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Nov 06, 2015 Web Exclusive By Sarah Winshall

Trumbo stars Bryan Cranston as Dalton Trumbo, the blacklisted screenwriter of many classic films including Spartacus and Roman Holiday. The film exposes the dark period of the late 1940’s and 1950s when a group of self-identified “concerned patriots” (led by popular gossip columnist Hedda Hopper and famous cowboy John Wayne) enacted an industry-wide ban on anyone suspected of being a Communist from working in the film industry. Trumbo and several of his peers were targeted and forced to testify in front of the House of Un-American Activities Committee. Ten of them (the “Hollywood Ten”) wound up in prison. Upon re-entry they were shunned by their industry and unable to find work. By focusing on some of the lesser-known heroes of the period, including Trumbo himself, who fought injustice as he continued to write hit films under pseudonyms, Trumbo presents an optimistic view of the events, allowing Dalton Trumbo’s legacy of resilience in the face of adversity to take center stage. As director Jay Roach puts it, “I tried to be authentic to Trumbo, who I think did a few heroic things but one of the most heroic things he did in my mind that he used writing, he turned writing into a super power. “ Diane Lane, who plays his wife Cleo, adds that “[He] really did a tremendous service to this country when he undermined them at their own game. So genius.”

In addition to his heroism, he is also famous for writing most of his timeless screenplays while sitting in a bathtub, and once called an adversary “a political hermaphrodite.” Cranston describes Trumbo as “a very flamboyant character full of contradictions and irascibility and passion. He was a beautiful, wonderful, big character.” Roach adds, “I fell in love with this man and his writing and his heart and his soul, the letters he wrote in jail to his wife and his kids and some of the funny ones he wrote to his enemies.” For Cranston, becoming this larger-than-life person took a certain delicacy. “You could start down a road of impersonation. And so I wanted to be careful not to do that.” Instead, he focused on immersing himself in source material and staying open: “You don’t really know exactly what you are looking for. You just take it in and take it in and take it in and trust that your instinct will grab hold on something and you may not even know why.”

What did grab hold on Cranston is the value of retelling this story today. “Embedded in the story is a cautionary tale… Any time that a government sets out to oppress civil liberties, its citizens need to be very concerned and stand up for their rights. And hopefully this generation, the younger generation, will be able to learn from that and see its parallels.” They already are. When Elle Fanning was cast as Dalton’s daughter Mitzi Trumbo, she “didn’t even know the blacklist existed, or the Hollywood Ten. So for me it was shocking learning that part of history.” Roach, who also directed the politically-charged HBO films Game Change and Recount, agrees, “I’ve always been interested in how ideas spread. Particularly dangerous ideas.” As Lane sees it, “It takes a while to rectify history because you have to get people who are passionate enough to do it.”

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Trumbo is now playing in select theaters. For more informatino, check out the movie’s website.