Edwin C. Johnson would propose new legislation inspired by Ingrid Bergman’s affair(!), which would have allowed the government to ban movies based not merely on their content, but on the moral standing of those who made it. The legislation did not pass. 

Johnson’s words, however, was impetus enough for Bergman to flee from the United States for a spell. From 1950 to 1955, Bergman lived essentially in exile from America, making a series of notable films with Rossellini in Italy. During this time, she made “Europa 51,” the anthology film “We, the Women,” “Journey to Italy,” “Fear,” and “Joan of Arc at the Stake.” She would also make “Elena and Her Men” with master director Jean Renoir. By 1956, it seems the heat was off, and Bergman returned to Hollywood to star in “Anastasia.” As mentioned above, she won an Oscar for it. Bergman became increasingly nimble, and made mainstream Hollywood films alongside multiple international productions all the way through the 1970s. 

Bergman and her daughter Pia wouldn’t see each other again until 1957, the same year she and Rossellini were to divorce. Bergman would go on to marry her third husband, Swedish publicist Lars Schmidt, in 1958. 

In 1972, according to the New York Times, Sen. Charles H. Percy (R-Ill.) issued a formal apology to Bergman for Johnson’s hurtful remarks. Vindication at last.