However, his active membership in the Communist Party of the USA draws the contempt of staunchly anti-Soviet entertainment-industry figures such as columnist Hedda Hopper and actor John Wayne.
Trumbo is one of 10 screenwriters subpoenaed to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) regarding Communist propaganda in Hollywood films.
Trumbo's friend Edward G. Robinson, who supports the cause, sells Vincent van Gogh's 1887 painting Portrait of Père Tanguy to raise money for their legal defense fund.
He resorts to giving the screenplay for Roman Holiday to his friend Ian McLellan Hunter, to take credit and a share of the money, and eventually the Academy Award for Best Story.
Selling his idyllic lakeside home and moving to a house in the city, he goes to work as a pseudonymous screenwriter for the low-budget King Brothers Productions, also farming out the writing of B-movie screenplays to fellow blacklisted writers.
His blacklisted friend Arlen Hird dies from cancer, destitute, but an attempt by Hedda Hopper's allies to intimidate the head of King Brothers into firing Trumbo fails completely.
By early 1961, the effectiveness of the Blacklist had been broken to the point where newly elected US President John F. Kennedy publicly endorsed Spartacus, and Trumbo and others are able to begin rebuilding their careers.
[11] On August 13, 2014, David James Elliott, Peter Mackenzie, and Roger Bart joined the cast to play John Wayne, Robert Kenny, and Buddy Ross, respectively.
The site's critical consensus states, "Trumbo serves as an honorable and well-acted tribute to a brilliant writer's principled stand, even if it doesn't quite achieve the greatness of its subject's own classic screenplays.
[22] Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a positive review, saying, "Trumbo may be clumsy and overly simplistic at times, but it's still an important reminder of how democracy can fail (that is, when a fervent majority turns on those with different and potentially threatening values), and the strength of character it takes to fight the system.
"[24] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Trumbo is breezy and pithy without ever undercutting the seriousness of the subject.
"[26] Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, saying "What makes the movie work are the lively performances, both from the supporting cast and from Cranston, who sheds the mimicry and pontificating of earlier scenes to turn Trumbo into a wry, self-deprecating and somewhat cheeky older man, even if he continued to stand up for what was right.
[31] The conservative Pat Buchanan questioned the appropriateness of portraying Trumbo as a "martyr to the first amendment" while overlooking his support for regimes that actively suppress free speech.
The film depicts actor Edward G. Robinson betraying his friend Dalton Trumbo and others by naming them as communists before the House Un-American Activities Committee.