One of the Hollywood Ten, he refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry.
Aligned with the Communist Party in the United States before the 1940s, Trumbo was an isolationist. He joined the Communist Party in 1943, and remained active until 1947. He reaffiliated himself with the party in 1954. His novel The Remarkable Andrew featured the ghost of President Andrew Jackson appearing to caution the United States against getting involved in World War II and in support of the Nazi-Soviet pact.
October 1947, drawing upon these names, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) summoned Trumbo and nine others to testify for their investigation as to whether Communist agents and sympathizers had surreptitiously planted propaganda in U.S. films. The writers refused to give information about their own or any other person's involvement and were convicted for contempt of Congress. They appealed the conviction to the Supreme Court on First Amendment grounds and lost. Trumbo served eleven months in the federal penitentiary in Ashland, Kentucky in 1950.
In the 1976 documentary Hollywood On Trial, Trumbo said: "As far as I was concerned, it was a completely just verdict. I had contempt for that Congress and have had contempt for it ever since. And on the basis of guilt or innocence, I could never really complain very much. That this was a crime or misdemeanor was the complaint, my complaint.
That is a fascinating short bio of Trumbo. I had no idea he had written the screenplays for so many fantastic films.
I was just thinking, I had not heard anything from Cory Booker since before the (Faux) Election, but Cory is not
the ‘Spartacus’ you refer to here.
What is communism in practice if not slavery? Try leading a revolt against communism in a communist country and you end up in a death camp.
Thank for the Wiki link, too. I was only vaguely familiar with the communist use of Spartacus, but that filled in more info.
Also an unrepentant Communist who lived very well off the capitalist system. So a hypocrite too.
I think the entire generation of baby boomers was poisoned by commie propaganda.
Nevertheless, it is a favorite film of mine. It's not particularly accurate, but it is dramatic. I first saw it as a kid and could not believe the ending with all the slaves crucified. It has that great cast, a great music score by Alex North, direction by Kubrick and Saul Bass's wonderful main title design.