Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood

Top 10 Billed Cast

Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver

Narrator (voice)

Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich

Self (archive footage)

Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr

Self (archive footage)

Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Lanchester

Self (archive footage)

Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre

Self (archive footage)

Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder

Self (archive footage)

Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang

Self (archive footage)

Lupita Tovar
Lupita Tovar

Self - Interviewee

Fred Zinnemann
Fred Zinnemann

Self (archive footage)

Peter Viertel
Peter Viertel

Self (archive footage)

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  • Overview

    Eight hundred German filmmakers (cast and crew) fled the Nazis in the 1930s. The film uses voice-overs, archival footage, and film clips to examine Berlin's vital filmmaking in the 1920s; then it follows a producer, directors, composers, editors, writers, and actors to Hollywood: some succeeded and many found no work. Among those profiled are Erich Pommer, Joseph May, Ernst Lubitsch, Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, and Peter Lorre. Once in Hollywood, these exiles helped each other, housed new arrivals, and raised money so others could escape. Some worked on anti-Nazi films, like Casablanca. The themes and lighting of German Expressionism gave rise in Hollywood to film noir.

  • Release Date

    2009-01-01

  • Average

    6

  • Rating:

    3.0 starts
  • Tagline

  • Genres

  • Languages:

    English
  • Keywords

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