Trumbo Page #4
(to Hedda now)
-- your son was stationed in the
Philippines --
(re:
Robinson)-- Eddie was in Europe with the
Office of War Information -
(back to Wayne)
-- where’d you serve again?
JOHN WAYNE:
(stops, turns)
You tryin’ to say something?
EDWARD G. ROBINSON
No, Duke, he wasn’t -
HEDDA HOPPER:
Stay out of it, Eddie -
DALTON TRUMBO:
(right in Wayne’s face)
If you’re gonna talk about World
War Two like you personally won it,
stationed -- on a film set,
shooting blanks, wearing makeup and
if you’re going to hit me, I’d like
to take my glasses off.
Wayne could belt him but camera FLASHBULBS POP.
ROY BREWER:
Duke, let’s get outta here...
He urges the apoplectic Wayne to a doorway.
HEDDA HOPPER:
Thank you, Dalton. My next column
just wrote itself.
She exits. Robinson, Hird and Hunter just stare at Trumbo.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
(4)ARLEN HIRD:
(happy as a clam)
That was... I don’t even know what
to...
IAN MCLELLAN HUNTER
Yes, good thing you don’t want to
demonize anybody or that could’ve
been awkward.
Walking with Robinson, Trumbo crosses the gleaming, BUSY
dream factory at the height of its productivity, stops at a
newsstand to buy cigarettes and is confronted by a strange
and awful sight:
The face of Hedda Hopper on the July 28, 1947 cover of TIME
magazine, the copies all hung in a line, creating two dozen
identical Heddas. Trumbo is quietly amused, Robinson
slightly horrified.
EDWARD G. ROBINSON
Good God.
(reaches for a copy)
Trumbo, you pick your enemies the
way you live -- only the best will
do.
INT. MGM STUDIOS - LOUIS B. MAYER’S OFFICE - DAY
LOUIS B. MAYER, 60, warm-hearted, cold-blooded studio
president, beams affectionately at Trumbo.
LOUIS B. MAYER
Your next deal’s gonna make you the
highest-paid writer in Hollywood,
which’ll make you the highest-paid
writer in the world.
BUDDY ROSS, early 30s, a young, go-getter producer, sits off
to the side, eyes darting anxiously between the studio
president and the writer.
LOUIS B. MAYER (CONT’D)
You earned it. You don’t just
write happy endings, you actually
believe them.
BUDDY ROSS:
That’s what the people pay to see,
that’s why you belong here at MGM,
right, L.B.?
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
DALTON TRUMBO:
Look, I hate to make the wooing too
easy for you but: Where do I sign?
LOUIS B. MAYER
Just one thing. If you’re going to
work for me...
(unfolds a newspaper)
...I never, ever want to see
anything like this...
HEDDA HOPPER’S HOLLYWOOD column: a photo of Dalton Trumbo
under the headline, “OUR OWN RED MENACE.”
LOUIS B. MAYER (CONT’D)
...again.
Trumbo and Mayer lock eyes. Buddy is frozen silent.
DALTON TRUMBO:
You won’t. I promise.
Mayer nods, satisfied. Buddy could kiss Trumbo.
DALTON TRUMBO (CONT’D)
Just stop reading Hedda Hopper.
Off Mayer’s fury and Buddy’s panic -
EXT. LAZY-T RANCH - TERRACE - DAY
Overlooking their lake. Trumbo stands at a hot grill,
flipping filet of trout, holding court for his family;
Hunter, his WIFE and CHILDREN; Robinson and his WIFE; Buddy
Ross and a GLAMOROUS INGENUE GIRLFRIEND.
NIKI:
(to Cleo)
Mom, please...?
CLEO:
(to Niki)
Not now, honey.
EDWARD G. ROBINSON
So what’d L.B. say then?
BUDDY ROSS:
Jesus, don’t, I haven’t eaten
since. My job’s not hard enough?
DALTON TRUMBO:
Your job’s not hard at all.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
BUDDY ROSS:
You think getting Mayer to sign you
after those headlines was easy?
You have a record-breaking, three-
year contract -- to make sh*t up.
You’re welcome.
CHRIS:
C’mon, Mom!
A solitary black sedan churns up a plume of dust.
EXT. LAZY-T RANCH - TERRACE - DAY
Trumbo and the other adults LAUGH and drink away a dazzling
summer afternoon.
NIKI:
(to Robinson)
She really can! Ask her!
IAN MCLELLAN HUNTER
(chuckling)
Cleo? Is this true?
CLEO:
I... had a very unusual mother.
DALTON TRUMBO:
Which means “Stage Mother.”
He picks up a glass, a twinkle in his eye.
CLEO:
(knows what’s coming,
laughs, embarrassed)
Trumbo, no...
He hands Niki the glass, who tosses it to Cleo, which she
catches easily, then another, which she catches in her other
hand, beginning to lightly JUGGLE the two, causing the
children to finally SQUEAL with delight as -
-- that black sedan takes a gravel-popping turn and --
EXT. LAZY-T RANCH - TERRACE - DAY
-- Robinson and his Wife stare in amazement, watching Cleo
expertly JUGGLE two glasses, flipping and catching one behind
her back as Trumbo beams.
DALTON TRUMBO:
acrobat.
EDWARD G. ROBINSON
My God, how long were you in show
business?
CLEO:
(juggling away)
Till I was 15. And it was more
“show-forced-labor.”
Niki tosses her mother a third glass, which Cleo catches, now
pinwheeling all three easily.
NIKI:
CLEO:
Mom had a little saying. “Drop it,
you lose your next meal.”
DALTON TRUMBO:
(to Robinson)
And “Mom” wasn’t kidding. Woman
was a Dickensian harridan.
CLEO:
(laughs)
No one even knows what that means.
EXT. LAZY-T RANCH - DRIVEWAY - DAY
EXT. LAZY-T RANCH - TERRACE - DAY
-- as Cleo does over-hand grabs, then switches to a circular
pattern, the spool of tumblers catching sunlight in dazzling
prisms.
AND THROUGH CLEO’S GLASSY WHIRL OF COLOR - WE SEE THAT SEDAN
Pull to a stop and Trumbo sees THREE MEN in suits get out.
EXT. LAZY-T RANCH - DRIVEWAY - A FEW MOMENTS LATER
Family and friends watching, Trumbo greets the three men,
among whom we recognize: HUAC Investigator Robert Stripling.
STRIPLING:
Mr. Dalton Trumbo?
Stripling hands Trumbo a pink document.
INT. U.S. CAPITOL - ROTUNDA - DAY
Congressman J. Parnell Thomas stands before REPORTERS:
CONGRESSMAN THOMAS
Nineteen subpoenas have been issued
to those we believe have knowledge
of the ongoing Communist threat in
Hollywood.
This announcement is greeted with a resounding... pause.
REPORTER 1
Uh, what kind of threat is that?
CONGRESSMAN THOMAS
A conspiracy to corrupt democratic
overthrow of this nation.
REPORTER 2
Using... movies.
The CHUCKLING Reporters clearly think this is horseshit.
REPORTER 1
Any movie in particular or...?
CONGRESSMAN THOMAS
(cutting him off)
Movies are the most powerful form
of influence ever created and they
are infested with hidden traitors
who will be dragged into the light,
for all to see and all to judge.
CUT TO:
HEDDA HOPPER’S HOLLYWOOD NEWSREEL
Her talking face again appears alongside her column.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED:
HEDDA HOPPER:
(to camera)
We travel now...
Translation
Translate and read this script in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Trumbo" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/trumbo_578>.
Discuss this script with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In