Trumbo (2007)

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:

Through a focus on the life of Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976), this film examines the effects on individuals...

Plot Keywords:

Children | First Amendment | Mexico | Interview | Prison

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Dalton Trumbo	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joan Allen	...	Herself
Brian Dennehy	...	Himself
Michael Douglas	...	Himself
Paul Giamatti	...	Himself
Nathan Lane	...	Himself
Josh Lucas	...	Himself
Liam Neeson	...	Himself
David Strathairn	...	Himself
Donald Sutherland	...	Himself
Emanuel Azenberg	...	Himself / Interviewee
Walter Bernstein	...	Himself / Interviewee
Larry Ceplair	...	Himself / Interviewee
Kirk Douglas	...	Himself / Interviewee
Peter Hanson	...	Himself / Interviewee
Dustin Hoffman	...	Himself / Interviewee
Lee Irwin	...	Himself / Interviewee
Kate Lardner	...	Herself / Interviewee
Helen Manfull	...	Herself / Interviewee
Victor Navasky	...	Himself / Interviewee
Jean Rouverol	...	Herself / Interviewee
Christopher Trumbo	...	Himself / Interviewee
Mitzi Trumbo	...	Herself / Interviewee
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lauren Bacall	...	Herself (archive footage)
Alvah Bessie	...	Himself (archive footage)
Herbert J. Biberman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Humphrey Bogart	...	Himself (archive footage)
Hugo Butler	...	Himself (archive footage)
Winston Churchill	...	Himself (archive footage)
Lester Cole	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bartley Crum	...	Himself (archive footage)
Walt Disney	...	Himself (archive footage)
Edward Dmytryk	...	Himself (archive footage)
J. Edgar Hoover	...	Himself (archive footage)
Eric Johnston	...	Himself (archive footage)
Elia Kazan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ring Lardner Jr.	...	Himself (archive footage)
Emmet Lavery	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Howard Lawson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Albert Maltz	...	Himself (archive footage)
Louis B. Mayer	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joseph McCarthy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Adolphe Menjou	...	Himself (archive footage)
Samuel Ornitz	...	Himself (archive footage)
Larry Parks	...	Himself (archive footage)
Otto Preminger	...	Himself (archive footage)
Adrian Scott	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joseph Stalin	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert Taylor	...	Himself (archive footage)
J. Parnell Thomas	...	Himself (archive footage)
Cleo Trumbo	...	Herself (archive footage)

Directed by
Peter Askin

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Christopher Trumbo		play
Christopher Trumbo		screenplay

Produced by
Will Battersby	....	producer
Kurt Engfehr	....	co-producer
Ariana Garfinkel	....	associate producer
Alan Hruska	....	co-executive producer
Stelio Kitrilakis	....	co-executive producer
Al Klingenstein	....	producer (as Alan Klingenstein)
Jim Kohlberg	....	executive producer
Kristin Kopp	....	associate producer
Sophia Lin	....	line producer
Tory Tunnell	....	producer
David Viola	....	producer

Original Music by
Robert Miller

Cinematography by
Jonathan Furmanski		(director of photography)
Fred Murphy		(director of photography)
Chris Norr		(director of photography)
Frank Prinzi		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Kurt Engfehr

Production Design by
Stephanie Carroll

Costume Design by
Sarah Beers

Makeup Department
Maya Hardinge	....	hair stylist
Maya Hardinge	....	makeup artist
Julia Lallas	....	hair stylist
Julia Lallas	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Mike Harrop	....	post-production supervisor
Craig Zobel	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Billy Cox	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Lindsay Fa	....	graphic design producer: Mekanism
Ian Kovalik	....	graphic design creative director: Mekanism
Richard Krolewicz	....	graphic designer: Mekanism
Lindsay Myers	....	production design assistant
Stef Smith	....	graphic design producer: Mekanism

Sound Department
Joshua Anderson	....	production sound mixer
Benjamin Cheah	....	sound editor (as Ben Cheah)
Benjamin Cheah	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Ben Cheah)
Neil Danziger	....	boom operator (as Neil Dansiger)
Patrick Donahue	....	sound re-recording mixer
Christof Gebert	....	production sound mixer
Jack Hutson	....	production sound mixer
Tom Jordan	....	boom operator
Jan McLaughlin	....	production sound mixer
Gregg Swiatlowski	....	backgrounds editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Orren Azani	....	still photographer
Mark Belhumeur	....	provider: camera equipment, VER
Joe Belschner	....	best boy grip
Olivier Bernier	....	best boy grip
Liz Campbell	....	best boy electric
Chris Cenatiempo	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Robert Featherstone	....	camera operator
John Fritz	....	provider: camera equipment, VER
Darren Frohlich	....	key grip
Darren Frolich	....	gaffer
Stu Gray	....	best boy electric
Melissa Guimaraes	....	gaffer
Melissa Guimaraes	....	key grip
Andrew B. Hansen	....	best boy electric (as Andrew Hansen)
J. Alan Hostetter	....	gaffer (as Alan Hostetter)
Brian Rigney Hubbard	....	camera operator
Luca Latino	....	camera intern
Michael J. Latino	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera (as Michael Latino)
Marcus Lehmann	....	best boy grip
James Madrid	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Gareth Manwaring	....	camera production assistant
Joseph Paolini	....	best boy grip
Anwar Payne	....	key grip
Alex Peterson	....	camera production assistant (as Alexander Peterson)
Carl Prinzi	....	camera operator
Aaron Randall	....	best boy grip
Nate Ranger	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Noah David Smith	....	camera operator (as Noah B. Smith)
Paul Swan	....	best boy grip
Matt Walker	....	key grip
Eric Westpheling	....	additional photography
Eric Westpheling	....	still photographer
Andrew Wonder	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera

Editorial Department
Pat Kelleher	....	digital intermediate conform editor
April Merl	....	associate editor
Scott Oliver	....	digital intermediate colorist
Eric Ramistella	....	digital intermediate conform editor
Tracey Soast	....	digital intermediate producer
John Crowley	....	colorist (uncredited)
John Karian	....	color timer (uncredited)

Music Department
Jonathan Dinklage	....	musician: violins, viola
Jeanne LeBlanc	....	musician: cellos
Joe Mendoza	....	score engineer
Joe Mendoza	....	score mixer
Robert Miller	....	musician: piano
Heather Weisberg	....	assistant to composer

Other crew
Prudence Arndt	....	senior archival consultant
David Jamaal Banks	....	production assistant
Michael Belcher	....	production assistant
Dana Bilbao	....	production assistant
Sylvie Bushwick	....	production assistant
Kelsey Egan	....	production assistant
Lindsay Fa	....	titles producer: Mekanism
Ben Feldman	....	legal services: Biegelman, Feldman & Associates
Jonathan Gardner	....	production assistant
Ariana Garfinkel	....	archival supervisor
Cristina Garza	....	representative: Filbert Steps Productions
Philip Gelatt	....	representative: Safehouse Pictures (as Phil Gelatt)
Pamela Goldstein	....	representative: Safehouse Pictures
Jennifer Gordon	....	production assistant
Michael Guerrieri	....	production assistant
Lisa Hartjens	....	archival researcher (as Elisabeth Hartjens)
Omar Hernandez	....	production assistant
Charley Keshia	....	production assistant
Peter Korpan	....	teleprompter operator
Ian Kovalik	....	creative director: titles, Mekanism
Richard Krolewicz	....	title designer: Mekanism
Nonny de la Peña	....	archival researcher
Stephen Leroy	....	production assistant
Neora Luria	....	production assistant
Jim Murphy	....	teleprompter operator
Chris O'Brien	....	teleprompter operator
Dana Penrod	....	production assistant
Evan Pohl	....	assistant to director
Weldon Powers	....	production assistant
Bill Richy	....	teleprompter operator
Jean Rouverol	....	provider: archival footage and images
Doug Russo	....	teleprompter operator
Jessica Kumai Scott	....	representative: Filbert Steps Productions
Justin Sharp	....	production assistant
Stef Smith	....	titles producer: Mekanism
Daniel Spence	....	production assistant
Max Strebel	....	production assistant
Stacey Torello	....	teleprompter operator (as Stacey Torrelo)
Cleo Trumbo	....	provider: archival footage and images
Mitzi Trumbo	....	provider: archival footage and images
Milton Walker	....	production assistant

Thanks
Jason F. Brown	....	thanks (as Jason Brown)
Danny Glover	....	very special thanks
Joby Harold	....	special thanks
Charlie Hewson	....	thanks
Victor Viola	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Filbert Steps Productions
• Reno Productions (in association with)
• Safehouse Pictures

Distributors

• IDP Distribution (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Red Envelope Entertainment (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Samuel Goldwyn Company, The (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Samuel Goldwyn Films (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Magnolia Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Red Envelope Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Biegelman, Feldman & Associayes  legal services
• England Insurance Brokerage  production insurance
• Farm Boy Films  lighting and grip equipment
• Mekanism San Francisco  titles and graphic design
• Postworks New York  digital intermediate (as PostWorks New York)
• Postworks New York  sound re-recording mixing (as PostWorks New York)
• VER  camera equipment
• Well  editorial facility

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for a sex-related commentary

Runtime:

USA:96 min | 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 | Australia:M (TV rating) | Singapore:NC-16

Company:

Filbert Steps Productions

Movie Connections:

Features The Brave One (1956)

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.