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They were called Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich or Josephine Baker, they were actors, singers but also spies…
Everyone remembers Cary Grant as the spy in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Chained, but what few know is that the actor demonstrated his talent as a double agent in real life as well. So say the Kuperberg sisters, still fascinated by the history of cinema, in their latest investigation “Spies from Hollywood”. In a fifty-minute documentary, Clara and Julia Kuperberg take us with them to Hollywood of the 1930s: mysterious, stunning and fascinating at the same time in the footsteps of these celebrities who became spies.
In 2008, the declassification of national archives in Washington revealed the identities of 24,000 people who secretly worked for the OSS, the predecessor of the CIA, created by Roosevelt in 1942 during World War II. And the surprise: among this flood of names, there are those of some famous characters of the time like Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Josephine Baker, John Ford, Walt Disney, Leslie Howard, the Warner brothers or even Ian Fleming. Yes, the mythical father James Bond he himself worked for the secret service. Quite disturbing information when we know that some of these actors have played spies on the big screen.
When reality goes beyond fiction…
But why use it? stardom as a secret agent? The answer is quite simple: no one would doubt that movie stars serve their country. They enjoyed the best cover, their fame allowing them to collect information, pass it across borders and easily infiltrate pro-Nazi circles without anyone suspecting a thing. Each in their own way, these men and women took extraordinary risks to aid the Allied Forces and change the course of World War II.
Through numerous archival videos and photographs, we discover a completely unsuspecting, but above all fascinating side of the story accurately told by selected speakers. On the program: Jonna Mendez, former CIA agent, Deborah Plisko author of “Celebrities Spies True Stories” and historians Craig Detweiler and Tony Maietta. A beautiful documentary that expertly mixes history, politics and glamour, taking us back to the 1930s for a journey through time.
The Spies Who Came From Hollywood by Clara and Julia Kuperberg: this Thursday, October 19 at 10:30pm on OCS.