It is nothing exceptional, if you are at all a fan of American cinema, and/or are at all a student of the country's mid-century politics, to know the name Dalton Trumbo. Screenwriter of some of the most recognizable and significant films of the sweet-spot of American cinema from the 1930s into the 60s, he was also one of the most visible and out-in-the-open members of the Hollywood Ten. This is not a new story, but it is one that was more than ably told earlier tonight on PBS's American Masters. With a script heavily dependent on the script of a stage play by the screenwriter's son Christopher, it was indeed not a heavily critical affair, but it was generally and garrously informative. Nathan Lane, however, stole the show with his reading of a letter from father Trumbo to son on the bawdy and shameful pleasures of masturbation. Redolent with faux-shame and filigreed with an apparently new-found love of Nabakov, the letter was an expression of self-entertaining chagrin and the barely contained glee of Lane's reading won over even the half-witted curmudgeons watching the show.
A shameful moment in American cultural history, even if one that seems almost defanged by time and more recent events. Still, Trumbo could craft a unity of voice against ugly power, even if it was largely imaginary. It seems hard to think of a better image than the one he imagined
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3 comments:
By simple caprice we stumbled upon such, and thusly, we were moved. Gauging such, we found the need to watch the repeat on the other PBS bandwidth affiliate and saw it to its conclusion.
Lena informed me last night that she had not liked the letter reading and in particular found Mr. Lane's reading to be self-satisfied and a bit cloying in its performance. Ce la vie
Liam Neeson can read to me anytime.
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