Dalton Trumbo is now officially the author of his Oscar winning “Roman Holiday” screenplay. The Writers Guide of America has restored Trumbo’s writing credit for the movie which was originally attributed to Ian McLellan Hunter.
Trumbo was a member of the “Hollywood Ten,” a group of writers who were blacklisted in Hollywood after being deemed Communists in the 1940s, and had to write under fake names for much of his career.
Trumbo wrote the screenplay for “Roman Holiday” while working in self-exile in Mexico. Hunter, who was not blacklisted at the time, acted as the secret middleman between Hollywood studios and Trumbo.
The official credit for “Roman Holiday” now reads: “Screenplay by Dalton Trumbo and Ian McLellan Hunter; Story by Dalton Trumbo.”
Reuters reports that Trumbo, who died in 1976, received a posthumous Oscar for “Roman Holiday” in 1993. In 1973, the Academy recognized Trumbo as the author of another Oscar Winning screenplay, 1956’s “The Brave One,” which was originally attributed to “Robert Rich.”
WGAW President Chris Keyser said in a statement:
“It is not in our power to erase the mistakes or the suffering of the past. But we can make amends, we can pledge not to fall prey again to the dangerous power of fear or to the impulse to censor, even if that pledge is really only a hope. And, in the end, we can give credit where credit is due.”
Here’s the trailer for “Roman Holiday.”
Do you think the WGA made the right move by restoring Dalton Trumbo’s writing credit?
