DALTON TRUMBO BECOMES ONE OF THE HOLLYWOOD TEN (1948) Press photo

Washington, D.C.: Acme Photo, 1948. Vintage original 7 x 9″ (17 x 22 cm) black-and-white glossy silver gelatin photo. Acme Photo ink date stamp of May 4, 1948, and full text blurb on verso. Minor use, about fine.

Press photo of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo leaving his hearing with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), which named him number two of the Hollywood writers and directors who will go to trial. 

Dalton Trumbo was a famous screenwriter caught in the Hollywood blacklist of the 1940s-50s for his political beliefs and refusal to name suspected communists to the HUAC, leading to prison and a decade of secret writing under pseudonyms for films like Spartacus and Exodus, both of which ultimately broke the blacklist and restored his name. He was a member of the Hollywood Ten, imprisoned for contempt and emerging as a symbol of defiance, winning two Oscars (one posthumously) under assumed names before receiving full credit, making him a key figure in fighting censorship and defending free speech.