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Just in Time for the Oscars, Discovery Spruces Up Its ‘Argo’ Documentary

Feb 21, 2013  •  Post A Comment

With the Ben Affleck movie “Argo” generating much of the buzz in the runup to Sunday’s Oscars, Disovery Channel has spruced up its 2002 documentary detailing the real-life events behind the “Argo” story.

The channel will televise an updated version of “ARGO: Inside Story” Saturday, Feb. 23, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The one-hour program is narrated by “Breaking Bad’s” Bryan Cranston, who also appears as CIA manager Jack O’Donnell in Affleck’s feature film “Argo.”

Affleck’s movie about a part of the Iran hostage crisis has been nominated for seven Academy Awards, including best picture, and has racked up a string of pre-Oscars honors.

The Discovery doc “gains access to the top players involved in the crisis to hear their side of the story, including the CIA’s ‘chief of disguise,’ Tony Mendez, who was called upon to devise the rescue plan,” the network said. Its release adds that the program “gives an inside look at the dramatic escape and how Mendez forged identity documents and elaborate disguises to get past the security agents at the Tehran airport.”

“The CIA had to come up with a convincing reason for the six people being in Tehran in the first place, and devise a way for them to leave without arousing suspicion,” the release adds. “The operation became an elaborate scheme involving fake ID’s, a phantom movie production and unprecedented cooperation between the United States and Canada.”

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