Customer Reviews

Dalton Trumbo, Hollywood Rebel: A Critical Survey and Filmography

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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.

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.