THE FIRST ATTACK ADS: Hollywood vs. Upton Sinclair

In 1934, famed writer, and longtime socialist, Upton Sinclair swept the Democratic primary for governor of California, leading a mass End Poverty movement. To defeat him that fall, his opponents created one of the dirtiest, and most influential, campaigns in U.S. history, and Hollywood took its first all-out plunge into politics.  Anti-migrant, anti-socialist and anti-communist rhetoric dominated the campaign and drew national attention.   The film shows how the 1934 race marked the rise of "spin doctors," false or manipulated news, and the modern campaign techniques that continue to dominate political campaigning in 2026 and beyond.

Revered MGM producer Irving Thalberg ordered the creation of the first "attack ads" to appear on a screen, a forerunner of today's media-based politics. THE FIRST ATTACK ADS reveals highlights from the three "Thalberg shorts" along with interviews with participants in the Sinclair campaign and observers of the crucial impact of those shorts and their influence right up to 2026.