When WWII started, Frank Capra wanted to join the war effort. He was hired by General George Marshall to film propaganda films that would show soldiers why they were fighting. Capra had never done a documentary before, but he was a great choice. The push to film a propaganda film came from Germany's own 1934 film The Triumph of Will, by Leni Riefenstahl. Capra decided to use the enemy's own speeches and films to discredit it. Something I did not know before, is that the animation in these films was done by the Disney studios.
The films were important because most Americans at the time were non-interventionists. Only Pearl Harbor would change that. The films were so well received that they were soon being shown to civilian audiences. By the end of the war over 54 million Americans had watched these films. Our collection of the films is in VHS format, but they are also available in DVD form. Since the films are in the public domain, they can also be downloaded, but buy ours. We need the money!
Most of the information given in these films is accurate, but not all. Russia had been allied with Germany, until Germany invaded her. Then she became our ally. This left the problem of the Russian atrocities, especially against the Poles. So in the films, these issues are fudged, or omitted all together. I always feel sorry for the Poles. The allies went to war, in part to save Poland. The Poles fought heroically, to find themselves without a country at the end of the war, with Russia imprisoning former soldiers. Would it have made a difference if Roosevelt had been well at the end of the war? We will never know, but maybe Poland would have been sacrificed anyway.
Look for this three VHS set along with the other VHS sets, avail. 12/7.
The price is $2 for the set of three. Note that the 7th film, The Battle of China, is not included here.
