Bryan Cranston Is A Charming, Wild-Eyed Communist In The First Trailer For ‘Trumbo’

The Communist witch hunts which gripped the US in the 1940s and 50s were a particularly tough time for anyone who happened to be in Hollywood. Interrogated on their political beliefs, many filmmakers, actors and writers were effectively banned from the industry completely for showing sympathy to the movement or refusing to declare their allegiances. In 1947, ten prominent screenwriters were held in contempt of Congress and sent to prison for not testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Now, in a move that isn’t completely without its irony, one of their stories is being told in a major Hollywood biopic. The first trailer for Trumbo has just been released and it sees a Bryan Cranston playing blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo alongside Helen Mirren, Diane Lane, and John Goodman.

Louis CK is also there wearing a fedora and suspenders and facing off against one of the best actors in the world. He looks genuinely confused about all of it.

FYI, Trumbo’s story is well worth its own film and Cranston looks set to do it justice. After rallying against the state and being refused work for a number of years, the screenwriter turned to ghostwriting and contributed to a number of much-loved classics without any credit.

Despite his talent being recognised by those within the industry, his Oscar-winning work on the Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck classic Roman Holiday was only finally publicly acknowledged by the Writers Guild of America in 2011 — 58 years after the film’s release, and 35 years after his death.