Dalton Trumbo

Writing

Dalton Trumbo

Born — Died

1905-12-09 — 1976-09-10

Place of birth

Montrose, Colorado, USA

Known for

Writing

Credits

50 titles

James Dalton Trumbo (December 9, 1905 – September 10, 1976) was an American screenwriter who scripted many award-winning films, including Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944), Roman Holiday (1953), Spartacus (1960), and Exodus (1960). 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. Trumbo, the other members of the Hollywood Ten, and hundreds of other professionals in the industry were blacklisted by Hollywood. He continued working clandestinely on major films, writing under pseudonyms or other authors' names. His uncredited work won two Ac…

Known for

Roman Holiday poster
7.9

Overwhelmed by her suffocating schedule, touring European princess Ann takes off for a night while in Rome. When a sedative she took from her doctor kicks in, however, she falls asleep on a park bench and is found by an American reporter, Joe Bradley, who takes her back to his apartment for safety. At work the next morning, Joe finds out Ann's regal identity and bets his editor he can get exclusive interview with her, but romance soon gets in the way.

Roman Holiday

1953

Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War poster
8.0

With firsthand accounts and access to prominent figures around the world, this comprehensive docuseries explores the Cold War and its aftermath.

Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War

2024

Spartacus poster
7.5

The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes.

Spartacus

1960

Papillon poster
7.8

A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.

Papillon

1973

The Sandpiper poster
6.4

A free-spirited single mother forms a connection with the wedded headmaster of an Episcopalian boarding school in Monterey, California.

The Sandpiper

1965

Johnny Got His Gun poster
7.5

A young American soldier, rendered in pseudocoma from an artillery shell from WWI, recalls his life leading up to that point.

Johnny Got His Gun

1971

Film credits

Series credits

Behind the camera

Roman Holiday poster
7.9

Overwhelmed by her suffocating schedule, touring European princess Ann takes off for a night while in Rome. When a sedative she took from her doctor kicks in, however, she falls asleep on a park bench and is found by an American reporter, Joe Bradley, who takes her back to his apartment for safety. At work the next morning, Joe finds out Ann's regal identity and bets his editor he can get exclusive interview with her, but romance soon gets in the way.

Roman Holiday

1953

Spartacus poster
7.5

The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes.

Spartacus

1960

Papillon poster
7.8

A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.

Papillon

1973

The Sandpiper poster
6.4

A free-spirited single mother forms a connection with the wedded headmaster of an Episcopalian boarding school in Monterey, California.

The Sandpiper

1965

Johnny Got His Gun poster
7.5

A young American soldier, rendered in pseudocoma from an artillery shell from WWI, recalls his life leading up to that point.

Johnny Got His Gun

1971

Johnny Got His Gun poster
7.5

A young American soldier, rendered in pseudocoma from an artillery shell from WWI, recalls his life leading up to that point.

Johnny Got His Gun

1971

Exodus poster
6.7

Ari Ben Canaan, a passionate member of the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah, attempts to transport 600 Jewish refugees on a dangerous voyage from Cyprus to Palestine on a ship named the Exodus. He faces obstruction from British forces, who will not grant the ship passage to its destination.

Exodus

1960

Gun Crazy poster
7.4

Bart Tare, an ex-Army man who has a lifelong fixation with guns, meets a kindred spirit in sharpshooter Annie Starr and goes to work at a carnival alongside her. After upsetting the carnival owner who lusts after Starr, they both get fired. Soon, at Starr's behest, the couple embarks on a crime spree for cash.

Gun Crazy

1950

The Last Sunset poster
6.8

At a Mexican ranch, fugitive O'Malley and pursuing Sheriff Stribling agree to help rancher Breckenridge drive his herd into Texas where Stribling could legally arrest O'Malley, but Breckenridge's wife complicates things.

The Last Sunset

1961

The Prowler poster
6.8

Los Angeles, California. A cop who, unhappy with his job, blames others for his work problems, is assigned to investigate the case of a prowler who stalks the home of a married woman.

The Prowler

1951

Executive Action poster
6.5

Rogue intelligence agents, right-wing politicians, greedy capitalists, and free-lance assassins plot and carry out the JFK assassination in this speculative agitprop.

Executive Action

1973

Lonely are the Brave poster
7.4

A fiercely independent cowboy arranges to have himself locked up in jail in order to then escape with an old friend who has been sentenced to the penitentiary.

Lonely are the Brave

1962

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo poster
6.7

In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

1944

Cowboy poster
6.5

Chicago hotel clerk Frank Harris dreams of life as a cowboy, and he gets his chance when, jilted by the father of the woman he loves, he joins Tom Reece and his cattle-driving outfit. Soon, though, the tenderfoot finds out life on the range is neither what he expected nor what he's been looking for...

Cowboy

1958

FTA poster
6.4

A documentary about a political troupe headed by actors Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland which traveled to towns near military bases in the US in the early 1970s. The group put on shows called "F.T.A.", which stood for "F**k the Army", and was aimed at convincing soldiers to voice their opposition to the Vietnam War, which was raging at the time. Various singers, actors and other entertainers performed antiwar songs and skits during the show.

FTA

1972

Kitty Foyle poster
6.6

A hard-working, white-collar girl falls in love with a young socialite, but meets with his family's disapproval.

Kitty Foyle

1940

The Fixer poster
6.2

Set in tsarist Russia around the turn of the century and based on a true story of a Russian Jewish peasant Yakov Bog who was wrongly imprisoned for a most unlikely crime - the “ritual murder” of a Gentile child in Kyiv. We witness the unrelenting detail of the peasant handyman's life in prison and see him gain in dignity as the efforts to humiliate him and make him confess fail.

The Fixer

1968

The Brave One poster
5.9

A young Mexican boy tirelessly tries to save his pet bull from death at the hands of a celebrated matador.

The Brave One

1956

Somewhere I'll Find You poster
5.7

Journalist brothers feud over a woman they both fall for while covering World War II in the far east.

Somewhere I'll Find You

1942

A Guy Named Joe poster
6.7

A cocky U.S. Army Air Force pilot stationed in England during World War II falls for a daring female flier. After he's killed on a mission, he's sent back to Earth by a heavenly General with a new assignment.

A Guy Named Joe

1944

Town Without Pity poster
6.9

Four American soldiers stationed near a German village face death in the rape of a local girl and are defended by outside counsel Major Steve Grant.

Town Without Pity

1961

Hawaii poster
6.3

Abner Hale, a rigid and humorless New England missionary, marries the beautiful Jerusha Bromley and takes her to the exotic island kingdom of Hawaii, intent on converting the natives. But the clash between the two cultures is too great and instead of understanding there comes tragedy.

Hawaii

1966

Terror in a Texas Town poster
6.7

Armed with a harpoon, a Swedish whaler is out for revenge after the death of his father. A greedy oil man trying to buy up the Swede's land might be the guilty party.

Terror in a Texas Town

1958

The Horsemen poster
6.3

In Afghanistan, the ruthless sport of buzkashi is a game of great pride. When Uraz breaks his leg and loses a spirited match, he brings shame to his village, especially his father. After losing his leg below the knee, Uraz, to regain his honor, must learn to ride again and win with a special, one-of-a-kind horse.

The Horsemen

1971

A Bill of Divorcement poster
6.3

Father's return from the insane asylum spells calamity for the Fairfield family.

A Bill of Divorcement

1940

He Ran All the Way poster
7.2

A crook on the run hides out in an innocent girl's apartment.

He Ran All the Way

1951

A Man to Remember poster
6.7

On the day of his funeral, a dedicated smalltown doctor is remembered by his neighbors and patients.

A Man to Remember

1938

Five Came Back poster
6.3

Twelve people are aboard Coast Airline's flagship the Silver Queen enroute to South America when the airplane encounters a storm and is blown off course. Crashing into jungles known to be inhabited by head hunters, pilots Bill and Joe race against time to fix the engines and attempt a take off. The situation brings out the best and worst in the stranded dozen as they create a makeshift runway and prepare to escape before the natives attack. But damage to the plane and low fuel reserves means that only 5 people can be carried to safety.

Five Came Back

1939

Curtain Call poster
7.2

Two theatrical producers plan to get even with a demanding actress by tricking her into starring in the worst play they can find.

Curtain Call

1940

The Deerslayer poster
6.1

After The Deerslayer, a white man reared by the Mohicans, and his blood brother Chingachgook, a Mohican chief, save trader Harry Marsh from the hostile Huron Indians, they learn that the Hurons will attack Old Tom Hutter and his two daughters, Hetty and Judith, who live on a floating raft fort on the river.

The Deerslayer

1957

Tender Comrade poster
5.7

Jo Jones, a young defense plant worker whose husband is in the military during World War II, shares a house with three other women in the same situation.

Tender Comrade

1944

Road Gang poster
7.0

A crusading young reporter planning a series of articles about a corrupt politician is framed for a crime and sentenced to serve five years at a prison farm.

Road Gang

1936

Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence poster
6.6

New York store clerk joins a hobo and an illegal immigrant heading for his newly bought land in Arizona.

Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence

1939

The Flying Irishman poster
5.0

This is the story of the historic 1938 flight of Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan. Mr. Corrigan starred in this film, which chronicled his infamous flight. On July 17, 1938, Mr. Corrigan loaded 320 gallons of gasoline (40 hours worth) into the tiny, single engine plane. While expressing his intent to fly west to Long Beach, CA, Mr. Corrigan flew out of Floyd Bennett Field heading east over the Atlantic. Instrumentation in the plane included two compasses (both malfunctioned) and a turn-and-bank indicator. The cabin door was held shut with baling wire. Nearly 29 hours later, he landed in Baldonnel near Dublin. He forever claimed to be surprised at arriving in Ireland rather than California. He returned to the US as a hero, with a ticker tape parade in New York and received numerous medals and awards.

The Flying Irishman

1939

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes poster
7.1

Welcome to Fuller Junction, Wisconsin, a friendly small town settled by Norwegian farmers. Here we see the exploits of two young cousins, Selma and Arnold, who learn about their world and experience the ups and downs of life as the season pass.

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

1945

Fugitives for a Night poster
7.2

A faded star is suspected of killing a studio executive.

Fugitives for a Night

1938

Love Begins at Twenty poster
6.3

A henpecked husband tries to help his daughter marry the man she loves and his wife loathes.

Love Begins at Twenty

1936

The Remarkable Andrew poster
7.4

When Andrew Long, hyper-efficient small town accountant, finds a $1240 discrepancy in the city budget, his superiors try to explain it away. When he insists on pursuing the matter, he's in danger of being blamed himself. In his trouble, the spirit of Andrew Jackson, whom he idolizes, visits him, and in turn, summons much high-powered talent from American history...which only Andrew can see.

The Remarkable Andrew

1942

We Who Are Young poster
6.3

A man violates company policy by getting married.

We Who Are Young

1940

That Man's Here Again poster
7.0

An elevator operator in a swanky apartment building falls in love with a homeless girl who sneaks in one night looking for a place to keep warm. In order to keep her near him, he wangles a job for her as a maid at the building.

That Man's Here Again

1937