Just Been Watching…(121)

~ beetleypete

Trumbo (2015)

Most people under a certain age will not know that much about the dark period in America’s history when thousands of people were blacklisted for having left-wing sympathies, or because they had been members of the Communist Party. Investigated by the government, vilified in the press, and even imprisoned, many suffered as a result of what was later know as McCarthyism, named after a senator who led the hearings. Careers were ruined, marriages broken, and homes and families lost.

One famous Hollywood screenwriter was a part of all this, and his name was Dalton Trumbo. His books and screenwriting credits are enough to fill the entire post, but you will know some of his work, even if you have not heard his name before. ‘Spartacus’, ‘Exodus’, Papillon’, ‘Roman Holiday’, to name just a few. At one time, he was the highest paid writer in Hollywood, living a luxury lifestyle on a ranch with its own lake, and enjoying a loving marriage with a devoted wife and children. But he was also an unlikely Communist, having served as a war correspondent in WW2, and been an active supporter of strikes in the film industry.

The film opens with him at the peak of his success. Best friends with Edward G. Robinson, and part of the Hollywood elite. He is about to sign a contract with MGM, and life could not be any better. But there are rumours that he and nine other writers are about to be summoned to appear at the House Un-American Affairs Committee, where they will be asked to confess to being Communists, and supply other names to the investigators. Trumbo and some of the others decide to fight back, and make a stand. They become known as ‘The Hollywood Ten’.

This is a fine drama, heavily based on real events, and the life of Dalton Trumbo. He is played by Bryan Cranston, in a bravura performance where he is almost never off screen. Trumbo is portrayed realistically, with his obsessive desire to work affecting his family, and his outspoken stubbornness causing rifts with his best friends and colleagues. The scenes during the hearings are filmed as if to make them look like authentic documentary footage, and attention to period detail is first class.

The supporting cast is no less excellent, with Diane Lane as his wife, and many others playing the parts of real people. Those include Helen Mirren as the bitchy gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, seeking to ruin Trumbo, and Michael Stuhlbarg with a very sensitive portrayal of a troubled Edward G. Robinson. Elle Fanning shines as Trumbo’s activist teenage daughter, and Dean O’Gorman is a very convincing Kirk Douglas. Even John Goodman shows up, enjoying himself playing John Goodman. (Actually he is Frank King, but still Goodman)

You don’t really have to be a fan of old films to enjoy this, or have that much interest in the history of the blacklist in the 1940s. It works perfectly as a compelling drama about a group of people who decided to stand up and be counted.

Here’s a trailer.

41 thoughts on “Just Been Watching…(121)”

  1. I watched this the other day as well – thoroughly enjoyed and eye opening.
    Another one to watch out for doing the rounds is Sydney Poitier in Children of the Dust – only concerns three differing cultures in the USA but gives you a bit of historical insight into what is happening now over there.

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  2. This looks very good. Adding it to our list. John Garfield was another victim of that time period, only because he wouldn’t rat out anyone. J Edgar was a terrible person. I bet there’s even more he ruined. We don’t even know about.

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  3. It didnt quite blow me away given the cast and subject matter but the story is so compelling i enjoyed it. Stuhlbarg is such a talent. You forgot the guy playing John Wayne, he was pretty good. Best wishes Pete.

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    1. He did a fair Wayne, I agree, but he wasn’t i it enough for me to menion him. It was much better than I expected, but then I am very interested in the Commie blacklisting. 🙂
      Cheers, Pete.

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  4. I had a brilliant professor in my graduate studies at the state university who had been “purged” from Reed College during the time. Their loss was definitely my gain, however.

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  6. I have “Spartacus” and “Roman Holiday” on DVD, and, years ago, watched “Papillon” (1973) on TV. I’ve read the great source novel by Henri Charrière twice, and its sequel, “Banco,” once. I’ve never seen “Exodus,” but am familiar with its wonderful theme music. The movie, “Trumbo,” would definitely be of interest to me.

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  7. I read Don O’s post last week about Trumbo and thought to myself that I needed to watch the film. Then, my mother the other day mentioned she watched a really good movie and it was “Trumbo”. Now you have seen it and give it two thumbs up. Ha! I better sit down and watch it. 🙂

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    1. I had already recorded it from the TV before Don’s post, and that inspired me to get on and watch it. I watched two films in one evening. ‘Trumbo’ was very good indeed, but ‘Frantz’ was simply marvellous. European film-making at its very best, in a way that other countries never quite seem to match.
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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          1. Exactly…plus my discharge from the Army had a code that identified me as an agitator….jobs were hard until Penthouse exposed the coding system for Vietnam Vets…..chuq

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  14. Nice review! I went to the cinema to watch this one and I enjoyed it so much that I now own it in DVD. Cranston is phenomenal and the story is very interesting (although very sad too).

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