Movie Review - Trumbo

Trumbo ****½ (out of 5) (R) Dalton Trumbo was one of Hollywood’s leading screenwriters throughout the 1940s. But shortly after WW II, the country morphed into its Cold War mentality, with Communism denounced as the new existential threat before we’d barely had time to catch our breath from defeating the Nazis. Fear led to demagoguery, with some claiming that Commies among us were now the greatest threat to our way of life. That led to the era of McCarthyism, demonizing all who had ever sympathized with or belonged to any form of socialist entity, or been friends with some who had. One result was the blacklisting of scores of Hollywood writers and others in a frenzied paranoid purge that spread to every private and public sector.

For those too young to remember, this powerful biographical drama shows us how drastically such extreme fearmongering can unravel the principles of decent people and countries, including the motives and mentalities of those who drive it, the innocence of many victims, and the profound losses to everyone caught in the momentum of the moment. Some sincerely believed they were defending liberty and democracy. But others fanned those flames for power and profit.

Net result - almost everyone loses - some more immediately and tragically than others.

Bryan Cranston continues his surge as a dramatic actor in the title role. A number of key figures are presented quite compellingly, adding specifics about the players and their tactics that many who recall or studied the era may not have known. Helen Mirren’s portrayal of influential gossip columnist Hedda Hopper is almost as bone-chillingly malicious as Angela Lansbury’s fanatic mother in The Manchurian Candidate. Period film and TV footage are deftly incorporated, adding gravitas and context to the production.

All the usual cinematic elements would add up to a fine historical account. But the real punch of this one lies in its lamentable degree of current relevance. So much of today’s facile demonizing of “others” within our ranks seems appallingly similar to that era’s manufactured fervor against all who even seemed to brush up against socialist ideas. The sources are the same - the ownership class driving the agenda to hold or increase its power; making everyone fear those who can be identified as different - politics, race, religion - whatever lines they can convince well-intentioned followers to draw; the false sense of self-preservation from persecuting the targeted group(s), all in service of keeping the masses from noticing who’s really thriving at their expense.

It’s yet another reminder of the need to ask who’s jerking our chains, and why might they be doing it, before jumping on those bandwagons. In virtually every TV or movie Western that involved lynch mobs, the “necktie party” frenzy was fueled by the real bad guys who manipulated decent citizens into self-righteous rage just to hide their own guilt. When will we ever learn? (11/20/15)

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