MY DVD Collection - 09 Feb 2007

The Battle of China

(Why We Fight, #6)

USA 1944
d: Frank Capra, Anatole Litvak
Goodtimes Home Video (Region 0 us)

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War Comes to America

(Why We Fight, #7)

USA 1945
d: Frank Capra, Anatole Litvak
Goodtimes Home Video (Region 0 us)

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"War Comes to America" is the seventh and final episode in the celebrated "Why We Fight Series." Anatole Litvak was the uncredited co-director of this chapter, with music by Alfred Newman, and actors Walter Huston and Lloyd Nolan provided the narration for this 67-minute black&white documentary produced in 1945 as the war was ending. This final installment celebrates the good qualities of the United States and establishes those things worth fighting for. "War Comes to America" also looks at the history of the United States and traces how the shifting opinion of the public towards supporting the Allies against the Axis forces was clearly shifting in that direction when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. As such the film presents the mood of the American people on the eve of World War II and how the isolationist position changed in reaction to the aggressive policies of the Axis powers (a.k.a. "Death, Inc.") as traced in a revealing series of Gallup Polls. There is also a summary of Japanese aggression from the invasion of Manchuria to Pearl Harbor.
This particular chapter is one of the most interesting because Capra is going out of his way to present America as an inclusive society when Hungarians, Portuguese, American Negroes and Chinamen all work together, although it is interesting that the first two are shown more often and more progressively than the latter pair. Even Germans and Italians are included in the mix, but not the Japanese, which is not surprising given the internment camps in California (which were actually called concentration amps at the time). But we do see an indictment of activities of the German American Bund as well. The perspective here is decidedly liberal, seeing the U.S.A. as a nation proud of having trade unions and capable of correcting mistakes like Prohibition. While covering December 7, 1941, the day that "will live in infamy," Capra ends with the uplifting music of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and the idea of an inevitable Allied victory.
Capra served as a major in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and was commissioned by Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall to make a series of films that would explain the government's policy to the troops hastily being assembled, trained, and sent overseas. The "Why We Fight" series is the supreme example of propaganda put out by the U.S. government during World War II. Eventually the "Why We Fight" series was shown to the public in theaters. At the end of the war Capra also made a pair of films for the occupation forces, "Your Job in Germany" and "Know Your Enemy: Japan." In 2000 the "Why We Fight" series was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry and remains a prime source of archival footage for the period.
•••••
War Comes to America was the seventh and final film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight World War II propaganda film series.
The early part of the film is an idealized version of American history which includes mention of the first settlements, the ethnic diversity of America (using the then-current terms "Negro" and "Chinaman") and the American Revolutionary War, while omitting the American Civil War.
The run-up to World War II is then described, beginning in 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. The film examines how American public opinion gradually changed to one of isolationism to one of support for the Allied cause, and demonstrates this using a series of Gallup polls.
In 1936, public opinion is firmly isolationist, with 95% of Americans answering NO to the question "If another world war develops in Europe, should America take part again?". Congress responded with an arms embargo and a "Cash and carry rule" when trading with belligerents in raw materials.
In September 1937, the question "In the current fight between Japan and China, are your sympathies with either side?" is answered CHINA 43%, JAPAN 2%, UNDECIDED 55%, while in June 1939 the same question gives a 74% vote for China. Anti-Japanese sentiment thus forced the US government to block trade in oil and scrap iron with Japan.
In October 1939, 82% of Americans blame Germany for starting the war in Europe, while in January 1941, after the Fall of France, and also the founding of the Tripartite Pact, which was clearly aimed against the United States, the question "Should we keep out of war, or aid Britain, even at the risk of war?", AID BRITAIN got 68% of the vote. This increase in pro-Allied sentiment triggers Lend Lease aid to Britain (and to the Soviet Union after it is attacked by Germany).
Towards the end the film argues in detail (to a backdrop of animated maps and diagrams) that American involvement in the war was essential in terms of self-defense. The dire consequences for the United States of an Axis victory in Eurasia are spelled out:
German conquest of Europe and Africa would bring all their raw materials, plus their entire industrial development, under one control. Of the 2 billion people in the world, the Nazis would rule roughly one quarter, the 500 million people of Europe and Africa, forced into slavery to labor for Germany. German conquest of Russia would add the vast raw materials and the production facilities of another of the world's industrial areas, and of the world's people, another 200 million would be added to the Nazi labor pile.
Japanese conquest of the Orient would pour into their factory the almost unlimited resources of that area, and of the peoples of the earth, a thousand million would come under their rule, slaves for their industrial machine.
We in North and South America would be left with the raw materials of three-tenths of the earth's surface, against the Axis with the resources of seven-tenths. We would have one industrial region against their three industrial regions. We would have one-eighth of the world's population against their seven-eighths. If we along with the other nations of North and South America could mobilize 30 million fully equipped men, the Axis could mobilize 200 million.
Thus, an Axis victory in Europe and Asia would leave us alone and virtually surrounded facing enemies ten times stronger than ourselves.
The film ends with the Attack on Pearl Harbor - the film shows how the Japanese negotiators in Washington, led by Saburo Kurusu, where still negotiating with the Americans, while the attack was taking place in Hawaii, thus showing Japanese treachery

The Nazis Strike

(Why We Fight, #2)

USA 1943
d: Frank Capra, Anatole Litvak
Goodtimes Home Video (Region 0 us)

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"The Nazi Strike" was the second of Col. Frank Capra's government-ordained "Why We Fight" series. This hard-hitting documentary artfully assembles existing stock footage to trace the rise of Adolf Hitler and his thirst for world conquest. Virtually wresting the German government from more moderate politicos, Hitler installs a dictatorship. Having subjugated the Jewish citizens in his own country, Der Fuhrer moves onto the Rhineland and Austria, and demands the annexation of Czechoslovakia. Despite his assurances of "peace in our time," Hitler marches into Poland. World War II is the undesirable but inevitable end result. Like all the "Why We Fight" films, The Nazi Strike was designed to clarify the meaning and importance of the war effort to the average GI.
— Hal Erickson
•••••
The Nazis Strike was the second film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series. It introduces Germany as a nation whose aggressive ambitions began in 1863 with Otto von Bismarck and with the Nazis as their latest incarnation. Hitler's plan for global domination is described in terms of Halford John Mackinder's Heartland Theory.
In the Middle Ages a plague of slavery descended on the world. From the wilds of Mongolia rode a mighty army of fierce horsemen, led by Genghis Khan. Burning, looting, pillaging ... the barbarian horde swept across Asia and Eastern Europe. Genghis Khan conquered most of the world of the thirteenth century. Adolf Hitler was determined to outdo him, and conquer all the world of the twentieth century.
On their map our planet is neatly divided into land and water. Water makes up three quarters of the earth's surface, land only one quarter. And in that one quarter we find the world's wealth, all the raw materials - and the world's manpower.
Control the land and you control the world - that was Hitler's theory. This all-important "land" the geopoliticians now break up into two areas - one the Western Hemisphere which together with all the islands of the world including Japan makes up one third of the total land area. The other area, consists of Europe, Asia and Africa makes up the other two thirds. This supercontinent, which they call the "World Island", not only has two-thirds of the land area, but also seven-eighths of the world's population.
The heart of this "World Island" comprises Eastern Europe and most of Asia. This they call the "Heartland", which just about coincides with the old empire of Genghis Khan.
Hitler's step-by-step plan for world conquest can be summarized this way:
Conquer Eastern Europe and you dominate the Heartland.
Conquer the Heartland and you dominate the World Island.
Conquer the World Island.......... and you dominate the World.
That was the dream in Hitler's mind as he stood at Nuremberg.
The next focus of the film is the "softening-up" of the Western democracies using fascist organizations such as the Belgian Rexists, the Sudeten German National Socialist Party of Konrad Henlein, the British Union of Fascists and the German-American Bund. Meanwhile, within Germany the Nazis are beginning an enormous process of rearmament.
Germany then begins its territorial expansion with the first target being Austria, Hitler's "full-scale invasion test". He then uses his Sudeten "stooges" under Konrad Henlein to "soften up" Czechoslovakia and annex the Sudetenland with the help of a Britain and France desperate to avoid war. Hitler's use of the concept of self-determination as a justification for these annexations is ridiculed by reference to prominent German Americans thoroughly loyal to the Allied cause, including Admiral Chester Nimitz, Henry J. Kaiser, Wendell Willkie and Senator Robert Wagner.
The film concludes with the Polish September Campaign. The extreme disparity between the two sides is emphasized - the Nazis have 5000 modern tanks against Poland's 600 obsolete models, while the Luftwaffe had 6000 modern monoplanes opposed by the less than 1000 aircraft of the Polish Air Force, many of which are outdated biplanes. Animations are also used to graphically show how Polish army units were encircled and destroyed. The film suggests that most of the Polish air force was destroyed on the ground – suggesting that its makers learned the details of the Polish campaign largely from German sources. The stubborn resistance of Polish forces in the Hel peninsula is recognized, as are the widespread Nazi atrocities following the Polish defeat.
The Nazis are forced to stop at the River Bug when they meet the advancing Red Army. As the film was made when the Soviets were allied to the Western democracies against the Nazis, the film justifies this occupation by the Soviet need to obtain a buffer zone against a further Nazi advance to the east. Hitler now turns west to finish off Britain and France, which have declared war on Nazi Germany, rather than risk a two-front war.

The Battle of Britain

(Why We Fight, #4)

USA 1943
d: Frank Capra, Anatole Litvak
Goodtimes Home Video (Region 0 us)

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Divide and Conquer

(Why We Fight, #3)

USA 1943
d: Frank Capra, Anatole Litvak
Goodtimes Home Video (Region 0 us)

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"Divide and Conquer" was the third of Col. Frank Capra's government-ordained "Why We Fight" series. Using newsreel footage and animated maps, Capra delineates Hitler's strategy in overtaking Europe. We watch as the Nazis occupy Denmark and Norway, push back the British Army, and force France into a humiliating surrender. The film ends on a hopeful note, observing that while Hitler has all of Europe in his thrall, both Britain and the United States are still in the game. Designed primarily to enlighten military audiences, "Divide and Conquer" was also released to civilian theaters, and in recent years has become a mainstay of such cable services as A&E and the History Channel.
— Hal Erickson, AMG
•••••
Divide and Conquer was the third film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, dealing with the Nazi conquest of Western Europe in 1940.
The film begins immediately after the fall of Poland. Of the two major Western Allies of 1940, the United Kingdom is first to be mentioned. The role of the Royal Navy in blockading Germany is highlighted, in that it means that Germany must overcome British resistance in order to clear the way for its world conquest.
Hitler's treachery towards the small neutral countries of Europe is exposed - to Denmark: "We have concluded a non-aggression pact with Denmark" - to Norway: "Germany never had any quarrel with the Northern States and has none today" - to the Netherlands: "The new Reich has always endeavored to maintain the traditional friendship with Holland" - and to Belgium: "The Reich has put forth no claim which may in any way be regarded as a threat to Belgium". These quotes are repeated after the conquest of each of these countries as appropriate.
The first targets of the Nazis in 1940 were Denmark and Norway. Nazi interest in Norway is described in terms of Germany's desire to use Norway's fjords as U-boat bases, and to use airfields in Norway for a bomber attack on the British naval base at Scapa Flow. After Hitler's surprise invasion of Denmark is briefly mentioned, the film accuses the Nazis of using Trojan Horse ships - designed to look like merchant ships but concealing troops, tanks and artillery guns - as a way of seizing control of all of Norway's ports. The role of Norwegian traitors such as Vidkun Quisling in aiding the Nazi conquest of Norway is also emphasized. At the end of the section on Norway, Hitler is likened to gangster John Dillinger and Nazi-occupied Norway is portrayed as the northern claw of a giant pincer movement aimed against Britain. The conquest of France would provide the southern claw.
To avoid its American audience viewing the French in a negative light, the film's story of France begins in 1914 at the Battle of the Marne. The offensive-minded spirit of French general Ferdinand Foch is emphasized: "My right is driven in, my center is giving way, the situation is excellent, I attack!" (the original in French is displayed on-screen). The film then goes on to describe the defensive orientation of 1930s France, exemplified by the Maginot Line. This is explained as being primarily due to the 6 million casualties which France suffered in World War I, but also due to factor including Nazi fifth column activities, political corruption and greedy vested interests.
Possible routes for a German invasion of France are discussed: the 1870 attack through Alsace-Lorraine and the 1914 attack through Belgium. The French, believing the Maginot Line impregnable, expect the German attack to come through Belgium, as in 1914. The French order of battle in 1940 is described: 78 divisions along the border with Belgium, 15 in the Maginot Line, 10 divisions facing Mussolini's forces in Italy and 3½ divisions as a safeguard against Spain. The British Expeditionary Force contributed an additional 10 divisions.
The important role of paratroopers in the conquest of Holland is covered, as is the fact that the Germans easily defeated Belgian resistance at Fort Eben-Emael knowing the best method of attack after extensive practice on an exact copy of the fortress built in occupied Czechoslovakia. Special attention is also paid to Nazi atrocities, such as the bombing of Rotterdam (which according to the film was after the surrender of the Netherlands), Nazi attacks on villages and small towns, designed to choke roads with refugees and thus impede the Allied troop movements, and an attack on a Belgian school.
It is then mentioned that the Nazis' attack on Belgium and Holland was a feint to distract from the main attack through the Ardennes, where the Allies least expected it. The size of the attacking German force is exaggerated: a figure of "45,000 armored vehicles" is mentioned. A US military officer shows a diagrammatic animation which demonstrates the German blitzkrieg technique - tanks form the front spearhead, while infantry spill off from the sides to form solid walls, thus protecting the centre of the column through which trucks pass to supply all forces involved.

Prelude to War

(Why We Fight, #1)

USA 1942
d: Frank Capra, Anatole Litvak
Goodtimes Home Video (Region 0 us)

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"Prelude to War" was the first entry in the US War Department's "Why We Fight" series, a group of seven morale-boosing documentaries supervised by Lt. Col. Frank Capra. As brilliantly assembled as any of Capra's "populist" Hollywood films, Prelude demonstrates how the diplomatic and political blunders made in the wake of WW1 led inexorably to WW2. Especially culpable are those complacent citizens of the USA who were led to believe that the problems of the rest of the world had no bearing on their lives. While America sleeps, Japan and Germany slowly and methodically build their armies and launch their plans for global conquest. Throughout the film, the lies of fascism and totalitarinism are contrasted with the ideals of Democracy. Unlike most other War Department efforts, the 53-minute "Why We Fight" was shown to both civilian and military audiences.
— Hal Erickson, AMG
•••••
Prelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight World War II propaganda film series. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the Axis Powers during World War II.
World War II is introduced in black and white terms, with Henry Wallace's quote "This is a fight between a free world and a slave world" pictorialized with the "free world" of the Allies as a white planet and the "slave world" of the Axis Powers as a black planet.
It examines the differences between democratic and fascist states, using footage from Axis propaganda films including Triumph of the Will, but with different narration designed to support the Allied cause.
It is mentioned that after the Nazis smashed opposing political parties and labor unions, they turned their attention to persecution of Christians - in one scene a stained glass window is shattered by a brick to reveal a "Heil Hitler!" poster behind. To emphasize this depiction of Hitler as an antichrist figure, a class of German schoolchildren is shown singing:
Adolf Hitler is our Saviour, our hero
He is the noblest being in the whole wide world.
For Hitler we live,
For Hitler we die.
Our Hitler is our Lord
Who rules a brave new world.
The Axis is depicted as seeking total world conquest. An animated map first shows Mussolini's ambition to re-create the Roman Empire, complete with the Mediterranean as "Our (the Italians') Sea", then Japan's ambition - described in the Tanaka Memorial (later shown to be a forgery) - to conquer Manchuria, China, Indochina, Siam, Burma, the East Indies, India, Australia, New Zealand and Russia east of Lake Baikal, before moving east to crush the United States. The Nazis are shown as first claiming Europe, then moving east through Iraq and Iran into India, then south to conquer Africa. Once this is accomplished, the Nazis would cross the Atlantic Ocean from Dakar to Brazil - meeting up with the Japanese who have crossed the South Pacific. Simultaneously, the Nazis would cross the North Atlantic Ocean from Scandinavia into Canada, meeting the Japanese forces crossing from Siberia. The combined Axis armies then overrun the United States.
Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy is shown making a speech which is deliberately mistranslated (as in other US World War II propaganda) as "When war comes between Japan and the United States, I shall not be content to merely occupying Guam, the Philippines, Hawaii, and San Francisco. I look forward to dictating the peace to the United States in the White House at Washington." - this is followed by a scene showing the "conquering Jap army" marching down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, as the narration alludes to Japanese atrocities in Nanking, Hong Kong and Manila.
The film notably takes the position that the war started on September 18, 1931 with Japan's invasion of Manchuria, which is covered towards the end of the film along with Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia. The animation showing a Japanese dagger plunging into Manchuria is re-used in The Battle of Russia, The Battle of China and War Comes To America.
Prelude to War won the 1942 Academy Award for Documentary Feature.

The Battle of Russia

(Why We Fight, #5)

USA 1943
d: Frank Capra, Anatole Litvak
Goodtimes Home Video (Region 0 us)

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The 60-minute documentary was the fifth of the Army Special Service's "Why We Fight" series. Assembled under the supervision of Lt. Colonel Frank Capra, the film is a sublimely assembled collection of authentic newsreel footage from both the U.S. Signal Corps and various Soviet sources. Narrated by Anthony Veiller, "Battle for Russia" is designed to clarify the history of America's Russian allies to military and civilian audiences alike, and to emphasize the importance of Russo-American cooperation in defeating the Nazi juggernaut. The film's highlight is the siege of Stalingrad, alternately terrifying and awe-inspiring. The musical score was by Russian expatriate Dmitri Tiomkin, who'd previously collaborated with Capra on "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington".
— Hal Erickson, AMG
•••••
The Battle of Russia was the fifth film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series. It is the longest film of the series, beginning with an overview of previous failed attempts to conquer Russia: by the Teutonic Knights in 1212 (footage from the Soviet propaganda film Alexander Nevsky is used here), by Charles XII of Sweden in 1704, by Napoleon I in 1812 and by Imperial Germany in World War I.
The vast natural resources of the Soviet Union are then described, showing why the land is such a hot prize for conquerors. To give a positive impression of the Soviet Union to the American audience, the country's ethnic diversity is covered in detail. Later on, elements of Russian culture familiar to Americans, including the musical compositions of Tchaikovsky and Leo Tolstoy's book War and Peace are also mentioned.
The film then covers the Nazi conquests in the Balkans, described as a preliminary to close off possible Allied counter-invasion routes, before the war against Russia was launched on June 22, 1941. The narration describes the German "keil und kessel" tactics for offensive warfare, and the Soviet "defense in depth" used to counter this. The scorched earth Soviet tactics, the room-to-room urban warfare in Soviet cities, and the guerilla warfare behind enemy lines are also used to underline the Soviet resolve for victory against the Nazis.
One powerful scene shows Russians swearing their oath:
For the burned cities and villages
For the deaths of our children and our mothers
For the torture and humiliation of our people
I swear revenge upon the enemy
I swear that I would rather die in battle with the enemy
Than surrender myself my people and my country to the Fascist invaders
Blood for Blood!
Death for Death!
The Siege of Leningrad and the Battle of Stalingrad conclude the film.