Released May 28, 1941, re-released following Pearl Harbor on December 24, 1941. Produced by the Office of Emergency Management and War Activities Committee of the Motion Picture Industry.  Written by Eleanor Roosevelt and narrated by Katharine Hepburn.

We needed to be convinced that women were a capable and valuable part of the defense of the U.S.  In this film we see women working as scientists and munition workers, jobs that had been exclusively held by men.  We also see them sewing parachutes.
(1941 Kodak film stock, density sound track)

Warner Bros. August 1, 1942

The legendary voice of Mel Blanc, the manic music of Carl Stalling and the famous Termite Terrace style of the Warner animation department combine to lampoon Hitler, Tojo and Mussolini.  This great cartoon deftly uses humor to boost our moral and sink the Axis.
(Sunset Productions edition, 2001 Kodak Mylar film stock, density sound track)

First Motion Picture Unit, Army Air Force, Directed by Bernard Vorhaus, 1943.  “Dedicated to the flyers who are helping to make the total number of Zeros … ZERO.”

Instructional film for pilots to teach them the difference between the Japanese Zero and our own P-40 so they wouldn’t shoot down our own planes when they appeared as just a tiny blip on the horizon.

No cast or crew screen credits are given, but the young man portraying Lt. Jimmy Saunders is a 32-year-old Hollywood actor (who joined the ranks during WWII) then known as Captain Ronald Reagan.  The part of Lt, Weldon, the P-40 flyer that Reagan almost shoots down, is played by Craig Stevens, later known as television’s Peter Gunn.  Narration is by Art Gilmore who was the announcer on Red Skelton’s TV show and the voice on so many movie previews from the 40s through the 60s.  The major is played by Harry Stevens.
(Dupont 644A film stock, density sound track.)

Castle Films, 1945, edited by Eugene Castle, narrated by Len Sterling.

Produced for home use, this newsreel is loaded with gripping Signal Corp and Navy Combat Cameraman footage showing US military under fire.  The section about the bombing of the carrier USS Franklin has some of the most amazing WWII combat footage you will ever see including sailors fighting the fires on deck as the Japanese continue to attack the ship.

You will also see Father Joseph O’Callahan (shown in photo above), and after the screening I will explain why he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  It’s quite a story!

The silent version of this film is available to view on-line, but this is a very rare and excellent condition sound print of this great war-time newsreel.  (1945 Kodak film stock, variable area sound track)

RKO/American Heritage Foundation, Sponsored by the Attorney General of the United States, 1947.

Following the end of WWII Americans were weary of flag waving and just wanted to get on with their private lives.

The Truman administration was concerned that we were becoming less interested in our duties as citizens.  The National Archives responded with a plan to inspire Americans to be proud and active citizens. It was decided to have a train tour the entire county carrying artifacts significant to our history and inviting all citizens to come and see them.  This idea became “The Freedom Train.” Tom Clark, the Attorney General under Harry Truman, became the official sponsor. “Rededication Week” was declared when the train visited your community.  The theme of the train was “Freedom is everybody’s job.”

From September of 1947 to January of 1949 the Freedom Train zig-zagged across the US visiting 322 communities.  Displayed on the train were Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence, the Iwo Jima flag, an original copy of the Magna Carta from 1215, the copy of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address that he held in his hand when delivering that speech, and many other significant artifacts.

Citizens could board the train to view the artifacts which were guarded by the Marines, and then sign the Freedom Scroll which was presented to president Truman at the end of the tour.

About one fourth of the population turned out to see the train, far too many for them all to get inside, so more displays and numerous activities were presented outside the train.

This inspirational film was produced to coincide with the arrival of the Freedom Train in local communities, and has rarely been seen since 1949.  Narrated by Joseph Cotten, (uncredited).  (unidentified and undated film stock, variable area sound track)

War Department, Signal Corps Production, with the cooperation of Combat Film Units, Army Air Forces and the United States Navy. Exclusive for the Men and Women of American Industry, 1945.

Shown to civilian war workers in American factories, this is an excellent example of how the government used 16mm film to boost morale and to impress upon civilian war workers how vital it was to stay on the job and work hard because the very survival of the country depended on them.

Part 1: “Burma Outpost” tells of the tranquil but vital job some soldiers were doing in remote regions of the South Pacific monitoring Japanese air activity.

Part 2: “Private SNAFU.”  This is the first time a Private SNAFU cartoon was shown to civilians.  SNAFU was a cartoon character created by Dr. Seuss and animated by Warner Bros to show our soldiers the effects of doing things the wrong way.

Part 3: “What Makes a Battle” is an increasingly intense narrative about how difficult it is for our military in the war zone.  The segment ends with some grizzly images of dead American soldiers being finger printed on a beach.  Narrated by Fredric March, (uncredited).
(1944 Kodak film stock, variable area sound track)

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United States Army, 1943.

With Elisha Cook Jr., Peter Whitney.  Nominated for the 1944 Academy Award for Best Documentary, this Army training film focuses on the basic psychological human questions asked by all soldiers everywhere: How will I perform under enemy fire?  Will I run away or will I do what I’ve been trained to do?

The film depicts seasoned soldier Bill telling new soldier Jim to think of his buddies and his weapon instead of his own fears and of home.

Killing an enemy from afar is vividly contrasted with hand-to-hand combat, butt strokes and bayonet thrusts.

At first shown to both military and civilian audiences, this realistic and bloody shocker worried the War Department because of its portrayal of vulnerable soldiers, so its availability was ultimately restricted.
(1943 Kodak film stock, variable area sound track)

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US Government, 1946.

The US Coast Guard is seldom mentioned when WWII history is discussed, but they were involved around the world in every major battle in both theaters of war.  This film gives us a fascinating account of the Guard’s activities. 

Some excellent Signal Corps footage shows the Coast Guard sinking German subs, shooting down planes and capturing German spies in Greenland.  (Greenland was strategic for predicting the weather over  Europe and England.)  The Guard is also shown under fire in major battles in Europe and the South Pacific as they assisted all branches of the US military.  (1945 Kodak film stock, variable area sound track)

Columbia, 1942.

Kate Smith invites you to sing with her on four patriotic songs: “We’re All Americans,” “The Caissons Go Rolling Along,” “The Marines Hymn,” and “America, I Love You.”

Though a super star on radio and records, success in the movies eluded Kate Smith, but her sincerity comes through strongly in this patriotic morale booster.
(1976 Eastman film stock, variable area sound track)

US Government, Office of War Information, Beureau of Motion Pictures in cooperation with the Division of Recreation, Office of Community War Services, Federal Security Agency.  Released April 15, 1943.

Documentary urging Americans to accept war workers into their homes and to plan social activities in their communities to include these war workers.
(1943 Kodak film stock, variable area sound track)

Castle Films, 1939.

Beautiful tour of Washington D.C. on the eve of war.  Lots of shots above the buildings and monuments taken from a blimp that can sometimes be seen in the sky and other times as a shadow on the ground.  The narrator refers to the Supreme Court building and the West Wing of the White House as being new.
(1940 Kodak film stock, density sound track)

Released to US war workers in 1945.  Official U.S. War Film #56 produced by the Army Signal Corps for the War Department, “with the cooperation of the combat film units from Signal Corps, Army Air Forces, Navy and Marines.” “Exclusive for the men and women of American industry.”

Aimed at American defense workers in munitions plants this film explains that the lives of our fighting men and the very future of the nation depend on their working hard to produce as much ammunition as possible. 

The various kinds of big guns, what they sounded like and their ranges, are demonstrated.  This film also explains how much ammunition is used in battle each day and how difficult it is to get that ammunition to the South Pacific.  (1945 Kodak film stock, variable area sound track)

Warner Bros. April 10, 1943

A rousing recruitment film for the Army Air Corps starring Burgess Meredith as Pvt. Peewee Williams who goes to rear gunner school and is ultimately decorated for bravery. 

Along the way we get to see the kind of training it took to become a rear gunner. 

This film is a great example of how Hollywood was supportive of the war effort.  It is a recruiting film that is also very entertaining.  This film makes the job of rear gunner seem to be the best job on the plane, but in reality, it was the most dangerous job on the plane.

Also seen are Ronald Reagan, Tom Neal and Dane Clark.  Knox Manning narrates.  (Unidentified and undated film stock, variable area sound track)

20th Century Fox for the US Treasury’s 7th and final war bond drive, released May 10, 1945.

Radio’s beloved couple Fibber McGee and Molly attend a war bond rally at their local theatre.

Among the many stars on stage are Betty Grable dancing and showing off her famous legs, Frank Sinatra crooning with Harry James and his Orchestra, Harpo Marx chasing a blonde and playing his harp, and Bing Crosby singing and trading barbs with Master of Ceremonies Bob Hope. 

Written by long time writer for Fibber and Molly, Don Quin, it’s all done in the spirit of supporting our fighting forces, a big war-time era theme of Quin’s, and buying war bonds.  At the end of the show Fibber and Molly are going to ask you to buy a bond!  (See photo above.)  (1976 Eastman film stock, variable area sound track)

In the summer of 1940 the Germans occupied the Channel Islands, a small archipelago in the English Channel, the only part of the British Isles to be occupied by the Nazis during WWII.

In this fascinating film the Channel Islanders themselves show us what it was like to live under Hitler’s thumb, how their horses and cows were confiscated as well as their radios, how they resorted to traveling around the islands in carts pulled by malnourished horses or riding their bikes on the rims because the Germans confiscated their tires, and how various residents secretly built crystal radios to be able to listen to the BBC and keep up on the news of the war.

New clothes were simply not available.  “It was a case of mending your mending” the narrator explains as we watch an Islander try to mend clothes riddled with holes.  Many residents, including children, ended up wearing out their shoes completely and going barefoot.

The Germans also held slaves on the islands who came from Russia and other countries.  Many of those slaves died during the war and were buried on the Islands.

Food was rationed and as the war was coming to an end what little food they had was often stolen by Nazi soldiers who were also hungry.  When the war ended and real food began to arrive from England and the Red Cross, it was a revelation to the children, many of whom did not even know what an orange looked like.

Largely unseen by the public since 1945, this film allows the Channel Islanders themselves to tell us about the occupation in their own words. (1945 British Kodak film stock, density sound track)

First Motion Picture Unit, United States Army Air Forces, US Office of War Information, distributed by MGM, Office of War Information Division of Motion Pictures, War Activities Committee of the Motion Picture Industry.  Narrated by Captain Clark Gable.  Released to civilian theaters on May 27, 1943.

After his wife, Carole Lombard, died in a plane crash early in 1942, the grieving Clark Gable (1901-1960, see photo above) set his Hollywood career aside and joined the Army Air Forces. 

Offered a commission, Gable turned it down saying he wanted to earn it, and he did.  He graduated from the Officers Candidate School in Florida, was trained as a gunner, appointed head of a motion picture unit and assigned to film aerial gunners in combat.

Gable flew five combat missions over Germany, officially.  His fellow crew members said he flew many more than that.  On one mission shrapnel passed through his boot and another crew member was killed. The damaged plane made it back to England and crash landed in a swamp.

Gable was sent back to the states to make this movie which was filmed on location at the Officer’s Candidate School in Florida.  This school was not for slackers!  By the end of the film we have a healthy respect for what it took to become a WWII officer in the United States military.

Look quickly for actors Gilbert Roland and future Music Man Robert Preston as well as Green Bay Packers defensive back Hal van Every.
(Buy Savings Bond slug at beginning is on 1946 Kodak film stock with a dead sound track. The body of the film is on 1943 Kodak film stock with a density sound track.)

20th Century Fox, 1943.

This is the theatrical trailer for the feature film version of John Steinbeck’s “The Moon is Down.”  The narration is pure WWII propaganda: “Listen, Nazis, this is the end of your sorry road to glory.”

The complete feature starring Cedric Hardwicke, Henry Travers, Lee J. Cobb, Dorris Bowden and Margaret Wycherly is available for viewing from Silver Showcase.  (1975 Eastman film stock, variable area sound track)

Warner Bros., released April 18, 1942, re-released May 29, 1954.

Founded in 1936 by Russian immigrant Peter Meremblum (1890-1956), The California Junior Symphony is an outstanding youth orchestra of children aged six to eighteen years old who play better than most adult community orchestras.  This film explains that some of the orchestra members are children from other lands who came here so they could play the kind of music they want to play, and then they play it exceptionally well.

This film seems to be the only motion picture record of founder Peter Meremblum (see photo above) conducting the orchestra that he founded.  He does not appear in other films that feature his orchestra. (1959 Kodak film stock, density sound track)

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Warner Bros., released June 5, 1943.

It’s hokey, it’s schmaltzy, it’s over-the-top patriotic propaganda, and it’s all done with children. 

The California Junior Symphony is lead, in this film, by nine year old Diana Hale.  The Alvarez Sisters sing “Tonight We Love” (the popular Freddie Martin version of Tchaikovski’s Piano Concerto), the orchestra plays “Perpetual Motion” by Johann Strauss, and everybody performs “The Good Old American Way” for the finale, which will never take the place of any George M. Cohan flag waver but the enthusiasm of the kids makes it fun.  (Gevaert Belgium 1S film stock, density sound track)

Note:  The California Junior Symphony is prominently seen in the feature length “They Shall Have Music” (Goldwyn, 1939) which stars legendary violinist Jascha Heifitz.  This seldom seen film is available for screenings from Silver Showcase.

National Film Board of Canada, 1944.

The needs of individuals and the needs of war are shown when a farmer needs to replace a broken piece of farm equipment so that he can get the crop in by sundown.

It is seen that even the smallest issue for a farmer can affect the world situation in war time.  We see government officials in Canada, the US and Australia discussing how to get either food or equipment to our Allies and liberated countries in Europe.
(1944 Kodak film stock, density sound track)

Soundie Corporation of America, 1941.

This 1940 song by Ira Schuster, Paul Cunningham and Leonard Whitcup was very popular during the war and was sung in school rooms across the country.  It is performed here by Carolyn Marsh, (seen in photo above).

Soundies were a forerunner of music videos.  They were produced on 16mm film loops, ran for three minutes and were played in Panorams, (movie “juke boxes”) in restaurants, bars, train and bus stations, and other public establishments.
(1946 Kodak film stock, variable area sound track)

FDR DECLARATION

OF WAR SPEECH

(Blackhawk Films reconstruction of FDR’s speech.) 

Listening to this speech is one thing.  Watching Roosevelt deliver it is another!

Although clips from this iconic speech had been seen in newsreels, a filmed record of the complete speech was never issued.  Blackhawk films rectified that situation in the late 20th century by piecing together footage from various newsreels.  They did edit out some of the applause, but the entire speech can now be watched thanks to this film.  (2007 Kod.ak film stock, variable area sound track)

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