Set in 1950, during the McCarthyism period in Hollywood, this intense drama focuses on a classic battle of innuendo and ego between two of the town's most prestigious film directors -- Cecil B. DeMille and Joseph Mankiewicz.

The issue: DeMille, a legend in Hollywood and its elder statesman of the period, wanted every director in the Screen Directors Guild to sign a mandatory loyalty oath without the benefit of a secret ballot.

In other words, the names of anyone who didn't sign would be known to the Guild and a "black list" would be formed.

The well-respected and outspoken Mankiewicz, although in favor of loyalty oaths, felt they needn't be mandatory and his protestations let to a war over the issue and, ironically, his own loyalty.

Mankiewicz's efforts to stop DeMille became one of the first stones thrown against the "black list" and a legendary footnote in the history of Hollywood.