Trumbo

Dalton Trumbo may have made his living as a screenwriter and novelist, but as a play and a new must-see documentary film make clear, Dalton Trumbo excelled at the dying literary art of letter writing as his Hollywood career was stifled during the McCarthy 'fifties. Comprised of nine A-list actors reading from his witty and searing letters-Joan Allen, Michael Douglas, Paul Giamatti, Brian Dennehy, Liam Neeson, Donald Sutherland, Josh Lucas among them--the film “Trumbo” takes us back to the era of blacklisting, when writers were hauled before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to define their communist affiliation and name names. Defying them, Trumbo spent 11 months in jail. Adapted by his son Christopher from his 2003 Off Broadway play and directed by Peter Askin, “Trumbo” features performances of his words, archival interviews and resonant clips from his movies “Papillon,” “Spartacus,” “Exodus,” and “Johnny Got his Gun” all focused on characters showing integrity, all standing up for what is right in times of crisis. Trumbo's language stars, as does the true meaning of patriotism especially now when some invoke The Patriot Act to muzzle democratic discourse, when loyalties are so rigidly questioned as to violate our First Amendment. See The DixieChicks. Nathan Lane does a superb and hilarious rendition of Trumbo's riff on “servicing himself” using every euphemism in his ample arsenal. And David Strathairn who so brilliantly brought Edward R. Murrow to life in George Clooney's “Good Night and Good Luck,” reads Trumbo's letter of outrage addressed to his daughter Mitzi's teacher as the child was ostracized at school when her father's history became playground news. The toll on family for resisting fear and cowardice is a large part of the story of Trumbo and the Hollywood Ten whose lives and careers were disrupted by this "witch hunt." See Arthur Miller, "The Crucible." The footage of HUAC is an embarrassing reminder of what Trumbo called "a time of evil."

Regina Weinreich

Graphic Design: Salpeter Ventura

Comments

[Kirsten24Porter]

I think that to receive the credit loans from banks you ought to have a great motivation. But, one time I have received a student loan, just because I wanted to buy a bike.