Trumbo (2015)

In 1947, Dalton Trumbo was Hollywood's top screenwriter, until he and other artists were jailed and blacklisted for their political beliefs.

Director:

Jay Roach

Writers:

John McNamara, Bruce Cook (book)

Stars:

Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 44 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bryan Cranston	...	Dalton Trumbo
Michael Stuhlbarg	...	Edward G. Robinson
David Maldonado	...	Rocco (as Dave Maldonado)
John Getz	...	Sam Wood
Diane Lane	...	Cleo Trumbo
Laura Flannery	...	Party Goer
Helen Mirren	...	Hedda Hopper
David James Elliott	...	John Wayne
Toby Nichols	...	Chris Trumbo (age 6-10) (as Tobias McDowell Nichols)
Joseph S. Martino	...	Rally Participant
Madison Wolfe	...	Niki Trumbo (age 8-11)
Jason Bayle	...	Young Father
James DuMont	...	J. Parnell Thomas
Alan Tudyk	...	Ian McLellan Hunter
Louis C.K.	...	Arlen Hird

Storyline

In 1947, Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) was Hollywood's top screenwriter until he and other artists were jailed and blacklisted for their political beliefs. This movie recounts how Dalton used words and wit to win two Academy Awards and expose the absurdity and injustice under the blacklist, which entangled everyone from gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (Dame Helen Mirren) to John Wayne (David James Elliott), Kirk Douglas (Dean O'Gorman), and Otto Preminger (Christian Berkel).

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Plot Keywords:

communist | gossip columnist | gossip | fiction writer | communism | 

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Taglines:

Are you now or have you ever been...

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language including some sexual references

Did You Know?

Trivia

At one point in the movie, Cleo (Diane Lane) talks about her first husband, called Hal. In Malcolm in the Middle (2000), Bryan Cranston played a husband (Malcolm's father), who was also called "Hal".

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Goofs

Cleo Trumbo uses her 35mm film camera to take an indoor photograph of her daughter Niki Trumbo for her 16th birthday. At the time, no cameras were able to take a clear picture indoor without an additional light source. Actually, such indoor use of this camera type was common at least a decade before the period of the film.

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Quotes

Hedda Hopper: Now what do you do when you love something but it stops loving you back?
Louis B. Mayer: You fight.
Hedda Hopper: No, no, no. You love it more until it surrenders.

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Crazy Credits

As the credit scroll begins, photos of the real Dalton Trumbo, his family and other people portrayed in the film are shown. These are followed by historical footage of Trumbo giving an interview (from the same one where he acknowledges that he is 'Robert Rich').

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Connections

References Back to Bataan (1945)

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Soundtracks

Drunken Father
Composed by Max Steiner
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

User Reviews

What a great film

I have seen so many documentaries about this era. The Hollywood blacklist, McCarthyism.

However, this takes a fresh, personal look at what happened. It shows how folks actually handled this, rather than just the circumstances of the time and newsreels of Congress hearings. How did they do it? This shows the how and when, the risks. Of course, Trumbo captures the full story of the persecution.

Stay to the very end of the film, stay for the credits as some of the clips they show are so meaningful.

I don't know if Trumbo was the person shown in the film, but if he was, he was an American hero. I think films like this represent the spirit, the best or worst of the spirit of what happened.

Trumbo wasn't just a hero from the look of it, he was also a survivor who made his way through the worst of it and came out on the other side.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 November 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Trumbo

Filming Locations:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$74,177, 8 November 2015

Gross USA:

$7,857,741

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,430,025

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bleecker Street Films, ShivHans Pictures, Groundswell Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Digital (as Dolby 5.1)

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1