 Rossen was one of 19 " unfriendly witnesses " subpoenaed in October 1947 by the House Un @-@ American Activities Committee ( HUAC ) during the second Red Scare but was one of eight not called to testify . In 1951 , Rossen was named as a Communist by several HUAC witnesses and he appeared before HUAC for the first time in June 1951 . He exercised his rights under the Fifth Amendment against self @-@ incrimination , taking what came to be known as the " augmented Fifth " . He testified that he was not a member of the Communist Party and that he disagreed with the aims of the party , but when asked to state whether he had ever been a member of the party , Rossen refused to answer . He was placed on the unofficial blacklist by the Hollywood studios , and Columbia broke its production contract with him . 
