Title
Filming History and The Spanish Earth: "what a man and comrade has to do in…wartimes"
Document Type
Essay
Annotation
Study of how Dos Passos's relationship with early film informed his aesthetic, paying particular attention to the making of the 1937 film The Spanish Earth documenting the struggle in Spain. Nanney outlines social and political complexities of the Spanish Civil War and the documentary's role in advancing the Republican cause to U.S. filmgoers. Explores Dos Passos's shifting political allegiance away from the Left, galvanized by the execution of his longtime friend José Robles at the hands of Stalinists. Examines Dos Passos's and Hemingway's diverging ideologies and growing estrangement during the making of the film, ending in the termination of their friendship. Assesses Dos Passos's contributions to the project, along with those of Hemingway and Communist director Joris Ivens, noting that by the film's debut the latter two "had practically obscured Dos Passos's role in it." Includes a discussion of the film's complicated place within the documentary film genre.
Published in
John Dos Passos & Cinema
Date
2019
Pages
127-155
Citation
Nanney, Lisa. "Filming History and The Spanish Earth: 'what a man and comrade has to do in…wartimes.'" In John Dos Passos & Cinema, 127-55. Clemson, SC: Clemson UP, 2019.