Pete chose to take the 5th on some questions HUAC asked him, and then he chose to answer some of them. That, seemingly, was against the rules. If you take the 5th, you've got to take it for all the queries. So Congress found him in contempt. He was sentenced to a year---but that was overturned.

The blacklist was insideous because you couldn't fight it. It was sort of like being incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay. All the jobs dry up. Nobody'll hire you---and nobody'll come right out and say why.

Find a real fine Woody Allen film called THE FRONT. It's one of his best. About a guy (Woody) who is sanitized and clean so he puts his name on scripts by blacklisted writers. That way they can get some income --after they pay him. But it hits the guys hard. The scene where happy-go-lucky Zero Mostel goes out the window and kills himself because he's had enough, well, the blacklist did do that to some good people.

Art
Thieme

Art Thieme