Martin Smith
Directing
Known For

A documentary series that gives a historical account of the events of World War II, from its roots in the 1920s to the aftermath and the lives it profoundly influenced.
The World at War

A 24-part series which deals with the relations between the United States, the Soviet Union and their respective allies between the end of World War II to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Cold War

Disappearing World is a British documentary television series produced by Granada Television, which produced 49 episodes between 1970 and 1993. The episodes, each an hour long, focus on a specific human community around the world, usually but not always a traditional tribal group.
Disappearing World

A six-year project from conception to completion, "Vietnam: A Television History" carefully analyzes the costs and consequences of a controversial but intriguing war. From the first hour through the last, the series provides a detailed visual and oral account of the war that changed a generation and continues to color American thinking on many military and foreign policy issues.
Vietnam: A Television History

In World War II era Los Angeles, the manager of the Culver Hotel leaves his nephew in charge for a weekend. The nephew changes the name to the Hotel Rainbow and overbooks with royalty, assassins, secret agents, Japanese tourists, and munchkins. Secret Service agent Bruce Thorpe and casting director Annie Clark find romance amidst the intrigue and confusion.
Under the Rainbow

No description available.
WWII: The Lost Color Archives

This four-hour series narrated by Martin Sheen captures America's wartime experience through original color film footage and compelling passages from diaries and letters. Rare color footage-much of it never before publicly screened-presents a vivid and intimate portrait of life on the battlefield and on the U.S. home front.
The Perilous Fight: America's World War II in Color

This 9-episodes documentary series extensively examines the history of Poland in the 20th Century, telling the story through archival films, newsreels, interviews, and readings from novels and poems.
The Struggles for Poland
Stealing Klimt recounts the struggle by 90-year-old Maria Altmann to recover five Gustav Klimt paintings stolen from her family by the Nazis in Vienna. From the end of the War up until last year, these paintings hung in the Austrian National Gallery. The film covers Maria's early life in glittering fin-de-siècle Vienna, her dramatic escape from Nazi terror and her courageous fight to recover the five Klimt's against all the odds. Maria's fight to reclaim the paintings eventually took her to the United States Supreme Court and pitted her not just against Austria but also against the US Government which asked the Supreme Court to reject her case. After Maria finally emerged victorious in 2006, one of the paintings - the "Golden Portrait" of Maria's aunt, Adele Bloch Bauer - was sold to cosmetics tycoon Ronald Lauder for $135m, becoming the world's most expensive painting ever sold. The other four paintings were recently auctioned at Christie's for record prices.
Stealing Klimt

Sex, death, reptiles, charisma and a unique variant of the electric blues gave the Doors an aura of profundity that has survived the band's demise. In September, 1968, The Doors gave a history making performance at The Roundhouse in London's Chalk Farm. They gave powerful renditions of their best songs. Part of the Pioneer Artist Concert Film Series.
The Doors Are Open

On February 24th, 1969, two days before he turned 37, Johnny Cash led his traveling troupe behind the foreboding walls of the California State Penitentiary at San Quentin, long known as one of America's toughest prisons.
Johnny Cash at San Quentin

Documentary profiles examining well-known figures from the world of entertainment and history.
Reputations

A documentary filmed by reporter Peter Taylor with interviews both of Phillip Morris executives and of cowboys in the American west. Taylor contrasts the executives' noncommittal answers to the question of cigarettes being harmful with the stories of men who smoked cigarettes and are now dying of lung cancer and emphysema. The film was removed from circulation after a lawsuit from Phillip Morris, but is now available to watch.
Death in the West

A documentary released on DVD alongside the related documentary "Faithful Under Trials—Jehovah's Witnesses in the Soviet Union"
Purple Triangles

No description available.
The Two Deaths of Adolf Hitler

After the 1973 Chilean military coup, Joan Jara reflects on the life and legacy of her husband, folk singer and activist VĂctor Jara, who was tortured and killed by the regime.
Compañero: VĂctor Jara of Chile

A documentary examining the life and career of British comedy legend Max Wall.