homes foreclosed upon, seeing the effects of rampant greed and Capitalism squashing the 99%, we are in a petri dish growing the seeds of discontent and encouraging questioning if there is not, perhaps, a better way.
If the US is the strongest, wealthiest and most powerful Country on the Planet, what harm could possibly be done by intellectuals exploring other philosophies and alternative economic theories? Isn't that why our ancestors came to this country in the first place? The only answer is that it threatens the bloated salaries of business tycoons, and politicians feeding at the public trough. In a word, greed. But the majority cannot and WILL not allow themselves to be enslaved while their labor lines the pockets of their bosses while they eke out a living on subsistence wages.
A tragic era in the not so distant past that can occur again if we abnegate our Freedom of Expression and allow Pipa and Sopa to curtail Internet freedom and make expressive discourse seditious and subversive.
An amazing chronicle of a talented writing couple who, because politically they drove "left of center" and were named during the McCarthy era as "Fellow Travelers" were forced into exile abroad. In Mr. Ben Barzman's own words: "During the Blacklist and exile, I felt cheated and victimized. I experienced resentment, humiliation and rage. The feelings of exclusion, alienation, and uprootedness never really left me. As a writer, I felt circumscribed, a writer needs to be steeped in the mainstream of the culture he is writing about. I did not feel I was part if the French community".
The possible enactment of Pipa and Sopa make this very relevant to today. Any censorship or criminalization of ideas and suppression of expression undermines the foundation of America. Our society is predicated on the Bill of Rights. Intellectual freedom and artistic expression rely on the First Amendment. The First Amendment is on life support and too many are pulling at the plug. If the plug is pulled, we will find ourselves in a repressive society where book banning will be the norm (already happening in virulent pockets of this Country), revision of history (already happening in the Tucson School District), and neighbors, co-workers, and friends turning you in for "bad speak" or "bad thought"; committees could be formed ad hoc to ferret out free thinkers who will coerce naming of names to go easy on a hapless person who is subpoenaed. Finally, there will be standing committees and freedom of speech will be a crime and our minds will be shackled, afraid to form an original thought lest our families suffer under the threat of starvation due to being unemployable. It is happening here and there. We must wake up and not lose what we still have.
A painful, yet hopeful memoir written by Norma Barzman, a woman who lived the life of an exile. Hopeful because, although her writing dried up for two decades, she never quite let the spark be extinguished.
There were moments of exhilaration and hilarity. Two couples knew that they would be imminently served subpoenas. They lived a few miles of one another. In the middle of the night, both families moved and switched houses, so that when the Federal Marshals knocked on the door and asked if Mr. X was there, they could honestly answer "No". It was Mr. X's house, but Mr. X was living in Mr. Y's house and it was Mr. Y who answered the door at Mr. X's house. After awhile this grew tedious and they switched back. Wouldn't you know, the Marshals came knocking one night at Mr.X's door and asked for Mr. Y. Mr. X, in his rightful home could answer honestly that he was not Mr. Y. So, it worked! It allowed both couples to flee to France. Brilliant! But, on the other hand, chilling as this happened in Los Angeles within living memory.
A must read for anyone: those who lived during the era, the children of parents thwarted during this era, writers, film historians , intellectuals, children of the Cold War and anyone who thinks a little censorship isn't such a bad thing.
Personally, I am baffled by the McCarthy era. I have read many books on the subject and still cannot, for the life of me, understand why someone espousing the economic philosophy of Communism posed such a threat to the United States. Never once was it proven that any of those who were questioned by HUAC ever advocated violent over throw of the US Government or agitated to do so. Most were children of the Great Depression who thought there might be an alternative to Capitalism.
In this current climate where millions are unemployed and their homes foreclosed upon, seeing the effects of rampant greed and Capitalism squashing the 99%, we are in a petri dish growing the seeds of discontent and encouraging questioning if there is not, perhaps, a better way.
If the US is the strongest, wealthiest and most powerful Country on the Planet, what harm could possibly be done by intellectuals exploring other philosophies and alternative economic theories? Isn't that why our ancestors came to this country in the first place? The only answer is that it threatens the bloated salaries of business tycoons, and politicians feeding at the public trough. In a word, greed. But the majority cannot and WILL not allow themselves to be enslaved while their labor lines the pockets of their bosses while they eke out a living on subsistence wages.
A tragic era in the not so distant past that can occur again if we abnegate our Freedom of Expression and allow Pipa and Sopa to curtail Internet freedom and make expressive discourse seditious and subversive.
August 17, 2015
The high point of the book has two Stalinist Hollywood blacklistees screenwriting the movie el Cid one day ahead of shooting for two producers: Trotsky's nephew and an expat Pole stealing money by the bucket, starring Sophia and Chuck-soon-to-be-Moses-and-head-of-the-NRA-Heston (they hate each other), in Franco's Fascist Spain with his army as extras attacking Valencia, all funded by the capitalist Dupont, captain of industry. Also, fear and loathing (House UnAmerican Activities Committee), kiss and tell (everyone in Hwood), run and hide(in Europe to get away from J Edgar and gang), write and write (under false names), and pump out babies (why not?). All in the name of freedom, justice, and the American way. A capitalist, communist, fascist, monarchist mishmash.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews