Screenwriter knew how to frame a story

Few people, even fervent film fans, remember Dalton Trumbo. But in his time, Mr. Trumbo, who died in 1976, was among Hollywood's most respected and controversial screenwriters.

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Best remembered as one of the Hollywood Ten, blacklisted and imprisoned for 11 months, Mr. Trumbo's real contribution was not political but artistic. His sense of storytelling structure, scene-setting and distilling high concept into gripping human drama still serves as a model for every scribe who writes for the movies.

And sure, Mr. Trumbo was political. His novel and screenplay for Johnny Got His Gun is a blunt instrument bent on bludgeoning the military-industrial complex, and the epic Spartacus is nothing if not an incitement for the downtrodden to rise up.

But the foundation for Mr. Trumbo's writing was not personal politics but the desire every writer feels - the desire to tell a story well. Here are a few of his greatest hits:

THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO (1944): Although Sen. Joseph McCarthy might have disagreed, Mr. Trumbo saw himself as a patriot. His tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for an American victory in the Pacific during World War II , Thirty Seconds tells the true story of Doolittle's Raiders, who, with one made-for-Hollywood mission, changed the course of history. Thrilling and heartfelt, it's the kind of true-life adventure tale that never ages.

THE BRAVE ONE (1957): Mr. Trumbo kept fairly active athough he was blacklisted during the 1950s, writing under a series of pseudonyms. In 1957, he stymied the House Un-American Activities Committee when he walked across the stage to accept an Oscar for his simple story of a boy trying to save a bull from death in a Mexican bullring. The story of a powerless soul battling impossible odds, The Brave One represents thematic material to which Mr. Trumbo repeatedly returned..

FIVE CAME BACK (1939): Sixty-five years before anyone was Lost, Mr. Trumbo penned this tale of air disaster survivors struggling with issues of life and death. His take - of 11 survivors, only five fly out of the jungle in their damaged aircraft. The film becomes an examination of who will live, who will die and, most important, why.

TENDER COMRADES (1943): Mr. Trumbo must have regretted this one. Although a sweet story of GI wives living together during World War II, its script was cited as evidence of Mr. Trumbo's Communist leanings. Perhaps putting comrades in the title wasn't such a hot idea.

LONELY ARE THE BRAVE (1962): A great revisionist Western, Lonely stars Kirk Douglas as a modern cowboy who incites a bar brawl so he can help a jailed buddy escape. Imagine his surprise when said friend decides to "pay his debt." The film then becomes a chase picture, with the cowboy on horseback contending with the modern world. Strong and surprisingly stirring, this film is often cited as one of Mr. Douglas' favorites.

Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.