Hollywood contra Franco plot
"A war behind the screen"
The Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939) made a deep impression on Hollywood filmmakers, who extensively filmed the dramatic events in Spain. But American screenwriter Alvah Bessie paid a heavy price for his involvement. Because of his participation in the Spanish Civil War – he was a member of the International Brigades – Bessie was suspected in America of anti-state (read: communist) sympathies in the early 1950s. As a result, he was blacklisted and out of work in Hollywood. His story is the trigger for a fascinating investigation into the relationship between the film industry and politics, which forms the basis for the documentary “Hollywood and the Spanish Civil War”.