Hollywood Aids War Effort With Holiday 'spirit'

One of the first examples of Hollywood's attempt to help the war effort will hit nearly 10,000 movie screens this Christmas. "Hollywood Presents the Spirit of America," a three-minute short film featuring patriotic clips from legendary films, will be unveiled during the coming weeks and run as a trailer in theaters nationwide.

The montage, conceived by Emmy-winning producer Michael R. Rhodes, was put together by Oscar-winning director Chuck Workman, who has earned accolades for similar montages used at Directors Guild of America and Writers Guild of America events.

Although "Spirit" is sure to uplift its share of patriotic moviegoers this holiday season, the story behind its creation is equally heartwarming. Rhodes, who has produced a series of movie clip montages designed as teaching tools for high school and junior high educators, decided in the aftermath of Sept. 11 to produce one about the meaning of patriotism.

"I thought it could be something terrific and would give the entertainment community the chance to serve America in some way," he said.

Rhodes then approached three of his friends -- attorney Dan Cathcart and entrepreneurs Charles Cale and Stanley Hayden -- about the idea. Within six hours, the trio came forward and offered to fund the project -- to the tune of nearly $100,000.

With funding in place, Rhodes was contacted by Workman, who was eager to volunteer.

The National Association of Theatre Owners supported the project and helped arrange distribution; Technicolor agreed to help with distribution and processing; Kodak came through with film stock; the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences wrote letters to studios recommending that they support the project; and every studio agreed to waive licensing fees.

All that was left was to create the montage. The final product -- its release date is not set, though it is expected to debut before Christmas -- is an amalgamation of how the American spirit has been captured in film through the years. The montage includes clips from 110 films, featuring stars from Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin to Tom Cruise and Ben Affleck.

"To start, I jotted down various aspects of the American character such as honesty, diversity, courage, heroism," Workman said. "Then I looked for films that people would recognize."

Each of these aspects is highlighted in the montage, as well as some less-obvious categories.

"We have a few surprises in there, such as our Style section," Workman said. "It celebrates American individuality through clips of people like Elvis Presley and John Travolta in 'Saturday Night Fever.' "