In 1971, Trumbo took his novel, Johnny Got His Gun, wrote a screnplay, and directed his one and only movie. This anti-war tale was inspired by an article Dalton read about a British soldier who had been badly disfigured during World War I. The book won a National Book award when it originally appeared in 1939. The book was taken out of print during World War II because it was used by anti-war groups to protest America's involvement. But it would remain an underground classic and when it was finally republished in 1959, it was a major influence for anti-Vietnam War groups.
The movie won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The story is of a young man who is wounded during World War I. He loses his arms, legs, and his face. He finally realizes that he is still alive and figures out a way to communicate with his doctors. He tells them that he wants to be put in a carnival so everyone can see what happens during war. The film is not great. It is rather long and talky. But the ideas and story are excellent.
When the book was reissued in 1970, Trumbo wrote an introduction for the novel. Here is a small quote from that introduction. "Numbers have dehumanized us. Over breakfast coffee we read of 40,000 American dead in Vietnam. Instead of vomiting, we reach for the toast. Our morning rush through crowded streets is not to cry murder but to hit the trough before somebody else gobbles our share. An equation: 40,000 dead young men=3,000 tons of bone and flesh, 124,000 pounds of brain matter, 50,000 gallons of blood, 1,840,000 years of life that will never be lived, 100,000 children that will never be born."
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