"This book reveals the true story behind one of cinema's darkest episodes: how actors, directors and moguls were subpoenaed to name names and answer the '$64,000 question': 'are now you or have you ever been a member of the Communist party?' The book charts the generation of actors who found their livelihood ruined by being 'blacklisted' and the writers forced to hire 'fronts' to continue to work; how Arthur Miller was offered the chance to have his hearing dropped in return for a photo-opportunity with Marilyn Monroe; and how Kirk Douglas's naming of Dalton Trumbo as the writer of Spartacus signalled the end of this extraordinary era." "Painstakingly researched and drawing on numerous new interviews, Hollywood on Trial is the definitive account of how political paranoia shaped cinema for a decade."--Jacket.