Richard Kaplan

The Exiles

Richard Kaplan

Hans Bethe, Bruno Bettelheim

A chronicle of the rescue of oppressed intellectuals and artists from Europe before the outbreak of World War II. It studies the cultural and intellectual impact of this emigre population on American life.

The Eleanor Roosevelt Story

Richard Kaplan

An intimate and moving portrait of one of the most remarkable women in American history. It is the story of a lonely, unhappy child who became the most admired and respected woman in the world. Richard Kaplan's lively documentary reveals the human face behind the American icon, beginning with the emotional deprivation suffered by this plain, awkward little girl born into a socially prominent and powerful family. Though she would eventually marry a man who would look beyond her awkwardness, Eleanor was not content to be the proper, silent wife to her husband Franklin's extraordinary political career. Instead, she began a lifelong crusade to speak out about injustice and oppression in any form.

Varian & Putzi: A 20th Century Tale

Richard Kaplan

Documentary about two American Harvard graduates from different generations who took very different paths through the Nazi domination of Germany and Europe: Varian Fry, born in 1907, rescued hundreds of European artists and intellectuals from the Nazis; Ernst “Putzi” Hanfstängel, born in 1887 to a German father and an American mother, helped Hitler rise to power after they met in Munich in 1922, and was head of the Foreign Press Bureau in Berlin during the early years of the Third Reich.