Johnny Got His Gun

Based on a novel written by Dalton Trumbo at the beginning of World War II, this harrowing, thought-provoking story seemed almost unfilmable until Trumbo himself finally took the directors helm some thirty years later to tell the story of soldier, Joe Bonham (Timothy Bottoms) who lost his arms, legs, and most of his face during the First World War. This anti-war film came out of the Cannes Film Festival with three awards; its subject matter handled in a way that’s not so much anti-war as pro-life. Trumbo originally conceived the idea for his novel in 1933 when he read about a British officer who had been horribly disfigured during World War I. This led the authorities to lie to the officer’s family, telling them that he’d been killed in action when actually; he lived for another fifteen years as a human vegetable.

A succession of directors were approached to bring Trumbo’s novel to the screen, including Trumbo’s first choice, Luis Bunuel. Warner Bros allocated a budget of $2 million to cover production costs, but that never materialized. Eventually, Trumbo and producer Bruce Campbell managed to raise $750,000 from private investors for a forty-two day shooting schedule which took place in 1970.

1971

Dalton Trumbo (Directed by); Timothy Bottoms (Joe Bonham); Jason Robards (Joe’s Father); Kathy Fields (Kareen); Donald Sutherland (Christ); Marsha Hunt (Joe’s Mother); Diane Varsi (Fourth Nurse); Donald Barry (Jody Simmons); Eric Christmas (Corporal Timlon); Charles McGraw (Mike Burkeman); Eduard Franz (Col./Gen Tillery); Byron Morrow (Brigadier General); Kerry MacLane (Joe Age 10); Sandy Brown Wyeth (Lucky); Craig Bovia (Little Guy); Peter Brocco (Ancient Prelate); Judy Howard Chaikin (Bakey Girl); Kendell Clarke (Hospital Official); Robert Cole (Orator); Maurice Dallimore (British Colonel); Robert Easton (Third Doctor); Larry Fleischman (Russ); Tony Geary (Redhead); Edmund Gilbert (Priest); Ben Hammer (Second Doctor); Milton Barnes (First Reader); Lynn Hanratty (Elizabeth Age 6); Wayne Heffley (Captain); Ernestine Johnston (Farm Woman); Joseph Kaufman (Rudy); Mike Lee (Bill Harper); William Mims (Gentleman); Alice Nunn (Third Nurse); Marge Redmond (First Nurse); Jodean Russo (Second Nurse); David Soul (Swede); Peter Virgo, Jr. (Attendant).

Transportation Director: Elmore Adams; Looping Editor: Samuel M. Annis; Assistant Art Director: James Bachman; Assistant Editor: Elizabeth Buxton; First Assistant Cameraman: Dick Colean; Sound Mixer: Hal Etherington; Property Master: Stephen Ferry; Negative Cutter: June Gilham; Costume Supervisor: James Kessler; Music Editor: Erma Levin; Production Co-ordinator: John Lott; Music Mixer: Donald Minkler; Sound Effects Mixer: Robert Minkler; Dialogue Mixer: Howard Wollman; Set Decorators: Mike Lee; Robert Signorelli; Sound Effects Editor: Jim Nelson; Make-Up Artist: Phillip Rhodes; Lighting Director: George Rumanes; Key Grip: Bud Schindler; Camera Operator: Robert Touyarot; Script Supervisor: Marvin Weldon; Special Effects: Dick Williams; Medical Advisor: Dr. Milton Birnbaum; Secretary to the Director: Deanna Beekler; Still Photographer: Melissa Campbell; Attorney: Aubrey Finn; Assistant Casting Director: Marsha Kleinman; Assistant to the Producer: Clarke Lindsley; Production Secretary: Carolyn Newman; Casting Director: Tony Monaco; Production Consultant: Bob Milford; Production Secretary: Madeline Oolie; Production Supervisor: James F. Sommers; Set Operations: Dale Strange; Assistant Director: Christopher Trumbo; Assistant to the Producer: Pamela H. Vanneck; Laboratory: Consolidated Film Industries; Set Construction: Normand Houles Design Arts; Sound Recording: Glenn Glenn Sound Company Producers Sound Service, Inc.; Post Production Co-ordination: Kaleidoscope Productions, Inc.; Main Title: Pacific Titles; Production Management Consultation: International Producers Services; Associates of the Production: John Bright; Dorothea Campbell; Gene Frenke; Robert Haggiag; Simon Lazarus; Roy Silver; Associate Producers: Tony Monaco and Christopher Trumbo; Director of Photography: Jules Brenner; Production Designer and Art Director: Harold Michelson; Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle; Composer and Conductor: Jerry Fielding; Supervising Editor: William P.Dornisch; Editor: Millie Moore; Novel and Screenplay: Dalton Trumbo; Producer: Bruce Campbell; A Bruce Campbell Production. © 1971 World Entertainers Ltd.