The Spanish Earth

Overview

Joris Ivens’s advocacy documentary for the Republican cause intercuts a besieged Madrid with a nearby village digging an irrigation canal, linking the war to bread, land, and survival. Produced by the writers’ collective Contemporary Historians, edited by Helen van Dongen, scored by Marc Blitzstein, and narrated in its U.S. version by Ernest Hemingway (after an initial Orson Welles track), it blends frontline reportage with persuasion against Franco’s forces and their German–Italian backers.

Details

Status

Released

Release date

July 10, 1937

Original language

English

Spoken languages

German, Spanish, English

Countries

United States of America

Production

Contemporary Historians Inc.

Cast

Manuel Azaña,José Díaz,Dolores Ibárruri,Enrique Lister,Commander Martinez de Aragón,Gustav Regler,Orson Welles,Ernest Hemingway,Jean Renoir

Director

Joris Ivens

Writer

Prudencio de Pereda,John Dos Passos,Lillian Hellman,Archibald Macleish,Ernest Hemingway,Joris Ivens

Cinematography

John Fernhout

Budget

Not recorded

Revenue

Not recorded

IMDb

tt0029594