In 1959 Hollywood was still cowering under the "Red Scare" brought about by the McCarthy era and the House Un-American Activities Committee. Kirk Douglas wanted to make a film about the Roman slave, Spartacus, based on the book by Howard Fast, one of the authors who went to prison rather than bow to HUAC. Douglas also wanted the blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, a member of the Hollywood Ten, to write the screenplay. Trumbo had written screenplays for other films under pseudonyms and agreed to do it for this one. By the end of nearly two years of work on the picture, with multiple delays, cost overruns and fights with the censors, Douglas decided that Trumbo's name would be in the credits much to the dismay of Universal Pictures. It's a fascinating story in Douglas' own words that inspired me to seek out the restored version of the film which has the scenes removed by the censors. I have vague memories (I was 2) going to see the film at one of the big theaters (maybe one of the Loew's) because it's the only time I remember going to the movies as a family that wasn't a drive-in. The family story is that I cried during the opening credits when the statues crumble but was well behaved through the rest of it.
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