Cinema: Trouble at RKO

Howard Hughes went after the Red varmint with both guns blazing.

Ever since the "Unfriendly Nine" won an out-of-court settlement against four film companies last January, moviemakers have hesitated to fire suspected Communists. But keeping suspects on the payroll means boycotts and box-office trouble: e.g., Industry Spokesman Eric Johnston this week is trying to placate the American Legion, which is objecting to pictures ranging from Detective Story to Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, because Communist suspects worked on them. But RKO Boss Hughes didn't seem to mind trouble.

A year ago Hughes fired a writer named Paul Jarrico, suspected of...

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