American Experience S35E02 - Taken Hostage: The Making of an American Enemy, Part 2

Unfolding like a political thriller, Taken Hostage tells the story of the Iran hostage crisis, when 52 American diplomats, Marines, and civilians were held hostage at the American Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979. For the next 444 days, the world watched as the United States received a daily barrage of humiliation, vitriol, and hatred from a country that had long been one of our closest allies. Told through the candid, personal testimony of those whose lives were upended by the action, the crisis would transform both the U.S. and Iran and forever upend the focus and direction of American foreign policy.

The film is told mainly through the lens of the remarkable love story of former hostage Barry Rosen and his wife Barbara, who was suddenly thrust into the public eye as the crisis dragged on. Other key figures are Hilary Brown and Carole Jerome, two pioneering female foreign correspondents who risked their lives to uncover the truth of what was happening in Iran; Gary Sick, a senior member of President Carter's national security team and longtime Iran expert; and Colonel James Q. Roberts, a member of the top-secret American commando unit, who recounts details of the failed attempt to rescue the hostages in a daring Special Forces operation. Taken Hostage uses their candid, personal testimonies to tell the story of these dramatic, history-making events.