A War in Hollywood

Oct 16, 2009

1h 32m

★ 6.8

A war behind the screen

Overview

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) caused a great impression on the lives of most of the American artists of that era, so many movies were made in Hollywood about it. The final defeat of the Spanish Republic left an open wound in the hearts of those who sympathized with its cause. The eventful life of screenwriter Alvah Bessie (1904-1985), one of the Hollywood Ten, serves to analyze this sadness, the tragedy of Spain and its consequences.

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

TV3

Área de Televisión

TVE

A War in Hollywood Trailers

Cast

Alvah Bessie (voice)

Lluís Soler

Self - Abraham Lincoln Brigade Member

Moe Fishman

Self - Actress

Susan Sarandon

Self - Film Historian / Screenwriter

Román Gubern

Self - Alvah Bessie's Son

Dan Bessie

Self - Screenwriter

Walter Bernstein

Self - Screenwriter

Arthur Laurents

Self - Writer

Patrick McGilligan

Vietnam War, 1966. Australia and New Zealand send troops to support the United States and South Vietnamese in their fight against the communist North. Soldiers are very young men, recruits and volunteers who have never been involved in a combat. On August 18th, members of Delta Company will face the true horror of a ruthless battle among the trees of a rubber plantation called Long Tân. They are barely a hundred. The enemy is a human wave ready to destroy them.

5.8

Operation Amsterdam

Jan 12, 1959

When Germany invades Holland in 1940, a British intelligence officer and two Dutch diamond merchants go to Amsterdam to persuade the Dutch diamond merchants to evacuate their diamond supplies to England.

No Image Available

0.0

Lucille Ball: Finding Lucy

Dec 3, 2000

For more than 30 years, Lucille Ball was one of the most recognized and loved entertainers in the world. Known to all simply as Lucy, she portrayed a scatterbrained housewife with the ability to turn simple chores into humorous disasters.

6.7

Elio Petri: Notes About a Filmmaker

Sep 3, 2005

A documentary on the director’s career, featuring interviews with friends, collaborators, and filmmakers.

6.0

The World of James Bond

Oct 29, 1995

Elizabeth Hurley hosts a one hour documentary on the history of the James Bond film series to tie in with the seventeenth Bond film, GoldenEye.

7.0

Gregory Peck, le gentleman acteur

Nov 28, 2022

A legend of the Hollywood Golden Age, Gregory Peck (1916-2003) had an exemplary career, working under some of the greatest directors: Alfred Hitchcock, Elia Kazan, Raoul Walsh, Vincente Minnelli... Portrait of an actor with irresistible charm and strong political commitments.

6.4

Enid

Nov 16, 2009

A poignant biography of one of the most successful and wildly-read writers of the 20th century. Her stories enthralled children everywhere but her personal struggles often proved too much.

8.0

Stalin's Last Plot

Aug 26, 2011

January 1953: On the eve of his death Stalin finds himself yet another imaginary enemy: Jewish doctors. He organizes the most violent anti-Semitic campaign ever launched in the USSR, by fabricating the "Doctors' Plot," whereby doctors are charged with conspiring to murder the highest dignitaries of the Soviet Regime. Still unknown and untold, this conspiracy underlines the climax of a political scheme successfully masterminded by Stalin to turn the Jews into the new enemies of the people. It reveals his extreme paranoia and his compulsion to manipulate those around him. The children and friends of the main victims recount for the first time their experience and their distress related to these nightmarish events.

5.1

There Be Dragons

Mar 25, 2011

Arising out of the horror of the Spanish Civil War, a candidate for canonization is investigated by a journalist who discovers his own estranged father had a deep, dark and devastating connection to the saint's life.While researching the life of Josemaria Escriva, the controversial founder of Opus Dei, the young journalist Robert uncovers hidden stories of his estranged father Manolo, and is taken on a journey through the dark, terrible secrets of his family’s past.

7.4

From Caligari to Hitler

May 28, 2015

Film journalist and critic Rüdiger Suchsland examines German cinema from 1919, when the Republic of Weimar is born, to 1933, when the Nazis come into power. (Followed by Hitler's Hollywood, 2017.)

7.7

The King's Speech

Nov 26, 2010

The King's Speech tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stutter and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country into war.

0.0

Black Power Salute

Jul 9, 2008

A film about one of the most iconic images of the 20th century, the moment when the radical spirit of the 1960s upstaged the greatest sporting event in the world. Two men made a courageous gesture that reverberated around the world, and changed their lives forever. This film is about Tommie Smith and John Carlos' protest at the 1968 Olympics.

6.7

Public Enemies

Jul 1, 2009

Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger's charm and audacity endear him to much of America's downtrodden public, but he's also a thorn in the side of J. Edgar Hoover and the fledgling FBI. Desperate to capture the elusive outlaw, Hoover makes Dillinger his first Public Enemy Number One and assigns his top agent, Melvin Purvis, the task of bringing him in dead or alive.

6.6

Midway

Jun 18, 1976

This war drama depicts the U.S. and Japanese forces in the naval Battle of Midway, which became a turning point for Americans during World War II.

6.7

Zoo

Jun 8, 2018

Young Tom and his misfit friends fight to save 'Buster' the baby elephant during the German air raid bombings of Belfast in 1941.

7.8

The Rape of Recy Taylor

May 30, 2019

Recy Taylor, a 24-year-old black mother and sharecropper, was gang raped by six white boys in 1944 Alabama. Common in Jim Crow South, few women spoke up in fear for their lives. Not Recy Taylor, who bravely identified her rapists. The NAACP sent its chief rape investigator Rosa Parks, who rallied support and triggered an unprecedented outcry for justice. The film exposes a legacy of physical abuse of black women and reveals Rosa Parks’ intimate role in Recy Taylor’s story.

0.0

To Paint With Pictures

Jan 1, 2005

Documentary about the making of Swedish film director Jan Troell's "The New Land" (1971) and "The Emigrants" (1972).

6.2

VHS Revolution

Aug 28, 2017

Using testimonies by pioneers and witnesses of the times, delve into the feverish visual culture the media generated – with far-fetched examples of canine television games, seduction manuals, aerobics class while holding a baby, among others.

7.1

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

Feb 13, 2005

In 1943, as Hitler continues to wage war across Europe, a group of college students mount an underground resistance movement in Munich. Dedicated expressly to the downfall of the monolithic Third Reich war machine, they call themselves the White Rose. One of its few female members, Sophie Scholl is captured during a dangerous mission to distribute pamphlets on campus with her brother Hans. Unwavering in her convictions and loyalty to the White Rose, her cross-examination by the Gestapo quickly escalates into a searing test of wills as Scholl delivers a passionate call to freedom and personal responsibility.

No Image Available

6.0

The Golden Gong: The Story of Rank Films - British Cinema's Legendary Studio

Jan 1, 1985

After starting his career producing religious film shorts, J. Arthur Rank went on to become Britain's first and only movie mogul with his establishment of the legendary Pinewood Studios. Narrated by Michael Caine, THE GOLDEN GONG chronicles Pinewood's rise to success.