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The Spanish Earth Poster

The Spanish Earth

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.

Top Cast

  • Manuel Azaña

    Manuel Azaña

    Himself (President of Spain)

  • José Díaz

    José Díaz

    Himself (Parliamentarian)

  • Dolores Ibárruri

    Dolores Ibárruri

    Herself

  • Enrique Lister

    Enrique Lister

    Himself (Republican Army)

  • Commander Martinez de Aragón

    Commander Martinez de Aragón

    Himself (Republican Army)

  • Gustav Regler

    Gustav Regler

    Himself (German writer)

  • Orson Welles

    Orson Welles

    Narrator (voice)

  • Ernest Hemingway

    Ernest Hemingway

    Narrator (voice)

  • Jean Renoir

    Jean Renoir

    Narrator (voice)

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.

Rating

6.6 / 10
21 Reviews
0 Popular

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