The True Story Behind Argo: How the CIA Invented a Fake Movie (Ep2/4)

الوصف

Why would the CIA invent a fake Hollywood film studio? And how did a failed sci-fi movie become the cover for one of the strangest rescue missions in intelligence history? In episode two of The Real Argo, Gordon and David reveal how CIA officer Tony Mendez rejected a series of disastrous escape plans — from fake schoolteachers to a winter bicycle ride across the mountains — and came up with something far more audacious: turn six hidden American diplomats into a Canadian film crew scouting locations in revolutionary Iran. To make the cover believable, the CIA built Studio Six Productions, placed real ads in Hollywood trade papers, used an abandoned sci-fi script, and drew on a secret relationship between American intelligence and Hollywood makeup artists. This is the story of how Argo went from a fake movie to one of the most carefully planned rescue missions in CIA history... 0:00 Six Americans Hiding in Tehran 1:43 AD 2:50 Why The Escape Plan Was So Difficult 3:30 The Terrible Cover Story Ideas 5:01 Why A Cover Story Has To Be Believable 6:22 The Passport Problem 7:36 How Canada Secretly Helped The CIA 10:55 Tony Mendez Still Needs A Cover 11:40 Why “Boring” Wouldn’t Work 14:57 Tony Mendez Goes To Hollywood 16:51 The CIA’s Secret Links To Hollywood 18:21 Meet John Chambers: The Makeup Artist Helping The CIA 20:46 Hollywood Disguises And CIA Tradecraft 21:57 Canada And The CIA Build The Operation 24:03 The 16-Page Plan Sent To Langley 25:00 Could The Fake Film Help A Bigger Hostage Rescue? 26:31 Mendez Gets Approval For The Hollywood Plan 27:16 Building A Fake Movie Studio 30:00 Selling The “Argo” Cover Story 31:17 Studio 6 Productions Is Born 34:11 The Fake Film Needs A Script 35:34 The Abandoned Sci-Fi Movie Behind Argo 39:09 Trying To Explain Lord Of Light 42:30 Why The Script Was Perfect For Iran 43:39 How Argo Got Its Name 44:55 Placing Real Hollywood Ads 46:05 When Studio 6 Started Getting Real Calls 47:21 The Documents Needed To Sell The Cover 48:46 Smuggling The Fake Identities Into Iran 50:01 Why The