Actors on Red Alert: Career Interviews with Five Actors and Actresses Affected by the Blacklist

Books with show business interviews are usually a waste of time in my opinion. But "Actors on Red Alert" by noted film historian Anthony Slide arrives as a welcome exception, not only due to the obvious intelligence and forthrightness of the five subjects but also because of Mr. Slide's perceptive questioning. All five -- Phil Brown, Rose Hobart, Marsha Hunt, Marc Lawrence and Doris Nolan -- were to various degrees affected by the notorious Hollywood witch hunt of the late 1940s. One -- Lawrence -- became an informer, in fact, and "named names," a treachery the man apparently has a tough time dealing with to this very day. Surprisingly, Lawrence blames the blacklist not on the rightwing politicians of the day but on the Communist Party itself! The remaining four interview subjects -- two of whom were longtime close friends of Mr. Slide -- offer a more balanced view of the tragedy. None, however, is boring and neither is Mr. Slide's wonderful book. In fact, all too little have been written about Doris Nolan, an actress rather better known for her stage work than her few film appearances. But Miss Nolan proves perhaps the most interesting subject for Mr. Slide's probing questions. Sadly, the actress passed away prior to the publishing of "Actors on Red Alert," and the book shall stand as a testament to an unjustly forgotten personality.