How a blacklisted screenwriter secretly won two Academy Awards while banned from Hollywood
In short: Dalton Trumbo was Hollywood's most talented pariah. After refusing to testify before Congress in 1947, he was imprisoned and barred from the industry. Yet, he continued to write major films under pseudonyms, eventually securing two Academy Awards for work that the public initially believed was written by others.
In the post-World War II era, the American film industry became a target for anticommunist crusaders. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) launched investigations into the motion picture industry in 1947, seeking to root out alleged subversive influences. Dalton Trumbo, a prominent screenwriter, was among the ten individuals who refused to cooperate with the committee. This defiance led to his indictment for contempt of Congress and an 11-month prison sentence. Following these events, studio executives implemented a blacklist, declaring that no one suspected of subversive ties would be employed.
The blacklist functioned as a mechanism for studios to demonstrate their patriotism and protect their bottom line from public boycotts led by groups like the American Legion. For Trumbo, the blacklist meant professional exile, but he circumvented the ban by writing screenplays under aliases or using front writers. This clandestine labor proved remarkably successful; he earned two Academy Awards for Best Story during his blacklisted years—one for Roman Holiday in 1953 and another for The Brave One in 1956. These accolades remained officially uncredited to him for decades.
The grip of the blacklist began to loosen in the early 1960s as the fervor of the anticommunist crusade subsided. Trumbo’s public recognition for his work on the films Exodus and Spartacus in 1960 signaled a turning point for many affected writers. However, the full restoration of his professional legacy took much longer; the Writers' Guild did not officially credit him for Roman Holiday until 2011, thirty-five years after his death. Today, the blacklist is remembered as a period of intense fear that forced media workers into a web of suspicion, forever altering the landscape of American entertainment.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Dalton Trumbo | Biography & Screenplays | Britannica
- Also: Dalton Trumbo
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