Communism arrived as a global political force at about the same time that the movie industry emerged as a global cultural force. In the 1910s, as Russia was being convulsed by the Bolsheviks, Hollywood was turning out the earliest classics by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, and John Ford.
For a while, the march of communism and the rise of the movies proceeded independently, but the paths later converged — an unholy alliance. During the Second World War, Hollywood committed its resources to producing films in full thrall to the Soviet Union, including Mission to Moscow (1943) and The North Star (1943). The subsequent backlash against such productions (and the political affiliations of their makers) reached a peak in hearings held by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
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