The Double Life of Paul Henreid2017

Gets at a very subtly devastating dimension of the Hollywood System - in its capitalistic voraciousness, it compromises ideal after ideal that it casts upon the screen, for the bottom-line, up to and including the re-traumatization of artists escaping from fascism, by ostracization and Otherizing to the point where at least the subject of this piece was forced to play the role of fascist himself to stay afloat.

Fascinating and sad. Rappaport is a phenom.

An interesting look at the ups and downs of the acting career of Paul Henreid. Most Germans who escaped during WWII and came to Hollywood, ended up playing Nazis. Henreid was from Austria and had a generic enough accent to get away with portraying the exotic European in many romantic classics. You may remember him in Casablanca or Now, Voyager as the charming French lover.

There is a humorous segment in the documentary where the Warner Brothers logo and theme are played over and over. This is followed by Henreid repeating the line "I love you" to top female stars of the age and then kissing them passionately.

You may wonder if product placement was involved when you see just how much time Henreid spent smoking and encouraging others to smoke on film.

After the war American tastes changed and Henried was dropped by Warner Brothers. Later still he was blacklisted when he joined a group of protesters in Washington during the HUAC hearings.

His characters become much darker from this point forward. It all comes full-circle when Henreid does eventually end up playing a Nazi soldier toward the end of his career. A well-made bio doc.

A very flat, somewhat cynical narration atop a montage of well-worn studio clips. Probably not worth your time. I got more out of the 4-minute spotlight they run on TCM from time to time.

Trying to see the entire film but was not successful.