http://socialistaction.org/trumbo-the-hollywood-witch-hunt/
Trumbo — The Hollywood witch hunt
Published December 31, 2015. | By Socialist Action.
Dec. 2015 Trumbo protest
By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH
TRUMBO, written by John McNamara, from the book by Bruce Cook. Directed
by Jay Roach. With Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren, and Diane Lane.
Hopefully, word of mouth will encourage the general public to see this
engaging film, in part because of the contemporary relevance of its
focus on the consequences of not swearing an oath of loyalty to the U.S.
government.
In the late 1930s and early ’40s, many artists, writers, and
intellectuals who sympathized with the poor, the labor movement, and the
fight against fascism aligned themselves with the Communist Party—which
was then following the Stalinist policy of the “Popular Front.” Hence,
when the government’s anti-communist witch hunt got underway soon after
the end of the Second World War, many in Hollywood were placed under
suspicion.
Lists of names were drawn up, and those named were subpoenaed by the
House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). Novelist and
screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (here in an award-worthy portrayal by Bryan
Cranston) had joined the Communist Party in 1943, and he was on that
list. Trumbo was one of the highest-paid screenwriters at the time,
making about $4000 a week. He had an affable, understanding wife, Cleo
(Diane Lane); and children. He had a lot to lose.
Under Jay Roach’s direction, the film recreates the era of the
government witch hunt. Everyone was afraid, especially when people lost
their jobs, their reputations, their families, or their lives (as some
committed suicide). Many were shunned by friends and neighbors, and
their children were bullied and even kicked out of school.
In “Trumbo,” actors like Edward G. Robinson (Michael Stulhbarg) and John
Wayne (David James Elliot) are shown reviling Dalton Trumbo) to his face
or avoiding him completely because of his alleged communist sympathies.
Robinson ratted on Trumbo in his testimony before HUAC.
Another nemisis of the screenwriter was Hollywood correspondent Hedda
Hopper (Helen Mirren), who ends people’s careers with her villainous
tongue, pen, and poisoned hat-pin (she was known for her elaborate
headgear). Hopper skewered Jews, communists, Blacks, LGBT people, and
anyone who didn’t fawn to her—no one was spared.
In 1947, when called to testify before HUAC, Trumbo refused to testify.
When told to answer “yes” or “no” to the question of whether or not he
ever was a member of the Communist Party, he replied that anyone who
thought it could be answered “yes” or “no” was a moron. He and nine
others, known as the Hollywood Ten, were subsequently charged with
contempt of court. Trumbo spent 11 months in federal prison in Kentucky.
The film shows him being hassled and taunted by his fellow inmates.
Trumbo’s career was basically over; no studio in California would hire
him. When he was released from prison in late 1950, he moved with his
family to Mexico City, where he could crank out screenplays undisturbed
and send them to Hollywood under pseudonyms. Jay Roach’s film avoids
depicting the move to Mexico, and instead takes the tack of simply
moving him to another neighborhood, where he is eyed with suspicion.
The film shows Trumbo getting a writing job at a B movie studio run by a
Frank King (the unparalleled John Goodman, effective in another studio
boss role). King hands him a stack of scripts to “fix’ in short order.
Trumbo organizes a kind of assembly line in his home for his
screenwriting pals and engages his kids, now teens with lives of their
own, to proof read, type, and hand-deliver scripts directly to studios.
He becomes a bully, insisting that what he does puts food on the table.
Somehow, Cleo keeps it all together.
There is a wonderful scene based closely on Trumbo’s real life where he
writes in his bathtub, a plank holding his Royal manual typewriter,
along with scissors and glue for cutting and pasting. There are pages
everywhere.
Trumbo submits one of his own scripts, ”The Brave One” under the name of
Robert Rich, which wins an Academy Award. Another, in 1953, is about a
princess who goes incognito in Rome and falls in love with a commoner:
Trumbo gives it to Ian McLellan Hunter to pass off as his work. Hunter
renames the film “Roman Holiday” and it wins an Academy Award. (In 1993,
40 years after its release, Trumbo received the award posthumously.)
Hedda’s career landed in the hopper (I couldn’t resist) when Kirk
Douglas (Dean O’Gorman, who recreated Douglas’s look and voice
beautifully) insisted that Trumbo’s name appear as screenwriter for
“Spartacus” in 1959. Dalton Trumbo also wrote the screenplay for
“Exodus,” for which director Otto Preminger (doppelganger Christian
Berkel) practically moved in with the Trumbos to oversee script changes.
Shortly after the release of these two films and Trumbo’s readmission
into the Writers Guild of America, the era of the blacklist ended. He
continued with his prolific output until he spent his last days in a
hospice and died in 1976 of a heart attack at 70. Cleo lived to be 93
and collected his posthumous awards.
“Trumbo” is a compelling film in its detail. Roach’s work with the
actors allows us to empathize with the real-life people that they portray.
Photo: Dalton Trumbo is third from left in protest as the Hollywood Ten
are sent to prison.
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Posted in Arts & Culture, Civil Liberties. | Tagged films, Hollywood,
HUAC, McCarthyism, movies, Trumbo.
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