10 Greatest Films Written by Dalton Trumbo
Dalton Trumbo was born in Colorado in 1905. He attended the University of Colorado and the University of Southern California. He began his career with various journalism positions, while using his free time writing short stories and novels that he couldn’t get published. His entry to Hollywood was a job as a studio reader at Warner Brothers.
His first filmed script was Road Gang in 1936, it set a tone of interest in politics and social injustice for Trumbo. By 1947, he was the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood, earning more than $75,000 per film.
And then the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) came along. Trumbo and nine other writers were held in contempt of Congress for not naming names. Trumbo spent eleven months in jail. When he got out, that he and the other writers were blacklisted — unable to work in Hollywood.
Unable to work under their own name, that is. Trumbo found a lot of low budget work using pen names. His price dropped from $75,600 to $3,000. The blacklist continued for more than a decade. During that time, Trumbo had two of his scripts win Oscars. He could not claim either.
And then, in 1960, Kirk Douglas came to him for help fixing the script for Spartacus and Otto Preminger came to him to adapt the unwieldy Exodus into a script. This public acceptance of him put an end to the blacklist.
Trumbo’s story was told in an excellent film last year, starring Brian Cranston. Let’s take a look at some of his work.
10. Kitty Foyle (1940) — Ginger Rogers was able to briefly escape the light fare of her Astaire & Rogers films to play a Philadelphia girl from the wrong side of the tracks in this romantic triangle movie that quite daringly for its time includes unwed pregnancy. She won the Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar for playing Kitty.
“There’s a lot of living to do in this world. And if you’re worthwhile, you get hurt.” — Kitty Foyle
9. He Ran All the Way (1951) — John Garfield stars in this film noir about a criminal on the run. Being a noir, it’s clear from the beginning it won’t end well for Garfield’s character.
“Get the dandruff out of your blood!” — Al Molin
8. Exodus (1960) — Leon Uris’ book about the formation of modern Israel is 608 pages long. It was a foreboding challenge to adapt it for film. So foreboding that the director, Otto Preminger, was willing to hire a writer on the blacklist to create his script.
“In this fatal optimism, you are Haganah. In methodology you are Irgun. But in your heart, you are Israel.” — Akiva Ben Canaan
7. The Brave One (1956) — A sweet film about the bond between a boy named Leonardo and his bull named Gitano. When Giano is taken to the ring for a bull fight, Leonardo tries everything he can to rescue his bull, including going to the home of the President of Mexico. Trumbo wrote this film while on the blacklist and thus had to used a pseudonym. The Brave One won the Oscar for best screenplay and the Oscar went to an imaginary person named Robert Rich. It was almost twenty years later that the Academy finally credited Trumbo for the award.
“Why are you afraid of their paper? Why do you cringe before them like a dog?” — Leonardo
6. The Prowler (Cost of Living) (1951) — Film noir starring Van Heflin and Evelyn Keyes. Heflin plays a cop that meets a woman on a call about a prowler. He falls for the married woman and lures her away from her husband, a disk jockey. The voice of the disk jockey is the voice of Trumbo.
“I couldn’t bring myself to touch a gun again as long as I live.” — Webb Garwood
5. Papillon (1973) — Based on the autobiography of Henri Charriere. Charriere, played by Steve McQueen, escaped from the infamous French prison known as Devil’s Island. Dustin Hoffman plays a fellow prisoner.
“Hey you bastards, I’m still here.” — Papillon
4. Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) — Tells the story of the first American counterattack on Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Spencer Tracy plays General Dolittle.
“Hello, hello, York? Dolittle. I want you to get twenty-four B-25’s and volunteer crews down to Eglin Field as soon as you can. The job’ll take ’em out of the country for about three months. Tell ’em it’s a secret mission. They won’t know where they’re going until they get there. Thats’s right, volunteers. tell them they’re not to talk to anybody. That’s an order!” — Gen. James Doolittle
3. Lonely Are the Brave (1962) — This adaption of the Edward Abbey novel The Brave Cowboy is a portrait of American individualism. This isn’t a period western. Douglas plays a Korean war veteran that won’t join modern society. The supporting cast includes Walter Matthau, Gena Rowlands, and George Kennedy.
“Well, about every six months, I figure I owe myself a good drunk. It rinses your insides out, sweetens you breath and tones up your skin.” — Jack Burns
2. Spartacus (1960) — Stanley Kubrick’s epic telling of a Roman slave revolt that features a fine supporting cast including Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, and Tony Curtis.
“When a free man dies, he loses the pleasure of life. A slave loses his pain. Death is the only freedom a slave knows. That’s why he’s not afraid of it. That’s why we’ll win.” — Spartacus
1. Roman Holiday (1953) — Directed by William Wyler, the film costars Audrey Hepburn as a princess out to see Rome on her own. Peck plays a reporter that finds the passed-out princess on a bench. Together they have an adventurous time in Rome. Audrey Hepburn won an Oscar for her performance. The screenplay won an Oscar, but since Trumbo couldn’t claim it, he let his friend Ian McLellan Hunter do so. In 1992, the Academy finally updated the records to credit Trumbo.
“I haven’t worn a nightgown in years!” — Joe Bradley
