Andria Litto's My Father Moves Mountains

Cody learns about a Hollywood legend.

MY FATHER MOVES MOUNTAINS: HOW GEORGE LITTO BULLDOZED THE HOLLYWOOD BLACKLIST (2025)

Movie fans have probably seen movies that have had the name George Litto in the opening credits, and they have seen even more movies that Litto had a hand in behind-the-scenes, but didn’t get a credit on. I have certainly seen the name “George Litto” before, but I had no idea just who the person behind the name was. His daughter Andria decided to start making a documentary about her father before he passed away in 2019 – and I’m thankful she did, because it turns out that the story of George Litto was absolutely one worth telling.

Litto started out as a literary agent in the 1960s, representing screenwriters, producers, and directors, and by ‘69 he was being named one of the three most successful agents in Hollywood in 1969. He quickly gained notoriety for representing multiple writers who had been blacklisted when the House Un-American Activities Committee went searching through the film industry for people with ties to the Communist Party in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Those blacklisted writers were now working under pseudonyms, earning much less money than they had before... but since Litto was willing to represent them, they were able to try to make a comeback. Among the blacklisted writers he represented were Abraham Polonsky (who wrote his favorite movie; Body and Soul from 1947), Ring Lardner Jr., Dalton Trumbo, Waldo Salt, Michael Wilson, Joseph Losey, Paul Jarrico, Ian Hunter, Arnold Perl. Because of Litto, those writers got to work on the likes of Midnight Cowboy, Papillon, M*A*S*H*, Coming Home, Cotton Comes to Harlem, Fiddler on the Roof, Malcolm X, and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here – films that won them multiple awards, including Oscars.

Litto’s work with blacklisted writers is a big part of My Father Moves Mountains, so the documentary also spends a good amount of time digging into the HUAC witch-hunt and the people it affected. So if you’re not familiar with the Hollywood blacklist, that’s fine; Andria Litto has included the information for you.

The documentary also covers the fact that Litto worked with Melvin Van Peebles to help bring Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song into the world, and was responsible for Robert Altman getting the job of directing M*A*S*H* (for which Altman earned an Oscar nomination).

Litto did so much impressive work that some of it even manages to slip through the cracks – for example, we don’t hear about Michael Wilson getting hired to work on Planet of the Apes, and there’s no time spent on the Clint Eastwood movie Hang ‘Em High, which had Litto making deals in the background. The documentary does take a look at some of the movies Litto directly produced, which allows for another very interesting stretch of the film. In particular, we hear about him producing and personally financing the 1979 coming-of-age drama, and his collaborations with Brian De Palma.

Litto began working as Brian De Palma’s agent when he was seeking distribution for his 1972 film Sisters and went on to produce the De Palma films Obsession, Dressed to Kill, and Blow Out in 1976, 1980, and 1981, respectively. Each of those De Palma movies is covered in this documentary to some degree. Nancy Allen, who was married to De Palma for a while and had acting roles in Dressed to Kill and Blow Out, was interviewed and discusses the experiences of working on Dressed to Kill and Blow Out, and of interacting with Litto.

Beyond being an agent and a producer, Litto was also a musician and songwriter and seemed to have a business partnership with Andria in that area. The documentary doesn’t dig too deeply into that, but Andria does sing some of the songs her father wrote. She also appears on screen for interviews – and at times, it seems like she had to take on the task of telling stories she wasn’t able to get her father to tell on camera before he passed away.

It’s a shame George Litto isn’t here to see how My Father Movies Mountains turned out, because it’s a great tribute to his career and who he was as a human being. I didn’t know who he was before, but I’m glad I know now. The fact that he passed away isn’t revealed until late in the documentary’s two hour running time, and by the time that information came to the surface I had really come to like George Litto, who was interviewed and is present throughout the documentary. In the interviews, he looked great for his age and seemed as vibrant as ever, so it was sad to learn that he's no longer with us.

I am happy that Andria was able to get the interviews she did with her father, and that she has managed to tell and preserve his story in this documentary. More people need to know about this legendary figure and now, thanks to My Father Moves Mountains, they will.