} Crítica Retrô: The Brave One (1956) and Dalton Trumbo’s braveness

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Thursday, November 16, 2017

The Brave One (1956) and Dalton Trumbo’s braveness

Quando eu assisti a “Trumbo – Lista Negra” (2015), eu senti muita raiva. Eu tive raiva da hipocrisia, da falsa moral, da asquerosa tentativa dos conservadores de “limpar Hollywood” – e de como eles destruíram vidas com esta caça às bruxas. Sim, Dalton Trumbo pode ter ganhado dois Oscars mesmo estando na lista negra, mas vemos na cinebiografia que as consequências de seu exílio foram devastadoras, e nenhuma estatueta dourada poderia remediá-las.

When I watched “Trumbo” (2015), I felt more rage than anything else. I was angry at the hypocrisy, the fake morals, the disgusting attempt of conservatives to “clean Hollywood” – and how they destroyed lives with the witch hunt. Sure, Dalton Trumbo may have won two Oscars even when he was blacklisted, but we see in the biopic that the consequences of his blacklisting were devastating, and no gold statue could cure them.
Dalton Trumbo entrou na lista negra em 1947. Ele era um dos ‘10 de Hollywood’ que se recusaram a testemunhar perante o Congresso e delatar colegas para serem perdoados. Naquela época, ele já havia sido indicado a um Oscar”, pelo roteiro de “Kitty Foyle” (1941). E naquela época, ele já havia passado por problemas: em meados dos anos 1930 a Warner cancelou o contrato de Trumbo quando ele se recusou a sair do Sindicato dos Roteiristas – fundado e administrado por escritores que seriam também colocados na lista negra – e ir para outro sindicato.

Dalton Trumbo was blacklisted in 1947. Trumbo was one of the ‘Hollywood ten’ who refused to testify before Congress and name names in order to be acquitted. By that time, he had already been nominated for one Oscar, for his screenplay of “Kitty Foyle” (1941). And by that time, Trumbo had already had problems: in the mid 1930s Warner Bros cancelled his contract when he refused trading his membership in the Screen Writers Guild – created and ran by fellow would-be-blacklisted writers – for another guild.
Depois de passar 11 meses preso no Kentucky, Dalton Trumbo e sua família se mudaram para o México, para onde outros roteiristas na lista negra também foram. Lá era um lar fora de casa. Trumbo continuou escrevendo e vendendo histórias para o cinema – através de pseudônimos e outros subterfúgios.

After spending 11 months in a prison in Kentucky, Dalton Trumbo and his family moved to Mexico, where other blacklisted screenwriters also went to live. There was home outside of the homeland. Trumbo kept writing screenplays and motion picture stories and selling them to Hollywood – by using fronts, pseudonyms and other tricks.
Em 1953 ele escreveu a história de “A Princesa e o Plebeu”. Ele não pôde ser creditado, por isso seu amigo, o roteirista Ian McLellan Hunter, assinou o roteiro. No Oscar, ele competiu contra o filme de guerra “Seu Nome e Sua Honra”, a comédia “As Chaves do Paraíso”, “O Pequeno Fugitivo” e o faroeste “Hondo”, que mais tarde teve a indicação retirada. A deliciosa história de “A Princesa e o Plebeu” ganhou o prêmio. Três anos depois, Trumbo repetiu a dose.

In 1953 he wrote the motion picture story of “Roman Holiday”. He couldn’t be credited, so his friend, screenwriter Ian McLellan Hunter, was used as a front for his work. At the Oscars, he competed against the war film “Above and Beyond”, the comedy “The Captain’s Paradise”, “The Little Fugitive” and the western “Hondo”, who later had its nomination withdrawn. The delightful story for “Roman Holiday” won the prize. Three years later, Trumbo did it again.
O filme “Arenas Sangrentas” (1956) é sobre um menino, Leonardo (Michel Ray) e seu amado touro de estimação, chamado Gitano (‘cigano’ em espanhol). Leonardo tenta salvar seu touro das arenas sangrentas das touradas, onde o animal enfrentará um toureiro veterano. É um filme B feito pelos irmãos King, que também produziram “Mortalmente Perigosa” (1950). Dá para ver como o filme foi ‘barato’ pela baixa qualidade das cenas noturnas. O filme foi gravado no México, sendo a maioria dos atores mexicanos.

The film “The Brave One” (1956) is about a young boy, Leonardo (Michel Ray) and his beloved pet bull, called Gitano (Spanish for ‘gypsy’). Leonardo tries to spare his bull from going to the killing arenas and being killed by a master bullfighter. It’s a B-movie made by the King Brothers, who also produced the noir “Gun Crazy” (1950). The cheapness of the film can be seen especially in night scenes. It was shot in Mexico, with mostly Mexican actors. 
Em 1957, Trumbo derrotou Celso Zavattini, que escreveu o filme neorrealista italiano “Umberto D”… e Jean-Paul Sartre. Ambos os filmes, “Umberto D” e “Os Orgulhosos”, eram do começo dos anos 50 – respectivamente 1952 e 1953 – mas só estrearam em Los Angeles em 1956. Um filme chamado “Alta Sociedade” também foi indicado, mas sua indicação foi cancelada porque a Academia o confundiu com o musical de mesmo nome, estrelado por Grace Kelly e Frank Sinatra.

In 1957, Trumbo won his Oscar over Celso Zavattini, who penned the Italian neorealist film “Umberto D”… and Jean-Paul Sartre. Both movies, ‘Umberto D” and “Les orgueileux”, were released in the early 1950s – respectively in 1952 and 1953 – but only released in Los Angeles in 1956. A movie called “High Society” was also nominated, but its nomination was withdrawn because the Academy mistook it with the Grace Kelly / Frank Sinatra musical of the same name.
Arenas Sangrentas” é ‘baseado em uma história de Robert Rich’. Quando ele ganhou o Oscar, Jesse Lasky Jr, então vice-presidente do grupo de roteiristas do Sindicato dos Escritores, recebeu o prêmio. Depois da cerimônia, o que todos queriam saber em Hollywood era: quem realmente é Robert Rich? Um homênimo – e sobrinho dos irmãos King – foi a público dizer que ele não havia escrito a história. O mistério começava.

The Brave One” is ‘based on a story by Robert Rich’. When he won the Oscar, Jesse Lasky Jr, then the vice-president of the Screenwriters branch of the Writers Guild, accepted the award. After the ceremony, what everything in Hollywood wanted to know was: who really is Robert Rich? A man with that name –and nephew of the King brothers – went public to say that he hadn’t written the story. The game was afoot.


Numa entrevista para um jornalista de Los Angeles pouco mais de um mês depois da cerimônia do Oscar, Trumbo respondeu assim quando perguntado se havia escrito a história de “Arenas Sangrentas”: ‘talvez sim, talvez não’. O Oscar de 1957 foi o último a ter a categoria de Melhor História Original. Trumbo estava, obviamente, se divertindo e sentindo o gosto de uma pequena vingança com o alvoroço que estava criando na mesma Hollywood que o havia expulsado.

In an interview to a Los Angeles journalist a little over a month after the Oscars ceremony, Trumbo answered this way when asked if he had written the story for “The Brave One”: ‘maybe I did, maybe I didn’t’. The 1957 Oscar ceremony was the last one to have the Best Writing – Motion Picture Story category. Trumbo was, of course, having fun and a small revenge with the little uproar he caused in the Hollywood that had expelled him.
Trumbo (2015)
Em 1959, Trumbo finalmente confessou que era responsável por “Arenas Sangrentas”. Logo depois, o diretor Stanley Kubrick e o ator e produtor Kirk Douglas insistiram que Trumbo fosse creditado em “Spartacus”. No ano seguinte, ele foi de fato devidamente creditado pela primeira vez em 13 anos, por seu trabalho em “Exodus”, de Otto Preminger. Entre “Arenas Sangrentas” e 1960, três outros escritores na lista negra ganharam o Oscar, e a ausência deles foi um sinal de vergonha para Hollywood. Acabava a lista negra.

In 1959, Trumbo finally confessed that he was responsible for “The Brave One”. Right after, director Stanley Kubrick and actor/producer Kirk Douglas insisted on having him credited in “Spartacus”. The following year, he was properly credited for the first time in 13 years, for his worked in Otto Preminger’s “Exodus”. Between “The Brave One” and 1960, three other blacklisted writers had won the Oscar and their absence was a sign of shame for Hollywood. The blacklist was over.



Ao contrário do que o trailer diz, “Arenas Sangrentas” não é inesquecível por causa da performance de Michael Ray – que é apenas OK – mas por causa da história de Trumbo. “Arenas Sangrentas” é sobre perdão e sobre considerar a opinião da maioria – e tudo isso é muito simbólico para um filme que foi a primeira peça na destruição da lista negra.

Contrary to what the trailer says, “The Brave One” is not unforgettable because of Michel Ray’s performance – which is just OK – but because of Trumbo’s story. “The Brave One” is about forgiveness and listening to the opinion of the majority – and all that is very symbolic for a movie that was the first piece to destroy the blacklist.


This is my contribution for Banned and Blacklisted, the Fall 2017 CMBA Blogathon, hosted by the Classic Movie Blog Association.

7 comments:

  1. When I wrote about SPARTACUS, I learned about Trumbo and the Hollywood Ten in greater detail. That was one crazy time. I never saw this one but it sounds pretty different.

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  2. The Brave One is one of those movies that I keep meaning to getting around to seeing...and then I get distracted by some shiny object and the like. (Boy, it felt good to come clean about this.) So I'm glad you included a lot about Trumbo's background in this review (I have seen the Trumbo documentary), since it made for a most informative read. Great work!

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  3. Nice work! I'm familiar with Trumbo's story but not with this film. Thanks for introducing me to it.

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  4. I love The Brave One. I think Trumbo put a lot of himself and his feelings about what happened to him during the blacklist in that film. Great article!

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  5. Awesome post. Trumbo's story is an inspiration. I've never seen The brave One, but if it's Trumbo, it's got to be good.

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  6. Hindsight shows us how ridiculous that time was, but it must have been truly harrowing to experience such vitriol. I saw The Brave One once, years ago, and recall very little of it. I must seek it out again after reading your grand article.

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  7. I remember viewing "Trumbo" and being intrigued with "The Brave One". Your article makes me want to watch it. I wrote about another Hollywood screenwriter exiled to Mexico, Hugo Butler. He knew Trumbo pretty well!

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