During the early Cold War, the 'Red Scare' led to the darkest period in Hollywood history. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) investigated the film industry for communist influence. Ten writers and directors, known as the 'Hollywood Ten,' refused to testify and were jailed for contempt. This led to a formal 'Blacklist' where hundreds of industry professionals were barred from working. Many blacklisted writers continued to work in secret using 'fronts' (friends who put their names on the scripts) or pseudonyms. Dalton Trumbo, one of the Ten, famously won two Oscars while blacklisted—one under the name Robert Rich for 'The Brave One'—but he couldn't claim them until the blacklist finally broke in 1960 when Kirk Douglas and Otto Preminger publicly credited him for 'Spartacus' and 'Exodus.'