Trumbo (2007)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Peter Askin

Writers:

Christopher Trumbo (play)
Christopher Trumbo (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 June 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Tagline:

He was Hollywood's greatest screenwriter. His words still resonate today. He defied a committee, he defied the system. They took his honor. They took his freedom. So Dalton Trumbo went to war. But the ending could only be written by him.

Plot Keywords:

Screenwriter | Based On Play

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Dalton Trumbo	...	Himself (archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joan Allen	...	Herself
Brian Dennehy	...	Himself
Kirk Douglas	...	Himself
Michael Douglas	...	Himself
Paul Giamatti	...	Himself
Peter Hanson	...	Himself
Dustin Hoffman	...	Himself
Lee Irwin	...	Himself
Nathan Lane	...	Himself
Josh Lucas	...	Himself
Victor Navasky	...	Himself
Liam Neeson	...	Himself
Jean Rouverol	...	Herself
David Strathairn	...	Himself
Donald Sutherland	...	Himself
Christopher Trumbo	...	Himself

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for a sex-related commentary.

Runtime:

Canada:96 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:PG | USA:PG-13 | Australia:PG

Company:

Filbert Steps Productions

Movie Connections:

Features Spartacus (1960)

Dalton Trumbo: Smart, Funny and Courageous

I saw this at the Toronto Film Festival on September 12, 2007. During the post-screening Q & A, several audience members were saying that the producers should do everything they can to get the film distributed. It seems that they picked up on the idea that first amendment issues of fifty years ago still resonate. This excellent documentary includes many interviews of Dalton Trumbo who, as one of the Hollywood Ten, was blacklisted from 1947 to 1960--when he was finally given screen credit for the films Exodus and Spartacus.

The producers of those films were also interviewed: Otto Preminger in archival footage and Kirk Douglas in a recent (and poignant) interview. The best part of the film is the lively Trumbo himself in interviews from the 1940s to the 1970s. The entire package is elevated artistically by a cast of top-notch actors who give great performances using only Trumbo's words, from his letters and other writings. The best of these is Nathan Lane's reading of Trumbo's letter to his son on the subject of masturbation.