MovieChat Forums > Trumbo (2015) Discussion > Did the Real Trumbo Not Know How to Type...

Did the Real Trumbo Not Know How to Type?

posted 9 years ago by micirisi
11 replies | jump to latest

We see the character Trumbo typing while using only his index fingers and looking at the keyboard which characteristic of someone without typing skills. I would think a successful writer (particularly in those days) would know how to type using all ten digits and not having to look at the keyboard. (BTW, I took a typing course in high school to get out of a gym class and it was the most practical and useful course of my entire education. Aside from learning how to read and basic arithmetic.)

He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.

[–] sarah-103 9 years ago

It's possible. Women learned to type properly with all ten fingers, but many men might not have learned to type with all ten fingers, and would have typed exactly as Trumbo is shown typing.

"Forget reality, give me a picture"-Remington Steele

[–] Dan1863Sickles 8 years ago

I spotted that too! And it rubbed me the wrong way. While I can imagine it's just possible that Dalton Trumbo never really did learn to type properly, it's highly unlikely. He brags that he was a war journalist, and he must have started out doing office work somewhere. He's highly professional in every other way. Every time I saw the hunt and peck I got a really creepy feeling, like this was a really cheap way of making us see him as an underdog, and sincere. The little man speaking up the best way he can, even with just two fingers. It creeped me out, and was emblematic of the whole film.

"We're all gonna die up here, Spock!" James T. Kirk

[–] TxMike 8 years ago

I think yours is an overreaction. Many of us never learned "touch typing" with all fingers. I have been a "hunt and peck" typer all my life, much like Trumbo is shown in this movie. When you do it a lot you can get very fast with it. Maybe it is an overused trope but I recall seeing lots of movies over the years depicting journalists and authors using two fingers to type. I'd suggest it is authentic for this movie, Trumbo was mid-20th century, there is a lot known about him and his ways of doing things.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.

[–] micirisi 8 years ago

Reminds me years ago when my promiscuous sister got fired from her secretarial job. I asked my brother what happened? He said not sure but probably cause she could not type good. Told me the boss said she was just a hunting pecker.

He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.

[–] hafabee 8 years ago

I think it's amazing that a man who wrote screenplays for a living wouldn't know how to type! Must have taken him a long time to get anything done.

Then again, a lot of time writing is just staring at the screen (or paper in Trumbo's case) and dreaming up the next sentence, the next scenario, and the next line of dialogue, so the process of writing isn't all about getting down on paper quickly. Much of the work is simply dreaming it up.

But it's still bizarre to think that a guy who writes for a living would never take the time to learn to type.

[–] TxMike 8 years ago

So, you think it is bizarre? Then you must really think it is bizarre that Quentin Tarantino does not even use a typewriter or a computer. He writes everything by hand into notebooks. Other authors do too, then get a typist to take their writing and turn it into print.

To think that there are no authors who type using a hunt-and-peck technique, as portrayed in the movie "Trumbo", is very myopic.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.

[–] hafabee 8 years ago

It's not myopic to believe that an author would learn the ONE solitary tool of their trade! 

It's not like it even requires that much effort, a single night school course and a little practice and anyone can type, anyone. These days there's undoubtedly a host of online courses too.

I definitely find it surprisingly that a writer wouldn't learn how to type, it's the most common of common sense.

[–] TxMike 8 years ago

Trumbo's daughters were intimately involved with the production and insured that the movie got their dad right.

" The two sisters, known as Niki and Mitzi, are the last living members of Trumbo's immediate family and were heavily involved in the creation of the movie's script, based on Bruce Cook's book, Dalton Trumbo. Roach urged screenwriter John McNamara to reach out to the women, telling The Hollywood Reporter, "I encouraged him to get to know the people directly involved." With the help of Trumbo's daughters, the filmmakers were able to ensure that they made a well-balanced story that stayed close to the truth. "

They had Cranston do little things, like the way he stooped his shoulders and the way he types in the bathtub. And you don't think they made the typing authent5ic??

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.

[–] hafabee 8 years ago

I do think it was authentic, that wasn't my point. I think it's bizarre that a man who has been a writer his entire life never took the time to learn the only tool of his trade.

[–] tmf_scipio 8 years ago

My dad typed like Trumbo is depicted. He could type 80-90 words a minute that way.

Hitler! C'mon, I'll buy you a glass of lemonade.

[–] Tobey 8 years ago

Here's my thoughts.

Trumbo wrote screenplays. That's a lot different than typing a letter or a book. Granted, he was a reporter but typing was not something that was regularly taught to men. If you learned to hunt and peck that's usually what you stayed with.

I also wonder how many posters here have used a manual typewriter, particularly one of that era. Even the early electric models took a lot more force on the keys that any modern keyboard. Using only a couple of fingers made it easier to hit the keys hard enough.

I would have thought it strange if he had been a touch typist, considering his age and the era.