Joseph McBride

Tells the story of how Frank Capra, a young and penniless immigrant, rose through the ranks of early Hollywood to become one of the Great American storytellers.

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When we talk about France and French people in Hollywood, it’s always the same thing: Love, seduction, arts, Parisian women, the French-lover, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe. Passion, transgression. So many words that the whole world instantly connects to France. An image shaped by American cinema since the beginning of the 20th century and which still sticks to the French today. Here is the history of French people in Hollywood and the clichés that have accompanied them.

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A history of anti-Asian racism and yellowface in Hollywood after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.

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Over a 50-year career and more than a hundred movies, filmmaker John Ford (1894-1973) forged the legend of the Far West. By giving a face to the underprivileged, from humble cowboys to persecuted minorities, he revealed like no one else the great social divisions that existed and still exist in the United States. More than four decades after his death, what remains of his legacy and humanistic values in the memory of those who love his work?

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At a media-swamped party to celebrate his seventieth birthday and screen his avant-garde film-in-progress, a legendary but jaded Hollywood director is faced both with voracious fans and unsettling questions about what became of his lead actor.

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As his life comes to its end, famous Hollywood director Orson Welles puts it all on the line at the chance for renewed success with the film The Other Side of the Wind.

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Martin Scorsese is among those paying tribute to Gene Tierney, the Academy Award-nominated American actress who was a leading lady in Hollywood throughout the 1940s and '50s.

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Biography on the famous writer-director, Billy Wilder.

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Misunderstood genius, superstar, Hollywood’s fallen angel... Orson Welles left his indelible mark on the 20th century.

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Giant of cinema, the embodiment of creation, Orson Welles is the man who reinvents the film language at 24-years old. Who is hidding behind this impressive figure? This movie is a journey towards the man behind the legend. It drags us into the labyrinth with multiple mirrors that Welles erases and recreates at the mercy of his imagination.

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The extraordinary life of Orson Welles (1915-85), an enigma of Hollywood, an irreducible independent creator: a musical prodigy, an excellent painter, a master of theater and radio, a modern Shakespeare, a magician who was always searching for a new trick to surprise his audience, a romantic and legendary figure who lived only for cinema.

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Welles scholar Joseph McBride discusses the 1952 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play. (A 32-minute edit of this documentary was presented by the Criterion Collection in their edition of Othello.)

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An enthralling and fast-paced four-part documentary feature that covers the making of one of the last major Hollywood epics; Titanic. Cast and crew speak on setting the sinking of the ship against a classic romance. The feature also examines casting and the young couple headlining the film, DiCaprio's and Winslet's on-set friendship and their differing acting styles, the expansive sets and filming locations, the authenticity of the recreated ship, James Cameron's work and dedication, and budgeting. And many more aspects of the film are overviewed.

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The documentary feature film BEHIND THE CURTAIN: JOSEPH McBRIDE ON WRITING FILM HISTORY (2011) presents McBride’s thoughts and memories as a biographer of celebrated film directors and as a film critic, historian, screenwriter, and teacher. McBride’s biographies of Frank Capra, John Ford, and Steven Spielberg are among the landmarks in the field. McBride is renowned for his prodigious research, his keen film analysis, and his rare ability to connect the personalities of filmmakers with their work and their times.

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This documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips and insight into what made the year so special.

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Short documentary about the making of the John Ford/John Wayne film "Stagecoach".

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Documentary about John Ford's relation to Monument Valley.

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This is a special feature included on the DVD for "The Informer"--a film John Ford made for RKO and which was released in 1935. Victor McLaglen received the Oscar for best actor for this film.

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An unfinished 1981 essay-documentary project by Orson Welles, based on a filmed Q&A session at USC following a screening of The Trial, intended as a reflective companion piece to the film but never edited or completed during his lifetime. The film was edited and screened in the 2000s by the Munich Filmmuseum.

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A documentary looking at the life and career of film director Frank Capra. Hosted by Ron Howard.

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An unsold 1979 television talk-show pilot hosted by Orson Welles, blending interviews, audience interaction, staged segments, and magic performances, filmed between 1978 and 1979 but never broadcast or developed into a series.

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A young athelete becomes the unlikely star of an itinerant wrestling troupe, and a rival promoter will go to any length to steal him away.

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Coy "Cannonball" Buckman and his blazing red Pontiac enter the Trans-America Grand Prix, an underground road race spanning the continent in which there are no rules, no speed limits and no heed for the law. En route, Buckman jockeys with an international ensemble of racers for a $100,000 purse. But there are none more important than Cade Redman, his direct competition for a guaranteed spot on the elite Modern Motors racing team.

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A Midwestern ingenue arrives in Hollywood to try her luck as an actress. An incompetent agent hooks her up with a production company which specializes in low budget B-movie fare, which starts being plagued by strange, deadly accidents.

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An aging silent movie comic star throws a lavish party to try and save his failing career.

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Primary is a documentary film about the primary elections between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in 1960. Primary is the first documentary to use light equipment in order to follow their subjects in a more intimate filmmaking style. This unconventional way of filming created a new look for documentary films where the camera’s lens was right in the middle of what ever drama was occurring. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1998.

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To commemorate the first century of American filmmaking, the American Film Institute embarked on a celebration of America's greatest movies from the first 100 years of American cinema — 1896-1996.

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A group of rock-music-loving students, with the help of the Ramones, take over their school to combat its newly installed oppressive administration.

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A young athelete becomes the unlikely star of an itinerant wrestling troupe, and a rival promoter will go to any length to steal him away.

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In 1973 the American Film Institute initiated its Life Achievement Award, to be presented to a yearly recipient whose talent has fundamentally advanced the film art; whose accomplishments have been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public; and whose work has stood the test of time.

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