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Dalton  Trumbo
[1905-76]

b&w photograph of screenwriter & novelist Dalton Trumbo [1905-76]          short profile

movies of Dalton Trumbo

books by Dalton Trumbo

works about Dalton Trumbo

image gallery

friends & family

links


"Democracy means that the people can say what they want to. All the people. It means that they can vote as they wish. All the people. It means
that they can worship any God in any way [that] they feel right, and that includes Christians and Jews and voodoo doctors as well."

"Dishonesty in government is the business of every citizen. It is not enough to do your own job. There's no particular virtue in that.
Democracy isn't a gift. It's a responsibility."

"I never considered the working class anything other than something to get out of."

"A good businessman never makes a contract unless he's sure [that] he can carry it thru, yet every fool on earth is
perfectly willing to sign a marriage contract without considering whether he can live up to it or not.

"The chief internal enemies of any state are those public officials who betray the trust imposed upon them by the people."

"We'll free every slave in every town and region. Can anybody get a bigger army than that?"

"Everybody now seems to be talking about democracy. I don't understand this. As I think of it, democracy isn't like a Sunday suit to be
brought out and worn only for parades. It's the kind of life [that] a decent man leads, it's something to live for and to die for."

— Dalton Trumbo


     B I O
          t e x t
          h e r e

          One of the Hollywood Ten group sent to prison by Joe McCarthy and H.U.A.C. for contempt of Congress; served 11 months in prison.

Dalton Trumbo entry at Wikipedia
Dalton Trumbo credits [1936-2008] at Internet Movie Database
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{secretly} won Oscar for Best Story for "Roman Holiday" [1953]; credit restored 1993  {secretly} won Oscar for Best Story for "The Brave One" [1957]; received statuette in 1975    Dalton Trumbo was nominated for Best Screenplay Oscar for "Kitty Foyle" [1940];
he secretly won the Oscar for Best Story for "Roman Holiday" [1953], credit restored in 1993;
secretly won the Oscar for Best Story for "The Brave One" [1957], received statuette in 1975

He also received the W.G.A. Laurel Award for Screen Writing Achievement in 1970;
his film "Johnny Got His Gun" [1971] received two awards at the Cannes Film Festival,
the Kinema Junpo Readers' Choice Award, and a W.G.A. nomination.


Movies of Dalton Trumbo

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"A Man To Remember" [studio mo 1938]
directed by Garson Kanin; adapted by Dalton Trumbo from “The Failure” by Katharine Haviland-Taylor; starring Edward Ellis, Anne Shirley & Lee Bowman

"The Gangster" [Monogram/Warners mo 1947]
Directed by Gordon Wiles; Barry Sullivan gives an intense performance as Shubunka, a two-bit, paranoid Scarface trying to stave off elimination by the encroaching syndicate. This Poverty Row product compresses the rise-and-fall gangster scenario into a moody bit of noir theater, bolstered by a supporting cast that blasts its way through the stylized dialogue of uncredited scripter Dalton Trumbo; co-starring ice skater turned actress Belita.

Dalton Trumbo's screenwriting work was largely uncredited from 1947 to 1958.

"Spartacus" [Bryna Prodns / Universal Pictures Oct 1960, restored 1991]
Co-produced by & starring Kirk Douglas; Directed by Stanley Kubrick & Anthony Mann; script by blacklistee
Dalton Trumbo, based on the novel by blacklistee Howard Fast; original music by Alex North; also starring Laurence
Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, Woody Strode, Tony Curtis & George Kennedy

more details (synopsis, sequels & remakes, books & ebooks, links, merchandise) on
Magic Lantern Video & Book Store's "Spartacus" 1951 Book & 1960 Movie Page

"Johnny Got His Gun" [1971]
Written & directed by Dalton Trumbo, based on his novel; full credits at IMDb


Books by Dalton Trumbo

'The Time of the Toad' blacklist memoir by Dalton Trumbo  "The Time of The Toad: A Study of Inquisition In America" [1972]
by Dalton Trumbo

Harper & Row pb [72] out of print/used
HarperCollins hardcover [1/2000] out of print/rare


Works About Dalton Trumbo

Dalton Trumbo, Hollywood Rebel  "Dalton Trumbo, Hollywood Rebel: A Critical Survey & Filmography" [2001] by Peter Hanson
McFarland & Co. 10x7 pb [10/2007] for $35.00
McFarland & Co. 10¼x7¼ hardcover [2/2001] out of print/used
Dalton Trumbo bio film   "Trumbo" documentary feature [Samuel Goldwyn Company June 2008]
Directed by Peter Askin; script by Christopher Trumbo, based on his play; archive footage of Dalton Trumbo, interviews with Kirk Douglas, Otto Preminger, Victor Navasky & Christopher Trumbo, and readings by Joan Allen, Brian Dennehy, Michael Douglas, Paul Giamatti, Danny Glover, Nathan Lane, Josh Lucas, Liam Neeson, David Strathairn & Donald Sutherland
video/DVD not yet available • full credits from IMDb • official movie site

"Trumbo" [11/2015]
DIRECTOR: Jay Roach; CAST: Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren, Louis C.K., Elle Fanning, John Goodman, Diane Lane, Michael Stuhlbarg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af4Ua6DUpzg



Image  Gallery

Dalton Trumbo working in his bathtub - original full version of photo from the New York Times         Dalton Trumbo working in his bathtub - photo from the New York Times - common cropped version          Dalton Trumbo was honored (sort of) with a statue of him writing a screenplay in a bathtub; the bronze monument stands on the sidewalk in front of the Avalon Theater on Main Street in Grand Junction, Colorado         


Friends & Family
James Dalton Trumbo was born in Montrose, Colorado on 9 December 1905, and was raised in Grand Junction, Colorado; he published his first novel in 1935, and from 1938
mostly wrote screenplays; he was blacklisted from 1947 to 1958, but was hired under pseudonyms and fronted by fellow writers; he died in 1976 at age 70.

father Orus Trumbo [?-1926]
mother Maud Tillery Trumbo
younger sisters Catharine and Elizabeth

wife Cleo Beth Fincher Trumbo [1916-2009] - married 1938, widowed 1976
daughter psychotherapist Nikola Trumbo [b. 1939]
son filmmaker/writer Christopher Trumbo [1940-2011]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Trumbo + http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0874307/
daughter photographer Melissa 'Mitzi' Trumbo lives in Los Altos, California

comedian Steve Martin dated 'Mitzi' Trumbo when they were both in their early 20s {recounted in Steve Martin's 2007 book "Born Standing Up"};
many of Martin's early promotional photographs were taken by Mitzi


L i n k s
zzz entry at Wikipedia
official website/blog
Frank Capra credits at Internet Movie Database
all videos/DVDs


here on the Dalton Trumbo [1905-76] Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

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