Tonight's documentary for Omnibus tells the story of the people in American show business who would and those who would not answer that question.
In 1947 the House Un-American Activities Committee came to Hollywood to track down communist subversion in the film industry. Newsfilm recorded the events in detail. Heads of studios and stars spoke up before the Committee: Louis B. Mayer, Robert Taylor, Adolphe Menjou, Gary Cooper and others. One group of writers and directors resisted the Committee - the Hollywood Ten.
Talking about a time which one lawyer described as 'a rather shameful period in our history' are: Dore Schary, Donald Ogden Stewart, Arthur Miller, Lillian Hellman, John Randolph and Sarah Cunningham, Howard da Silva, Conrad Bromberg
'The one thing... l'm ashamed of': p 19