Dalton Trumbo, Hollywood Rebel: A Critical Survey and Filmography

by Peter Hanson

Book Overview

As a screenwriter, novelist, and political activist, Dalton Trumbo stands among the key American literary figures of the 20th century--he wrote the classic antiwar novel Johnny Got His Gun, and his credits for Spartacus and Exodus broke the anticommunist blacklist that infected the movie industry for more than a decade. By defining connections between Trumbo's most highly acclaimed films (including Kitty Foyle, Thirty...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786432462
• ISBN13: 9780786432462
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Length: 255 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.9" x 10.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Best Trumbo biography out there

Peter Hanson has both set the record straight about much of the misinformation about Dalton Trumbo and provided a comprehensive, yet engaging, look at Trumbo's body of work. I have used this book for a college course I teach in Trumbo's hometown of Grand Junction, CO. But it does not read like a textbook. Anyone who is curious about Trumbo's rich contribution to film and literature will have an even deeper appreciation for the work he was able to create against incredible odds.

A riveting tribute to a master of the screen trade

Peter Hanson has done a marvelous job of giving Dalton Trumbo - one Hollywood's greatest and gutsiest screenwriters - the credit he is due. This couldn't have been an easy task for Hanson, since Trumbo was astonishingly prolific and many of his screenplays - including the masterworks ROMAN HOLIDAY, SPARTACUS, and LONELY ARE THE BRAVE - have for decades been credited to other writers. Hanson sets the record straight and gives us a fascinating portrait of man who not only defied the House Committee on Un-American Activities, but survived the ensuing blacklist years through courage, perseverance and talent. Hanson provides a keen, in-depth exploration of Trumbo's vast, eclectic body of work, and shows how Trumbo's struggles forged the powerful themes that pervade his films.