Trumbo

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****

Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976) was a great liberal/progressive, a smart man and a terrific writer of letters, if not screenplays (have you seen Johnny Got His Gun or The Sandpiper lately?). Yes, he won two Oscars -- for story (Roman Holiday in 1953) and screenplay (The Brave One in 1956) -- under pseudonyms, as he was blacklisted during these years. For the most part, however, he was a journeyman screenwriter, always competent and sometimes more than that. What he is most noted for now, and what the fine documentary Trumbo brings home so clearly, is his character and his unusual ability and courage in speaking truth to power and then paying for it.

Directed by Peter Askin (Company Man) and written by Trumbo's son Christopher (adapted from his own play, which Askin has opened up and out extremely well), the documentary tracks Dalton Trumbo before, during and after the infamous Blacklist that destroyed so many fine lives both in and out of the movie industry. (As ever, we seem to hear most about Hollywood and the Blacklist, but the House Un-American Activities Committee went after "Reds" in every area from science and government to arts and entertainment.)

Christopher Trumbo and Askin weave together the elder Trumbo's letters and musings, memories of family members and friends, headlines, newsreels and more -- until a surprisingly complex picture of the 1940s through the 60s (and beyond) comes clear. All the drinking and joking, the writing and having fun with friends, and the year or two spent in Mexico is included. While the movie is a "family" endeavor, it does offer a few indications from the Trumbo children that, as much as they loved their dad, he may not have been the easiest fellow to live with.

The movie's ace-in-the-hole is probably the casting of nine major actors –- Joan Allen, Brian Dennehy, Michael Douglas, Paul Giamatti, Nathan Lane, Josh Lucas, Liam Neeson, David Strathairn and Donald Sutherland -- whose readings of many of the writer's letters makes up a good portion of the film. Using all these different actors may seem initially like a stunt, but it begins to make sense when we see how many different sides of the man these actors are able to show us. Talking-head interviews from other friends and associates (Victor Navasky, Emmanuel Azenberg) fill us in on other aspects of the writer, but the movie keeps coming back to those letters – and for good reason. Giamatti does a couple of priceless gems that Trumbo composed to the phone company, while Lane reads to a fare-thee-well Trumbo's letter to his son about the joys of masturbation. The most moving and anger-making, however is the letter read by Strathairn to the school principal, after constant taunts and jeering towards Trumbo's daughter's by her schoolmates (incited of course by their parents) had rendered the girl unable to return to school.

Trumbo brings the personal cost of the Blacklist home like few films I have seen: the incredible damage done, not simply to one's finances, but to the marriage and especially to the children. Trumbo's great strength was that he refused to inform on others; this is what drove the House Un-American Activities Committee crazy regarding him and most of the others in the Hollywood Ten. What of those who did inform – Elia Kazan and others? They were given a mild hand-slap and sent back to work.

Late in the film, Dalton Trumbo, who fought in the Pacific during WWII, writes of being in a cemetery viewing the graves of those Americans who had died at Iwo Jima, with the American flag now flying above them. "This was not," he tells us quietly, "the flag of informers."

The Trumbo DVD has only the film and a trailer for it. I think you'll find the documentary full enough that "extras" are not required.