Screenwriter Ring Lardner Jr. was asked in 1947 by the House Un-American Activities Committee, “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party of the United States?” Lardner’s response was “I could answer the question exactly the way you want, but if I did, I would hate myself in the morning.”
The ACLU didn’t appreciate his wit. His refusal to answer questions got him convicted of contempt of Congress and a sentence in Danbury prison.
But Hollywood appreciated his wit. It is present in the film for which he won his first Oscar, “Woman of the Year.” The 1942 romantic comedy, which Lardner wrote with Michael Kanin, stars Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as colleagues at a newspaper, whose relationship is strained by Hepburn’s ardent feminism.
Lardner Jr.’s second Oscar-winning screenplay was for “M*A*S*H,” in 1971. There is a rumor he won a third, under a pseudonym during the blacklist, but that rumor never has been confirmed.
“Woman of the Year” will be shown Tuesday, Jan. 6, at 2, 4:30 and 7 p.m. at Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main St. in Old Saybrook, as part of its “Kate Classics” series. Admission is $8. www.thekate.org.
