In this chapter Byman effectively argues for High Noon as an allegory for the HUAC and the blacklist, and backs his argument up with a prodigious amount of firsthand sources, mainly writer Carl Foreman’s letters and interviews. Byman traces the course of Foreman’s involvement in the HUAC hearings and the simultaneous production of the film. As his letters show, Foreman explicitly states that he “began to write [High Noon] as a parable of what was happening in Hollywood,” and that “there are scenes in the film that are taken from life” (75). This completely corroborates the idea of High Noon as an allegory for Hollywood. Byman provides Foreman’s inner thoughts from the entire HUAC saga while providing a detailed timeline of both Foreman’s involvement with the hearings and the production of High Noon.

            Besides the obvious connection regarding High Noon as an allegory, Byman’s portrayal of Foreman leaves one with a strong impression of Foreman as Kane. Although it can seem at times that Foreman is purposefully making himself out to be the hero (“if there ever was a shadow of a change that I would buy my career or out security at the price of someone else’s it was gone forever”), he was undeniably resolute in the face of the HUAC (73). Byman describes Foreman’s “personal agony,” which mirrors Kane’s agony after being abandoned by the town (76). Byman supports the idea of High Noon as an allegory not only by taking Foreman’s word for it, but also through more direct correlations, such as producer Stanley Kramer as the mayor, since both ultimately turn their backs on the men who they initially supported. Byman’s essay captures the gradual nature of Foreman’s blacklisting, since he only gradually was excluded from Hollywood as deals fell apart, which in many ways mirrors how Kane’s failed recruiting efforts.