I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night, Alive As You And Me
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1947
“Trumbo, stop pacing. You’re making me nervous.”
“You’d be pacing too, Cleo, if you were testifying tomorrow before a bunch of assholes who’ve decided to eliminate civil liberties once and for all.”
“Probably. Have you decided whether to take the Fifth?”
“I’m going to talk. But I’m not going to say what they want me to say; name who they want me to name. I’m going to tell them they are crushing the First Amendment. Why, it should be called the Unamerican House Committee. They’ve subpoenaed producers, writers, musicians, directors, actors - - they’ve ruined their lives, cost them their professions – why, they’re going to drive people to suicide. The bastards. The bastards.”
“That’ll land you in jail.”
“I know. But it’s the right thing to do. You know that. So what if I were a Party member? It’s a legal political party. What have I ever done to overthrow the government? Have I spied? No. Have I inserted Communist propaganda into my screenplays? Oh, sure. I had Margaret O’Brien recite Marxist principles in Our Vines Have Tender Grapes, when the director wasn’t looking. She was an excellent student, when she wasn’t crying. God, that kid could cry. And I hear they’ve subpoenaed Jeff Corey, of all people.”
“Who’s he?”
“Young actor. Played a small role, ranch hand, in My Friend Flicka. Probably taught the mare to whinny “The Internationale.”
“You start joking in front of the Committee and you’ll be put in solitary.”
“Good. Get more writing done that way.”
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2012
Columbus, Georgia , January 23, 2012 -- Ledger Inquirer
Georgia Judge orders President Obama to appear in court over “birthers” suit.
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Though he experienced success as a novelist and a screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976) is best known as a member of a group he would have preferred never existed-the "Hollywood Ten." After refusing to cooperate during the House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings in the late 1940s, Trumbo and nine other screenwriters and directors were sent to jail and later blacklisted in Hollywood . Below are portions of the PBS American Masters production, adapted from his son Christopher’s 2003 play and based on the remarkable letters Dalton Trumbo wrote during the devastation wrought by the ‘Red Scare’ in mid-20th century.