The Spanish Earth

1937 · 53 MIN · IMDB 6.7 · 509 VOTES · DIR. Joris Ivens

The Spanish Earth poster

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.

Dialogue Timeline — 201 lines

A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE

00:01:27 - This Spanish earth is dry and hard,
00:02:26 The village of Fuenteduena,
00:05:47 that is the lifeline between Valencia and Madrid.
00:09:43 The villagers in Fuenteduena
00:12:10 You eat, and drink, and sleep, and read the papers.
00:14:58 when the enemy took University City.
00:15:31 on the day we filmed the battle there.
00:17:44 celebrating the union of all the militia regiments
00:18:59 how they are fighting for Spanish democracy
00:20:15 The defense of Madrid will remind men always
00:22:24 Living in the cellars of that ruined building are the enemy.
00:22:45 of Italy and Germany, the Spanish revolt would have ended
00:25:51 You stand in line all day to buy food for supper.
00:26:38 So now they take the bookkeeper away,
00:28:34 except when there is a need to stand in line.
00:34:34 when they come back from the fields.
00:36:14 Nobody knows if he comes back.
00:37:29 high-explosive smoke and blasted granite.
00:38:13 So the next shell finds them.
00:41:18 I can't read German, either.
00:42:08 The rebels attack the Madrid-Valencia road again.
00:47:25 The men in echelon, in columns of six,
00:51:13 The road is free.
00:52:38 who only wanted work and food, fight on.

Cast & Characters

Manuel Azaña Himself (President of Spain)
José Díaz Himself (Parliamentarian)
Dolores Ibárruri Herself
Enrique Lister Himself (Republican Army)
Commander Martinez de Aragón Himself (Republican Army)
Gustav Regler Himself (German writer)
Orson Welles Narrator (voice)
Ernest Hemingway Narrator (voice)
Jean Renoir Narrator (voice)

Dialogue Record

Lines indexed201
Dialogue density3.8 lines / min
First line00:01:27
Final line00:52:38

Production Record

DirectorJoris Ivens
LanguageEnglish
IMDb votes509

Factoids

Rating source

IMDb rating preserved from the supplied subtitle archive; it may differ from the current IMDb rating.

Local subtitle archive