Trumbo - a history lesson for the times

11/29/15 Trumbo, not yet nominated, 2015

Trumbo was my third theatrical release in four days, not a record by any stretch, but one of two things was going to happen: I was going to fall asleep and experience burnout or I was going to get sucked into the movie and want it to never end. Thankfully, it was option number b. Bryan Cranston stars as the titular Trumbo, a Hollywood screenwriter for four decades. He was also blacklisted for ten years for his membership in the Communist party and his refusal to name names. Trumbo makes no effort to hide his political leanings, but to him and his friends, this is all well within their Constitutional rights and does not make them unpatriotic or un-American. Unfortunately, anti-Communist fervor is elevating to a fever pitch and Trumbo and some of his friends are sent to federal prison and blacklisted. Trumbo's nemesis is Hedda Hopper, a vile, venomous woman, who could make or break a Hollywood career with one gossip column or one night on her radio show. Hopper (the always fabulous Helen Mirren) is so right wing she makes Quisling look like Franklin Roosevelt. She has no compunction about threatening actors, writers or studio heads like Louis B. Mayer with a death knell on their careers if they do not bend to her whim to wipe out any leftist leanings (be they Communist or liberal Democrats). Just as Cranston 'owns' the role of Trumbo, Mirren 'owns' Hopper; I wanted to reach out and smack her. Diane Lane plays Cleo Trumbo, Trumbo's wife; even though Cleo is not a member of the Communist Party (this is made known when their eldest child, Nikola, asks Trumbo if she is a Communist and what a Communist is) she supports him through Congressional hearings, time in a federal prison in Kentucky and through his manic working schedule and demands and through his professional 'rehabilitation'. Unable to find work because of the blacklist, Trumbo starts writing scripts using pseudonyms or in the case of  Roman Holiday, he asked his friend, Ian McLellan Hunter to 'front' for him. The movie won the Oscar for Best Story. Trumbo goes to work for the King brothers played perfectly by John Goodman and Stephen Root; it's a break from the seriousness going on and played with a comedic edge. It isn't until late 1959 when Kirk Douglas needs Trumbo's help in writing the script for Spartacus, and around the same time, Otto Preminger wants his help for Exodus. As it is told in the film, Trumbo plays one against the other, saying that each has agreed to give him full credit for writing, and they do. Nikola (Elle Fanning plays the older Nikola) has a special bond with her father; one that shows some strain as she gets older and wants to do some of the things she thought her father would support like voting rights marches. Trumbo is flawed and we see those flaws as he becomes increasingly self-centered as he takes on more and more screenplays to write and re-write; he rages against Nikola when she asks him to come out of the tub (one of his favorite places to work) to have birthday cake; he drinks and pops amphetamines to keep up with his overwhelming  workload. He has a fight with Arlen Hird, another screenwriter and fellow Communist, except they have different ideas on how to accomplish their goals.

Director Jay Roach who directed the Austin Powers movies as well as Meet the Parents franchise movies does a good job of integrating contemporaneous newsreel footage into the story, including footage from the hearings and Academy Award clips. The movie mainly covers the 1950s and juxtaposes what was going on in Hollywood with what was going on in America with the Red Scare, the Rosenbergs, the early years of the Civil Rights movement. It's probably not going out on a limb to suggest that Cranston will be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar and Mirren will be nominated for Best Supporting Actress. I also think that Best Picture, Best Director, Best Costume and Best Editing nominations are possible. There should be a health warning for all of the smoking that is shown in the movie; I know it was common back then, but I walked out and swear I smelled like I smoked a pack of Marlboro Reds and drank a bottle of Scotch. That comment aside, I really enjoyed the movie. A few years ago I watched the documentary that Trumbo's son Chris put together, also called Trumbo, that featured letters, interviews and archival footage. I think in 'normal' times this would be a relevant film, but the timing couldn't be better in these turbulent times.

The frenzied scenes during the Congressional hearings from the 1940s and 1950s show that in sixty years, not much has changed with the way hearings are conducted, more a platform for Congressmen to shout at their witnesses if they do not want to hear real answers. In fact, it was kind of like watching the news of today with the fear-mongering and the threat of internment camps for Communists, similar to the suggested internment camp for Muslims. Fear and loathing being stirred up by columnists like Hedda Hopper and politicians looking to further their political ambitions. All hiding behind patriotism. It was shameful to watch it happening sixty years ago and it's still shameful.