Trumbo

Dalton Trumbo was the first blacklisted writer to win an Academy Award. However, he could not claim the award until years later because he had been forced to write under a pseudonym. Trumbo was one of the Hollywood Ten and even spent a year in jail as a result of investigations into Communist influences in the motion picture industry. This documentary is fascinating not just for its examination of a bizarre period in American history where fear replaced reason and innocent men were jailed, but also for how Trumbo dealt with these hardships. One of the most successful writers in Hollywood’s history, he fled to Mexico and struggled by, earning a pittance for his phenomenal work. He shared his frustration with friends through extraordinarily entertaining letters, read out with vivacity by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Letters to the phone company and his son are some of the most entertaining. Previously I knew little of Dalton Trumbo, but now feel terrible for not discover this extraordinarly entertaining and touching story earlier. The devotion, conviction and creativity with which Trumbo attacks every hardship is inspirational, and the story is intelligently put together with archive footage, interviews along with the reading of the letters.