The life and work of legendary director Robert Flaherty ('Nanook of the…
To Tell the Truth: The Strategy of Truth
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
If you are not affiliated with a college or university, and are interested in watching this film, please register as an individual and login to rent this film. Already registered? Login to rent this film. This film is also available on our home streaming platform, OVID.tv.
THE STRATEGY OF TRUTH: DOCUMENTARY GOES TO WAR (1933-1945)
The Strategy of Truth explores the role of film as propaganda during World War II, and the different forms it took in the US, the UK, and Germany. It also raises the central question of whether a film can be both documentary - reflecting the truth - and propaganda.
As the first major war was about to unfold on celluloid, documentarians around the globe were enlisted into the causes of their nations - causes that were not always easy to sell.
How would you convince Germans, for example, that 'the Jewish problem' requires a 'Final Solution'? Or bring class-bound Britons together as equal partners to endure and combat an unprecedented Blitz? And what would galvanize isolationist Americans - and Black soldiers faced with Jim Crow laws - to defend a patch of land thousands of miles from home?
In Germany, Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will not only promoted the Nazi ideals but was also posed to become a landmark of propaganda filmmaking (although Riefenstahl said that by definition it could not be propaganda, because it was a documentary). It was meant to stir an internal audience - Germans who were ambivalent about Hitler. Other Nazi propaganda took viewers right into battle, providing a terrifying image of German military power.
In the UK, the government first turned to newsreel directors to create propaganda, sidelining left-leaning anti-fascist filmmakers. One early result, 1939's The Lion Has Wings, was so laughable that it was reportedly screened as a comedy in Berlin. Eventually, the Crown Film Unit did call in established documentarians such as Harry Watt, Pat Jackson, and Humphrey Jennings. Their films cast the working person as hero, creatong a sense of collective heroism and shared purpose. In London Can Take It, they provided some of the most enduring images of Britons going about their business despite intense bombing.
Last into the war, the US launched perhaps the biggest and most sophisticated campaign. A mix of seasoned documentarians and Hollywood heavy-hitters such as Frank Capra discovered how to use Nazi propaganda against itself, in what one film historian calls a bit of cinematic jiu-jitsu. The resulting 'strategy of truth' was aimed at highlighting the American way of life while promoting democracy. Propaganda with a gentler face, if you will.
But one of the challenges facing Washington's new Office of War Information was that that face was completely white. Enter Carlton Moss, an African-American technical advisor who would become the mastermind behind the film The Negro Soldier. Recounting the history of black American soldiers, and portraying present-day recruits, the film was a milestone that was shown in theatres and schools across the country. 'It was a training film,' says projectionist Ivan Houston, but by showing what a world without segregation could look like 'it was training your mind.'
Featuring a wealth of archival footage from the British, German, and American propaganda effort, along with interviews with insightful film historians and veterans of the celluloid war effort, this film illuminates the complicated relationship between propaganda and documentary.
'For those doubting the power of documentaries to have a social impact, TO TELL THE TRUTH should give them an idea.' -Andy Webster, NEW YORK TIMES 'Week Ahead'
'A very important non-fiction series ... Fascinating ... Probing ... Two must-see documentary-on-documentary episodes.' -Jennifer Merin, ABOUT.COM GUIDE TO DOCUMENTARIES
'What a great idea ... About nonfiction filmmaking, but that's just the through-line ... This series is a new way of looking at history.' -Tom Roston, DOC SOUP
'Captivating and enlightening, The Strategy of Truth is an outstanding resource for courses in film history, mass communication, and political science. It is also an excellent selection for academic and public libraries.' -Educational Media Reviews Online
Citation
Main credits
Taylor, David Van (Director)
Baldwin, Alec (Narrator)
Other credits
Editor, Omry Maoz; music, Teese Gohl; camera, Joel Shapiro, Michael Miles.
Distributor subjects
Film History; History (U.S.); History (World); World War IIKeywords
WEBVTT
00:00:03.918 --> 00:00:06.125
Male narrator: PREVIOUSLY ON
TO TELL THE TRUTH...
00:00:06.167 --> 00:00:08.459
- THIS WAS A TIME
OF SOCIAL FERMENT.
00:00:08.501 --> 00:00:09.501
- THERE WAS A NEED
00:00:09.542 --> 00:00:12.709
TO RECORD THIS
AND GET IT PUBLICIZED.
00:00:12.751 --> 00:00:16.000
- WE WERE PUTTING
THE BRITISH WORKINGMAN,
00:00:16.042 --> 00:00:18.375
THE BACKBONE OF THE COUNTRY,
ONTO THE STREET.
00:00:18.417 --> 00:00:20.417
- WITH FILM,
YOU COULD REACH PEOPLE
00:00:20.459 --> 00:00:22.959
ON A VERY WIDE SCALE,
00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:25.834
AND WE WERE CONSIDERED
VERY DANGEROUS PEOPLE.
00:00:27.501 --> 00:00:28.792
Narrator:
FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM
00:00:28.834 --> 00:00:30.125
HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY
00:00:30.167 --> 00:00:32.459
THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT
FOR THE HUMANITIES.
00:00:32.501 --> 00:00:36.459
BECAUSE DEMOCRACY
DEMANDS WISDOM.
00:00:36.501 --> 00:00:37.667
BY AN AWARD
00:00:37.709 --> 00:00:39.626
FROM THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT
FOR THE ARTS.
00:00:39.667 --> 00:00:42.459
ART WORKS.
00:00:42.501 --> 00:00:45.501
AND BY THE NATHAN CUMMINGS
FOUNDATION.
00:00:46.751 --> 00:00:49.459
[projector whirring]
00:00:49.501 --> 00:00:51.918
- DO YOU WANT THE TRUTH?
00:00:51.959 --> 00:00:58.501
[somber orchestral music]
00:00:58.542 --> 00:01:01.250
- WHAT IS A DOCUMENTARY?
00:01:02.918 --> 00:01:06.417
- ARE YOU REALLY ASKING ME
THIS [bleep] SILLY QUESTION?
00:01:06.459 --> 00:01:08.918
- IT\'S AS IF THE BEAM OF LIGHT
FROM THE PROJECTOR
00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:13.334
IS ACTUALLY TRANSPORTING YOU
INTO THE SCREEN ITSELF.
00:01:13.375 --> 00:01:15.125
[whooshing]
00:01:15.167 --> 00:01:18.459
[explosions booming]
00:01:18.501 --> 00:01:20.667
- MOST OF THE TIME,
00:01:20.709 --> 00:01:24.209
PEOPLE ARE IN MY FILM
BECAUSE THEY LIKE ME.
00:01:24.250 --> 00:01:26.292
- DAVID,
YOU LOOK ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIC,
00:01:26.334 --> 00:01:28.250
HONESTLY.
00:01:28.292 --> 00:01:31.584
- AND I TRY NOT TO BETRAY THAT.
00:01:31.626 --> 00:01:34.584
[cheers and applause]
00:01:34.626 --> 00:01:37.375
- THE TRUE ARTIST
HAS TO TELL THE TRUTH.
00:01:37.417 --> 00:01:40.876
IT\'S A CONSPIRACY
TO TELL THE TRUTH.
00:01:40.918 --> 00:01:42.209
- MEMBERS OF CONGRESS,
00:01:42.250 --> 00:01:44.918
I WOULD LIKE TO READ TO YOU
THE USA PATRIOT ACT.
00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:46.626
- I MEAN, IT\'S RIDICULOUS
00:01:46.667 --> 00:01:48.667
THAT THE CAMERA
CANNOT TELL THE WHOLE TRUTH.
00:01:48.709 --> 00:01:49.667
[camera shutter clicks]
00:01:49.709 --> 00:01:53.042
- IS THE FILM TRUE
OR NOT TRUE?
00:01:53.083 --> 00:01:56.250
WE TRANSFORM THE TRUTH
AS A WAY OF...
00:01:56.292 --> 00:02:03.542
MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND
A LITTLE MORE DEEPLY.
00:02:03.584 --> 00:02:05.751
- CUT!
00:02:05.792 --> 00:02:07.959
[crowd yelling]
00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:16.000
[brassy martial music]
00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:21.876
[crowd yelling]
00:02:21.918 --> 00:02:24.042
- WHAT IS GOING ON?
00:02:24.083 --> 00:02:26.459
YOU HAVE A PARTY CONVENTION,
AND IN THIS CASE,
00:02:26.501 --> 00:02:29.459
YOU ALREADY KNOW
WHO\'S GONNA BE THE LEADER.
00:02:29.501 --> 00:02:30.959
THE CANNED SPEECHES,
00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:33.417
THE \"ALREADY AGREED UPON\"
ET CETERA...
00:02:33.459 --> 00:02:35.042
THIS IS ALL PART OF SOMETHING
00:02:35.083 --> 00:02:38.292
THAT IS REHEARSED
AND CHOREOGRAPHED,
00:02:38.334 --> 00:02:42.334
BUT EVERY SINGLE PERSON
TO RIGHT NOW, 2010,
00:02:42.375 --> 00:02:45.501
WHO\'S A POLITICAL CONSULTANT
IN THE UNITED STATES
00:02:45.542 --> 00:02:49.042
EITHER HAS SEEN
OR WILL IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZE,
00:02:49.083 --> 00:02:52.375
THERE\'S SOMETHING YOU CAN LEARN
FROM LOOKING AT THIS FILM.
00:02:52.417 --> 00:02:54.459
[crowd yelling]
00:02:54.501 --> 00:02:56.417
THE NAZI PARTY
00:02:56.459 --> 00:02:59.501
WAS SUPPOSED TO BE
A SOCIAL REVOLUTION.
00:02:59.542 --> 00:03:01.959
HITLER IS STANDING
NEXT TO THE LEADER
00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:05.584
OF THE WORKERS\' PARTY,
ERNST ROEHM.
00:03:05.626 --> 00:03:07.834
ROEHM IS STANDING
IN THE OPEN LIMOUSINE
00:03:07.876 --> 00:03:09.918
WITH HITLER, SIDE BY SIDE.
00:03:09.959 --> 00:03:13.417
YOU COULDN\'T FIND WORDS
TO DO A BETTER JOB
00:03:13.459 --> 00:03:16.542
OF SHOWING THE AVERAGE CITIZENRY
00:03:16.584 --> 00:03:19.501
THAT THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION
IS THEIRS.
00:03:19.542 --> 00:03:23.250
IT WAS PREMIERED
AT THE GRANDEST VENUE
00:03:23.292 --> 00:03:24.459
FOR FILM PREMIERING.
00:03:24.501 --> 00:03:27.209
IN NEW YORK,
IT WOULD\'VE BEEN RADIO CITY.
00:03:27.250 --> 00:03:29.834
YOU COULDN\'T DO BETTER
THAN HAVE YOUR PREMIERE THERE.
00:03:29.876 --> 00:03:32.375
THIS FILM WAS...
WAS SEEN BY EVERYBODY.
00:03:32.417 --> 00:03:35.125
[crowd yelling]
00:03:35.167 --> 00:03:36.876
EXCEPT WE HAVE THE PROBLEM.
00:03:36.918 --> 00:03:38.292
[projector whirs to a halt]
00:03:38.334 --> 00:03:42.918
ON HITLER\'S ORDERS,
EVERY PRINT WAS DESTROYED.
00:03:42.959 --> 00:03:45.417
ANYBODY THAT HAD A PRINT
OF THIS FILM,
00:03:45.459 --> 00:03:47.459
DESTROY IT.
00:03:51.501 --> 00:03:55.375
ON THE NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES,
JUNE 30, 1934,
00:03:55.417 --> 00:03:57.584
THERE ARE CLOSE TO 100 PERSONS
MURDERED.
00:03:57.626 --> 00:04:01.334
HITLER BASICALLY IS GETTING RID
OF POLITICAL RIVALS,
00:04:01.375 --> 00:04:05.501
INCLUDING HIS GOOD OLD BUDDY,
ERNST ROEHM.
00:04:05.542 --> 00:04:08.417
SO THE FILM HAS TO BE DESTROYED
BECAUSE THIS GUY
00:04:08.459 --> 00:04:12.459
IS NO LONGER PART OF ANYBODY\'S
REMEMBERED NAZI PAST.
00:04:12.501 --> 00:04:15.959
AND THAT\'S IT
FOR THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION.
00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:18.667
YOU GET ONE FILM AND NO JOB.
00:04:18.709 --> 00:04:21.417
[boots thudding]
00:04:21.459 --> 00:04:25.667
[soft instrumental music]
00:04:25.709 --> 00:04:28.667
- IN TELLING THE STORY
OF DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING
00:04:28.709 --> 00:04:30.542
DURING WORLD WAR II,
00:04:30.584 --> 00:04:34.584
WE HAVE TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND
THE CONCEPT OF PROPAGANDA.
00:04:34.626 --> 00:04:36.876
TODAY,
IF I USE THE WORD PROPAGANDA,
00:04:36.918 --> 00:04:41.334
THE DEFAULT POSITION
IS THAT IT\'S BAD,
00:04:41.375 --> 00:04:43.083
IT\'S... INVOLVES LIES
IN SOME WAYS,
00:04:43.125 --> 00:04:45.459
AND I SHOULDN\'T BELIEVE IT
AT ALL.
00:04:45.501 --> 00:04:48.959
THAT\'S NOT THE WAY IT WAS USED
IN THE \'30s AND THE 1940s.
00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:52.459
WE HAVE TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND
WHY IT WAS NEEDED,
00:04:52.501 --> 00:04:56.542
EVEN IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY.
00:04:56.584 --> 00:04:59.542
- IN ORDER FOR ALL PROPAGANDA
TO SUCCEED,
00:04:59.584 --> 00:05:02.834
IT HAS TO CONNECT
TO THE PUBLIC IN SOME WAY.
00:05:02.876 --> 00:05:04.083
IT HAS TO CONNECT
00:05:04.125 --> 00:05:07.417
TO THE WAY IN WHICH THE PUBLIC
SEE THINGS,
00:05:07.459 --> 00:05:11.501
THE WAY IN WHICH THEY CONCEIVE
OF THE WORLD AROUND THEM.
00:05:11.542 --> 00:05:14.083
AND WHAT FILMMAKERS CAN DO
00:05:14.125 --> 00:05:17.417
IS TO SHARPEN,
TIGHTEN, AND TWIST
00:05:17.459 --> 00:05:21.125
THOSE PREEXISTING CONCEPTIONS.
00:05:21.167 --> 00:05:24.584
- PROPAGANDA
EMBEDS A CONTRADICTION.
00:05:24.626 --> 00:05:28.417
TRUTH
INVOLVES STRATEGIC THINKING,
00:05:28.459 --> 00:05:32.542
A WAY
OF GETTING THAT TRUTH ACROSS.
00:05:32.584 --> 00:05:40.584
♪ ♪
00:05:45.167 --> 00:05:48.792
[bombs whistling
and explosions booming]
00:05:48.834 --> 00:05:50.918
narrator: AMERICAN GENERAL
GEORGE C. MARSHALL
00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:53.459
ONCE SAID THAT WORLD WAR II
SAW THE DEVELOPMENT
00:05:53.501 --> 00:05:55.459
OF TWO POWERFUL NEW WEAPONS:
00:05:55.501 --> 00:05:58.459
THE AIRPLANE
AND THE MOTION PICTURE.
00:05:58.501 --> 00:06:03.667
NAZI GERMANY WAS THE FIRST
TO RECOGNIZE THE POWER OF BOTH.
00:06:03.709 --> 00:06:06.709
- THE NAZIS
HAD BEEN USING FILM PROPAGANDA
00:06:06.751 --> 00:06:09.542
FROM EVEN PREELECTION PERIOD,
00:06:09.584 --> 00:06:14.501
SO THEY WERE USED TO USING FILM
AND MODERN TECHNOLOGIES.
00:06:14.542 --> 00:06:17.751
AND AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR,
THEY WENT ON THE OFFENSIVE.
00:06:17.792 --> 00:06:20.751
[dramatic orchestral music]
00:06:20.792 --> 00:06:28.792
♪ ♪
00:06:41.501 --> 00:06:44.459
[explosions rumbling]
00:06:44.501 --> 00:06:47.083
NAZI PROPAGANDA
HAS AN IMMEDIACY.
00:06:47.125 --> 00:06:49.334
[man speaking German]
00:06:51.167 --> 00:06:54.042
THE TECHNOLOGY
IS QUITE EXTRAORDINARY
00:06:54.083 --> 00:06:55.459
FOR THAT PERIOD.
00:06:55.501 --> 00:06:58.125
YOU\'RE GETTING THE VIEW
FROM THE AEROPLANE
00:06:58.167 --> 00:07:01.042
DOWN ONTO...
ONTO THE TARGET.
00:07:01.083 --> 00:07:04.125
AND THE PUBLIC
FINDS THE PICTURES COMPELLING
00:07:04.167 --> 00:07:05.584
BECAUSE THEY\'RE SEEING THE...
00:07:05.626 --> 00:07:08.459
THEY FEEL AS IF THEY\'RE SEEING
THE WAR FIRSTHAND.
00:07:08.501 --> 00:07:12.375
- THEY ALWAYS HAD THIS
INCREDIBLE QUALITY OF LENSES,
00:07:12.417 --> 00:07:15.417
QUALITY OF LAB WORK.
00:07:15.459 --> 00:07:18.709
THE GERMAN PROPAGANDA FILMS
JUST MADE YOU TERRIFIED.
00:07:18.751 --> 00:07:21.751
[cannons roaring]
00:07:23.417 --> 00:07:27.959
- AND YOU SEE, EFFECTIVELY,
WARSAW OBLITERATED.
00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:30.959
[projector whirring]
00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:35.709
THERE WERE CERTAIN SCREENINGS
IN EMBASSIES IN EUROPE
00:07:35.751 --> 00:07:37.167
AS A FORM OF INTIMIDATION.
00:07:37.209 --> 00:07:40.709
FOREIGN DELEGATIONS
LEFT THE SCREENING ROOM,
00:07:40.751 --> 00:07:44.459
ALMOST DEVASTATED SILENCE.
00:07:44.501 --> 00:07:48.459
- DENMARK LAID DOWN THEIR ARMS
WITHIN 24 HOURS, I THINK.
00:07:48.501 --> 00:07:49.459
[chuckles]
00:07:49.501 --> 00:07:50.459
AND I DON\'T BLAME THEM.
00:07:50.501 --> 00:07:51.459
DO YOU?
00:07:51.501 --> 00:07:53.501
[explosions booming]
00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:58.667
[man speaking German]
00:08:04.542 --> 00:08:07.501
[stirring orchestral music]
00:08:07.542 --> 00:08:09.542
♪ ♪
00:08:20.751 --> 00:08:23.542
narrator: BEFORE THEY
BEGAN INTIMIDATING THE ENEMY,
00:08:23.584 --> 00:08:26.709
NAZI PROPAGANDISTS
TOOK ON A DIFFERENT MISSION:
00:08:26.751 --> 00:08:33.542
PERSUASION.
00:08:33.584 --> 00:08:35.501
- WHEN YOU SAY,
\"WHAT\'S THE RELATIONSHIP
00:08:35.542 --> 00:08:38.792
BETWEEN PROPAGANDA
AND THE DOCUMENTARY FILM?\"
00:08:38.834 --> 00:08:42.584
YOU\'RE ONTO A SUBJECT
THAT MATTERS A GREAT DEAL.
00:08:42.626 --> 00:08:43.667
LENI RIEFENSTAHL,
00:08:43.709 --> 00:08:45.459
THE DIRECTOR
OF TRIUMPH OF THE WILL,
00:08:45.501 --> 00:08:48.250
OVER AND OVER,
INSISTED THAT THIS FILM
00:08:48.292 --> 00:08:49.584
WAS A DOCUMENTARY FILM,
00:08:49.626 --> 00:08:52.250
AND THEREFORE, IT COULD NOT BE
A PROPAGANDA FILM.
00:08:52.292 --> 00:08:55.459
[crowd yelling]
00:08:55.501 --> 00:09:03.459
[bombastic martial music]
00:09:03.501 --> 00:09:06.751
IS TRIUMPH OF THE WILL
A PROPAGANDA FILM?
00:09:06.792 --> 00:09:10.083
WELL, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
THAT IS SO OFTEN FORGOTTEN
00:09:10.125 --> 00:09:12.167
IS TO THINK ABOUT FOR WHOM
00:09:12.209 --> 00:09:16.083
THIS FILM
WAS ORIGINALLY CREATED.
00:09:17.918 --> 00:09:19.709
TRIUMPH OF THE WILL
WAS NOT MADE
00:09:19.751 --> 00:09:22.125
TO TERRIFY OUTSIDERS.
00:09:23.626 --> 00:09:26.876
REMEMBER, HITLER
NEVER WON AN ELECTORAL MAJORITY.
00:09:26.918 --> 00:09:28.459
UNDECIDED GERMANS,
00:09:28.501 --> 00:09:30.626
SOCIAL DEMOCRATS,
ROMAN CATHOLICS...
00:09:30.667 --> 00:09:33.751
THIS WOULD BE A GREAT BIG GROUP
IN GERMANY.
00:09:35.209 --> 00:09:37.751
THE PROPAGANDA MINISTRY
NEEDED A WAY
00:09:37.792 --> 00:09:43.292
TO PERSUADE THE UNCERTAIN GERMAN
00:09:43.334 --> 00:09:45.042
THAT THE NAZI PARTY
WAS THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE.
00:09:45.083 --> 00:09:47.459
HITLER LIKED MOVIES.
00:09:47.501 --> 00:09:49.667
HE WENT TO THE MOVIES
AND SAW LENI,
00:09:49.709 --> 00:09:53.167
WHO DID LOOK QUITE PRETTY
IN DAS BLAUE LICHT,
00:09:53.209 --> 00:09:54.667
THE BLUE LIGHT.
00:09:54.709 --> 00:10:02.709
[eerie music]
00:10:05.083 --> 00:10:07.083
- SHE WAS YOUTHFUL.
00:10:07.125 --> 00:10:10.000
SHE WAS VERY ENERGETIC.
00:10:10.042 --> 00:10:11.876
- HE, THEN, HAD THE IDEA
OF INVITING HER
00:10:11.918 --> 00:10:16.459
TO MAKE A DOCUMENTARY FILM,
WHICH SHE HAD NOT MADE BEFORE.
00:10:16.501 --> 00:10:19.459
RIEFENSTAHL
WAS FASCINATED BY THE PROSPECT
00:10:19.501 --> 00:10:22.667
OF MAKING HITLER LOOK GOOD.
00:10:22.709 --> 00:10:26.459
- SHE ADMITTED
WITHOUT MUCH HESITATION
00:10:26.501 --> 00:10:30.083
THAT SHE HAD BEEN
COMPLETELY BESOTTED WITH HITLER,
00:10:30.125 --> 00:10:34.459
AND SHE GOT UNLIMITED MONEY
AND FACILITIES
00:10:34.501 --> 00:10:37.417
TO MAKE A GREAT RALLY FILM.
00:10:37.459 --> 00:10:40.459
[crowd shouting]
00:10:48.959 --> 00:10:51.959
[cheering]
00:10:53.751 --> 00:10:56.626
- IF YOUR ASSIGNMENT
IS TO MAKE THE BOSS LOOK GOOD,
00:10:56.667 --> 00:10:58.459
THEN TRIUMPH OF THE WILL
IS GONNA GIVE YOU
00:10:58.501 --> 00:11:02.083
PLENTY OF INFORMATION
FOR HOW TO DO IT.
00:11:02.125 --> 00:11:07.167
- SHE HAD THE MOST INCREDIBLE
FILMIC MIND AND TECHNIQUE.
00:11:07.209 --> 00:11:08.876
MY GOD.
00:11:08.918 --> 00:11:12.209
SHE HAD A TEAM,
THE LIKE OF WHICH
00:11:12.250 --> 00:11:13.459
HAS PROBABLY NEVER
BEEN ASSEMBLED
00:11:13.501 --> 00:11:14.959
FOR ANOTHER PICTURE.
00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:19.667
SEPP ALLGEIER
WAS A BREATHTAKING CAMERAMAN.
00:11:19.709 --> 00:11:21.709
THE CAMERA HARDLY STOPS MOVING.
00:11:21.751 --> 00:11:24.375
IT\'S EVEN ON THE END
OF FIRE LADDERS
00:11:24.417 --> 00:11:25.542
AT THEIR FULL EXTENT
00:11:25.584 --> 00:11:27.918
GOING DOWN THE STREET
OF NUREMBERG.
00:11:27.959 --> 00:11:31.459
- OVER, ABOVE,
BENEATH, AROUND, UNDER,
00:11:31.501 --> 00:11:33.542
AND ALWAYS MOTION,
MOTION, MOTION.
00:11:33.584 --> 00:11:37.083
AND, OF COURSE,
IF YOU WANT REACTION SHOTS
00:11:37.125 --> 00:11:40.459
FROM HOW THE CROWD IS RESPONDING
TO HITLER\'S ARRIVAL,
00:11:40.501 --> 00:11:41.709
THEN THE PLACE FOR THE CAMERA
00:11:41.751 --> 00:11:44.083
IS RIGHT BEHIND
THE OPEN LIMOUSINE,
00:11:44.125 --> 00:11:46.334
DIRECTLY BEHIND HITLER.
00:11:46.375 --> 00:11:49.417
[crowd yelling]
00:11:49.459 --> 00:11:53.459
LENI USED THE CROWD SCENES
TO GIVE YOU THE SUGGESTION
00:11:53.501 --> 00:11:56.834
THAT ALL OF GERMANY
WAS ON THE TEAM.
00:11:56.876 --> 00:12:00.292
[swelling orchestral music]
00:12:00.334 --> 00:12:03.209
[crowd yelling]
00:12:03.250 --> 00:12:06.626
- [speaking German]
00:12:20.375 --> 00:12:22.834
DOES THIS FILM
PROVE THAT ALL GERMANS
00:12:22.876 --> 00:12:26.167
ARE BLOODTHIRSTY NAZIS?
00:12:26.209 --> 00:12:27.626
IT\'S NOT TRUE THAT EVERY GERMAN
00:12:27.667 --> 00:12:32.459
SPENT 12 YEARS AT ATTENTION IN...
IN THE LUITPOLDHAIN.
00:12:32.501 --> 00:12:33.542
I MEAN, IT JUST...
IT\'S NOT TRUE.
00:12:33.584 --> 00:12:36.584
BUT LENI GOT GREAT FOOTAGE
00:12:36.626 --> 00:12:40.834
OF YOUTHFUL FACES
THAT ARE ENTHUSIASTIC.
00:12:40.876 --> 00:12:43.876
- [speaking German]
00:12:48.459 --> 00:12:51.584
[cheers and applause]
00:12:55.626 --> 00:12:58.125
- IT SHOWS THAT YOU NEED
TO GET ON THE TEAM
00:12:58.167 --> 00:13:01.709
BECAUSE THAT\'S WHERE
THE FUTURE LIES.
00:13:07.918 --> 00:13:09.459
- \"DOKUMENTAR,\"
SHE KEPT SAYING.
00:13:09.501 --> 00:13:11.459
\"IT IS ONLY DOKUMENTAR.
00:13:11.501 --> 00:13:14.918
\"IT JUST... I DID NOT TELL YOU
WHAT TO THINK.
00:13:14.959 --> 00:13:18.292
I SHOWED WHAT WAS HAPPENING.\"
00:13:18.334 --> 00:13:21.125
WELL, SHE WAS
A FAR GREATER FILMMAKER
00:13:21.167 --> 00:13:22.542
THAN SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS.
00:13:22.584 --> 00:13:25.584
[crowd singing in German]
00:13:50.083 --> 00:13:51.876
narrator:
BY THE SUMMER OF 1940,
00:13:51.918 --> 00:13:54.209
THE GERMAN ARMY
HAD CONQUERED FRANCE
00:13:54.250 --> 00:13:56.626
AND EXPELLED
THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCES
00:13:56.667 --> 00:13:58.834
AT DUNKIRK.
00:13:58.876 --> 00:14:01.459
THE NAZI DOCUMENTARY
VICTORY IN THE WEST
00:14:01.501 --> 00:14:04.292
OPENLY MOCKED
ENGLAND\'S PROPAGANDA
00:14:04.334 --> 00:14:06.083
ALONG WITH ITS ARMY.
00:14:06.125 --> 00:14:09.125
- [speaking German]
00:14:26.918 --> 00:14:28.167
narrator:
IN ENGLAND,
00:14:28.209 --> 00:14:30.709
THE NEWLY FORMED
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
00:14:30.751 --> 00:14:34.792
WAS STRUGGLING
TO FIND THE RIGHT MESSAGES.
00:14:34.834 --> 00:14:37.834
- ONE OF THE CRUCIAL PHASES
IN ANY PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN
00:14:37.876 --> 00:14:41.667
AT THE BEGINNING OF A WAR
IS THE JUSTIFICATION PHASE.
00:14:41.709 --> 00:14:45.751
YOU HAVE TO JUSTIFY
WHY YOU ARE GOING TO WAR,
00:14:45.792 --> 00:14:49.459
BECAUSE THAT IS A HUGE THING
TO ASK OF YOUR PEOPLE.
00:14:49.501 --> 00:14:52.918
SO WHEN THE JUSTIFICATION
ISN\'T QUITE RIGHT,
00:14:52.959 --> 00:14:55.459
OR THE WAY IN WHICH YOU
COMMUNICATE THE JUSTIFICATION
00:14:55.501 --> 00:14:57.459
ISN\'T QUITE RIGHT,
00:14:57.501 --> 00:14:59.250
THEN QUESTIONS WILL BE ASKED.
00:14:59.292 --> 00:15:03.083
THEN MORALE WILL FALL AWAY
MUCH QUICKER.
00:15:03.125 --> 00:15:05.584
- AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR,
00:15:05.626 --> 00:15:08.459
THE CLASS SYSTEM
REMAINED IN PLACE.
00:15:08.501 --> 00:15:10.167
GEORGE ORWELL SAID THAT BRITAIN
00:15:10.209 --> 00:15:13.459
WAS THE MOST CLASS-BOUND COUNTRY
IN THE WORLD.
00:15:13.501 --> 00:15:17.292
- THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
HAVE A MISUNDERSTANDING
00:15:17.334 --> 00:15:21.167
OF WHAT THE BRITISH PEOPLE
NEEDED.
00:15:21.209 --> 00:15:24.083
\"YOURCOURAGE WILL BRING
USVICTORY.\"
00:15:24.125 --> 00:15:28.542
THE PUBLIC READ THAT AS THAT,
YOU\'LL BE DOING ALL OF THE WORK
00:15:28.584 --> 00:15:32.375
AND ALL OF THE HEAVY LIFTING
AND THE FIGHTING TO BRING US...
00:15:32.417 --> 00:15:35.167
THE GOVERNMENT,
THOSE IN POWER, THE ELITE...
00:15:35.209 --> 00:15:36.417
VICTORY.
00:15:36.459 --> 00:15:38.792
AND IT CREATES
AN IMMEDIATE DIVISION.
00:15:38.834 --> 00:15:41.918
IT JUST STRIKES
COMPLETELY THE WRONG TONE.
00:15:43.042 --> 00:15:44.876
- AND IN THE FIRST FILM
OF THE WAR,
00:15:44.918 --> 00:15:46.292
THE LION HAS WINGS,
00:15:46.334 --> 00:15:49.626
THEY HAD SIMPLY CARRIED ON
WITH THE SAME PRINCIPLES.
00:15:49.667 --> 00:15:51.667
- ALL UNITS ENGAGED
IN TONIGHT\'S ACTIONS
00:15:51.709 --> 00:15:54.459
TAKE THEIR SPELL OF REST OFF
IMMEDIATELY ON RETURN.
00:15:54.501 --> 00:15:57.167
- RALPH RICHARDSON PLAYS
AN OFFICER IN THE R.A.F.
00:15:57.209 --> 00:15:59.709
IN A VERY UPPER-CLASS,
STIFF UPPER LIP MANNER.
00:15:59.751 --> 00:16:01.167
- NOW YOUR SPELL OFF.
00:16:01.209 --> 00:16:02.959
- FINE, WELL,
GOOD NIGHT OR GOOD MORNING.
00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:05.959
- GOOD NIGHT, SIR.
- GOOD MORNING.
00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:07.250
- DARLING?
00:16:07.292 --> 00:16:10.250
- IT WAS ALLEGEDLY
SHOWN IN BERLIN AS A COMEDY.
00:16:10.292 --> 00:16:12.834
- GOEBBELS THOUGHT IT WOULD
BE SUCH WONDERFUL PROPAGANDA,
00:16:12.876 --> 00:16:14.626
NOT FOR THE BRITISH
BUT FOR THE NAZIS.
00:16:14.667 --> 00:16:16.125
- POOR DARLING,
YOU MUST BE TIRED.
00:16:16.167 --> 00:16:18.125
I\'ll GET YOU SOME BREAKFAST,
AND YOU CAN GO TO BED.
00:16:18.167 --> 00:16:20.334
- NO, NO, LET\'S TAKE THE CAR
DOWN THE RIVER
00:16:20.375 --> 00:16:22.459
FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS FIRST,
SHALL WE?
00:16:22.501 --> 00:16:24.461
OH, NO, I\'M A SELFISH PIG.
YOU MUST BE DEAD BEAT...
00:16:24.501 --> 00:16:26.459
- OH, NO, DARLING,
I WAS HOPING YOU\'D SUGGEST IT,
00:16:26.501 --> 00:16:28.667
AND WE JUST GOT ENOUGH
PETROL RATION.
00:16:28.709 --> 00:16:31.167
- IT JUST DIDN\'T STRIKE
THE RIGHT NOTE,
00:16:31.209 --> 00:16:34.167
AND THE BRITISH PEOPLE
IMMEDIATELY SAW IT
00:16:34.209 --> 00:16:36.459
AS A PROPAGANDA FILM.
00:16:36.501 --> 00:16:38.301
- PEOPLE COMING OUT
OF THE CINEMA WERE SAYING,
00:16:38.334 --> 00:16:40.042
IT\'S ALL TOO IDEALIZED,
00:16:40.083 --> 00:16:41.459
WE DIDN\'T LIKE THE ACCENTS,
00:16:41.501 --> 00:16:43.042
AND ANYWAY,
THE BRITAIN THEY WERE SHOWING
00:16:43.083 --> 00:16:45.459
IS NOT THE BRITAIN
WE RECOGNIZE.
00:16:45.501 --> 00:16:47.459
SO THERE WAS A LOT OF CRITICISM
BOTH FROM THE PUBLIC
00:16:47.501 --> 00:16:49.459
AND CERTAINLY THE CRITICS
AND THE DOCUMENTARISTS.
00:16:49.501 --> 00:16:51.250
- HADN\'T A CLUE.
00:16:51.292 --> 00:16:52.459
HADN\'T A CLUE.
00:16:52.501 --> 00:16:54.959
THE FILM PEOPLE
AT THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.584
HAD NO KNOWLEDGE
OF THE FILM INDUSTRY;
00:16:57.626 --> 00:16:59.292
THEY WEREN\'T FILMMAKERS.
00:16:59.334 --> 00:17:01.792
IT\'S A TOTALLY
DIFFERENT LANGUAGE FOR THEM,
00:17:01.834 --> 00:17:03.876
AND THEY WERE SUPPOSED
TO FORM A POLICY.
00:17:03.918 --> 00:17:05.959
WELL, THEY HADN\'T A CLUE.
00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:07.459
HADN\'T A CLUE WHAT TO DO.
00:17:07.501 --> 00:17:09.709
[train whistle blowing]
00:17:09.751 --> 00:17:14.167
- ♪ WISH ME LUCK
AS YOU WAVE ME GOOD-BYE ♪
00:17:14.209 --> 00:17:17.167
♪ CHEERIO
HERE I GO ♪
00:17:17.209 --> 00:17:18.584
♪ ON MY WAY ♪
00:17:18.626 --> 00:17:20.250
narrator:
IN THE EARLY 1930s,
00:17:20.292 --> 00:17:23.209
A CORPS OF FILMMAKERS,
INCLUDING JACKSON,
00:17:23.250 --> 00:17:25.459
HARRY WATT,
AND HUMPHREY JENNINGS,
00:17:25.501 --> 00:17:27.250
HAD GARNERED
GOVERNMENT SPONSORSHIP
00:17:27.292 --> 00:17:28.959
FOR A NEW KIND OF DOCUMENTARY
00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:32.959
INTENDED TO KNIT TOGETHER
A FRAGMENTED BRITAIN.
00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:35.834
AT THE START OF THE WAR, THOUGH,
THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
00:17:35.876 --> 00:17:38.459
IGNORED THEM
AND THEIR METHODS.
00:17:38.501 --> 00:17:42.792
- THESE MEN, MANY OF THEM
LEFT-WING ANTIFASCISTS,
00:17:42.834 --> 00:17:44.876
THEY WERE PATRIOTIC FIGURES.
00:17:44.918 --> 00:17:46.709
THEY WANTED TO CONTRIBUTE
TO THE WAR EFFORT
00:17:46.751 --> 00:17:48.542
AND DO WHAT THEY COULD
TO BEAT HITLER.
00:17:48.584 --> 00:17:51.417
- IT\'S NO ACCIDENT
THAT THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT
00:17:51.459 --> 00:17:52.876
AT THE OUTSET OF THE WAR
00:17:52.918 --> 00:17:55.209
DID NOT TURN TO
THE DOCUMENTARY FILM MOVEMENT
00:17:55.250 --> 00:17:57.459
BUT TO THE NEWSREEL GUYS...
WHO, BY THE WAY,
00:17:57.501 --> 00:17:59.918
WERE ALL TO THE RIGHT OF
GENGHIS KAHN, BUT NEVER MIND...
00:17:59.959 --> 00:18:02.834
THAT THEY DIDN\'T TURN
TO THE DOCUMENTARY GUYS,
00:18:02.876 --> 00:18:04.334
THEY TURNED TO THE NEWSREEL GUYS
00:18:04.375 --> 00:18:06.542
\'CAUSE THE DOCUMENTARY GUYS
WERE NOT SEEN
00:18:06.584 --> 00:18:09.459
AS EFFECTIVE REPORTERS
ON THE SITUATION.
00:18:09.501 --> 00:18:11.959
THEY HAD THIS POETIC,
VERY ROMANTICIZED
00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:14.042
VISION OF FILM.
00:18:14.083 --> 00:18:17.042
- SO THE DOCUMENTARIANS
JUST TOOK IT UPON THEMSELVES...
00:18:17.083 --> 00:18:19.375
THEY HAD THEIR CAMERAS;
THEY HAD THEIR FILM STOCK...
00:18:19.417 --> 00:18:21.459
TO GO OUT AND SHOOT.
00:18:21.501 --> 00:18:25.042
- THERE\'S THIS FAMOUS STORY
OF THEM GRABBING THEIR CAMERAS
00:18:25.083 --> 00:18:26.459
AND RUNNING OUT
ONTO THE STREETS
00:18:26.501 --> 00:18:29.167
TO FILM WHAT IS GOING ON
TO GET A SENSE OF...
00:18:29.209 --> 00:18:31.417
AN EARLY SENSE
OF BRITAIN AT WAR,
00:18:31.459 --> 00:18:35.125
AND THEY MAKE
THE FIRST DAYS.
00:18:35.167 --> 00:18:37.792
- SNIPPETS.
SNIPPETS OF OBSERVATION.
00:18:37.834 --> 00:18:39.292
SANDBAGGING HOSPITALS,
00:18:39.334 --> 00:18:41.459
SANDBAGGING EROS IN PICCADILLY.
00:18:41.501 --> 00:18:44.459
THE MONOCLED CHAP, YOU KNOW,
WITH HIS HELMET ON,
00:18:44.501 --> 00:18:45.459
MONOCLE, STANDING THERE,
00:18:45.501 --> 00:18:47.792
OBVIOUSLY FROM THE INDIAN CLUB,
YOU KNOW?
00:18:47.834 --> 00:18:52.667
I MEAN, TOTALLY IRRELEVANT,
EXTRAORDINARY THINGS.
00:18:52.709 --> 00:18:54.584
- IT IS NOT ABOUT
REPORTING THE NEWS;
00:18:54.626 --> 00:18:58.083
IT\'S ABOUT REPORTING A FEELING,
00:18:58.125 --> 00:19:02.459
A SORT OF SENSE OF THE WAR
TO THE BRITISH PEOPLE.
00:19:02.501 --> 00:19:05.459
WHAT WATT AND JENNINGS
WANTED TO DO WITH THAT FILM IS
00:19:05.501 --> 00:19:10.167
TO SHOW THEM WHAT DOCUMENTARY
COULD BRING TO THE WAR EFFORT.
00:19:10.209 --> 00:19:13.209
[explosions]
00:19:16.083 --> 00:19:18.459
narrator: THE GOVERNMENT
ADOPTED THE DOCUMENTARY TEAM
00:19:18.501 --> 00:19:22.042
AS THE OFFICIAL CROWN FILM UNIT
IN LATE 1940,
00:19:22.083 --> 00:19:26.584
JUST BEFORE NAZI BOMBS
BEGAN RAINING DOWN ON ENGLAND.
00:19:26.626 --> 00:19:29.584
LONDON ENDURED A BLITZ
OF CONTINUAL AIR ATTACKS
00:19:29.626 --> 00:19:31.709
FOR EIGHT SOLID MONTHS.
00:19:31.751 --> 00:19:34.083
20,000 LONDONERS WERE KILLED
00:19:34.125 --> 00:19:37.584
AND OVER A MILLION
MADE HOMELESS.
00:19:37.626 --> 00:19:40.167
- IN THE CRUCIBLE OF 1940,
00:19:40.209 --> 00:19:43.542
BRITAIN GOES THROUGH
ITS LOWEST POINT IN THE WAR.
00:19:43.584 --> 00:19:45.584
- IT WAS THE
MOST APPALLING RAIDS
00:19:45.626 --> 00:19:49.459
\'CAUSE THE NAZI BOMBERS RETURNED
AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN
00:19:49.501 --> 00:19:50.501
TO THE CITIES.
00:19:50.542 --> 00:19:52.501
- IT WAS QUITE HORRIBLE
BECAUSE YOU HEARD THIS...
00:19:52.542 --> 00:19:55.250
[thrumming]
00:19:55.292 --> 00:19:56.834
AND THEN YOU WAITED,
AND YOU DIDN\'T KNOW
00:19:56.876 --> 00:19:57.959
IF IT WAS GOING
TO FALL ON YOU
00:19:58.000 --> 00:19:59.459
OR WHERE IT WAS GOING TO FALL.
00:19:59.501 --> 00:20:01.375
- WE WOULD SPEND THE NIGHT
IN THE SHELTER.
00:20:01.417 --> 00:20:03.334
WE EACH HAD SHELTERS
IN OUR HOME,
00:20:03.375 --> 00:20:05.542
WHICH WAS LIKE A BEDSTEAD
00:20:05.584 --> 00:20:07.292
WHICH WAS MADE
OF REINFORCED STEEL,
00:20:07.334 --> 00:20:09.667
AND YOU WOULD CRAWL UNDER THAT
FOR THE NIGHT.
00:20:09.709 --> 00:20:12.042
AND YOU WOULD OPEN
YOUR FRONT DOOR AND WONDER,
00:20:12.083 --> 00:20:14.918
WHEN YOU LOOKED OUT,
WHO HAD SURVIVED.
00:20:18.542 --> 00:20:19.542
[sighs]
00:20:28.709 --> 00:20:32.459
- WHAT THE DOCUMENTARISTS WANTED
ALL ALONG IN THE \'30s
00:20:32.501 --> 00:20:36.459
WAS SOCIALLY PURPOSIVE CINEMA
CREATING SYMPATHY
00:20:36.501 --> 00:20:38.209
BETWEEN CLASSES,
BETWEEN GENDERS,
00:20:38.250 --> 00:20:39.834
BETWEEN DIFFERENT REGIONS
OF THE COUNTRY
00:20:39.876 --> 00:20:44.167
SO THAT YOU GOT AN INTEGRATED
SOCIETY NOT AT ODDS.
00:20:44.209 --> 00:20:48.918
THE WAR WAS REALLY
THE DOCUMENTARISTS OPENING.
00:20:48.959 --> 00:20:51.250
- WE HAVE DISCUSSED
WITHIN THE UNIT
00:20:51.292 --> 00:20:54.250
A FILM ABOUT THE BLITZ.
00:20:54.292 --> 00:20:58.959
AND WHAT IMPRESSED US WAS
HOW EXTRAORDINARY IT WAS
00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:02.709
THAT LIFE WENT ON SO QUICKLY.
00:21:02.751 --> 00:21:05.125
IF YOU LOOKED AT THE NEWSREELS,
00:21:05.167 --> 00:21:08.459
LONDON WAS FINISHED,
LONDON WAS FLATTENED,
00:21:08.501 --> 00:21:11.626
AND YET WE KNEW THAT PEOPLE
00:21:11.667 --> 00:21:14.834
WERE WANDERING
AROUND THE STREET.
00:21:14.876 --> 00:21:17.792
THIS IS WHAT STRUCK US.
00:21:17.834 --> 00:21:22.709
SO THE WHOLE UNIT WAS SENT OUT
JUST TO GET PEOPLE
00:21:22.751 --> 00:21:26.459
SWEEPING THE GLASS AWAY
FROM THEIR WINDOWS,
00:21:26.501 --> 00:21:31.834
PEOPLE SITTING IN
DUSTMAN\'S CARTS TO GET TO WORK...
00:21:31.876 --> 00:21:33.709
PEOPLE.
00:21:36.501 --> 00:21:40.459
- HUMPHREY JENNINGS
WROTE ABSOLUTELY RHAPSODICALLY
00:21:40.501 --> 00:21:42.542
TO HIS WIFE ABOUT
HIS ENORMOUS ADMIRATION
00:21:42.584 --> 00:21:46.918
FOR THE WAY PEOPLE WERE
STANDING UP TO THE WAR EFFORT.
00:21:46.959 --> 00:21:48.250
- HE SAYS TO MY MOTHER
00:21:48.292 --> 00:21:50.751
THAT THE WAR HAS MADE HIM
MORE OF A HUMAN BEING,
00:21:50.792 --> 00:21:52.501
NICER, MORE THOUGHTFUL.
00:21:52.542 --> 00:21:56.250
I\'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE ABOUT THAT
\'CAUSE HE WAS VERY TOUGH.
00:21:56.292 --> 00:21:59.375
BUT WATCHING PEOPLE RESPOND
TO THE WAR,
00:21:59.417 --> 00:22:03.250
HE SAYS IN ONE LETTER,
\"WE HAVE LOST MANY LOVED THINGS,
00:22:03.292 --> 00:22:04.334
\"BUT WHAT A SPIRIT,
00:22:04.375 --> 00:22:10.584
WHAT TREMENDOUS COURAGE
EVERYBODY HAS.\"
00:22:10.626 --> 00:22:13.125
- JENNINGS WAS
FROM AN UPPER MIDDLE CLASS,
00:22:13.167 --> 00:22:15.459
PRIVILEGED BACKGROUND,
AND HE WAS ENCOUNTERING
00:22:15.501 --> 00:22:17.459
WORKING CLASS PEOPLE
FOR THE FIRST TIME,
00:22:17.501 --> 00:22:20.501
AS MANY MIDDLE CLASS PEOPLE
WERE.
00:22:20.542 --> 00:22:22.959
BUT HE REMAINED A POET
AND A PAINTER,
00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:24.792
SOMEONE WHO MADE
POETIC MEDITATIONS.
00:22:24.834 --> 00:22:29.626
Choir:
♪ BORN THIS HAPPY MORNING ♪
00:22:29.667 --> 00:22:34.918
♪ JESUS, TO THEE BE ♪
00:22:34.959 --> 00:22:40.334
♪ GLORY GIVEN ♪
00:22:40.375 --> 00:22:45.709
♪ WORD OF OUR FATHER ♪
00:22:45.751 --> 00:22:50.459
♪ NOW IN FLESH APPEARING ♪
00:22:50.501 --> 00:22:54.459
♪ OH, COME LET US ADORE HIM ♪
00:22:54.501 --> 00:22:56.459
- THERE\'S BEEN SOME CRITICISM,
I THINK, OF JENNINGS
00:22:56.501 --> 00:22:59.459
OF BEING TOO POETIC,
TOO HIGHBROW,
00:22:59.501 --> 00:23:02.292
TOO CLASSICAL IN THAT SENSE.
00:23:02.334 --> 00:23:05.125
BUT THOSE FILMS
SPOKE TO THE PEOPLE.
00:23:05.167 --> 00:23:07.751
IT WAS THE SOUND,
THE FEEL OF THE WAR
00:23:07.792 --> 00:23:09.667
AS PEOPLE UNDERSTOOD IT.
00:23:09.709 --> 00:23:12.459
- THIS IS THE BBC HOME
AND FORCES PROGRAMS.
00:23:12.501 --> 00:23:14.751
HERE IS THE NEWS,
AND THIS IS JOSEPH MACLEOD...
00:23:14.792 --> 00:23:18.459
[big band music]
00:23:18.501 --> 00:23:26.501
♪ ♪
00:23:33.959 --> 00:23:35.459
- ONE HISTORIAN HAS SUMMED UP
00:23:35.501 --> 00:23:37.459
BRITAIN\'S APPROACH
TO PROPAGANDA AS,
00:23:37.501 --> 00:23:41.042
\"TRUTH, IF NOT THE WHOLE TRUTH.\"
00:23:41.083 --> 00:23:43.459
THERE IS EVIDENCE
THAT THERE WAS PANIC,
00:23:43.501 --> 00:23:45.292
THAT THERE WAS CRIMINALITY.
00:23:45.334 --> 00:23:48.709
PEOPLE DID FLEE
FROM THE CITIES.
00:23:48.751 --> 00:23:50.501
- THE GOVERNMENT
WAS REALLY WORRIED, YOU KNOW,
00:23:50.542 --> 00:23:51.542
THAT THESE BOMBED CITIES
00:23:51.584 --> 00:23:53.167
WERE GONNA COLLAPSE
INTO ANARCHY.
00:23:53.209 --> 00:23:55.417
YOU GET NO SENSE OF THAT
FROM THE PICTURES.
00:23:55.459 --> 00:23:58.751
- ♪ WHERE THE BLACK
OF THE ARCHES ♪
00:23:58.792 --> 00:24:01.918
♪ NEVER SEEMS TO REMAIN ♪
00:24:01.959 --> 00:24:05.792
- SO THOSE FILMS ARE ALL
WONDERFUL AS PROPAGANDA.
00:24:05.834 --> 00:24:09.584
MY POSITION IS,
LENI RIEFENSTAHL, FORGET IT.
00:24:09.626 --> 00:24:13.292
YOU KNOW,
HOPELESS, CRUDE, OBVIOUS.
00:24:13.334 --> 00:24:16.584
JENNINGS: GENIUS AT PROPAGANDA.
WHY?
00:24:16.626 --> 00:24:19.083
BECAUSE HE COMES FROM
A LONG LINE OF GENIUSES
00:24:19.125 --> 00:24:22.876
AT PROPAGANDA
STARTING WITH SHAKESPEARE.
00:24:22.918 --> 00:24:26.459
FOR ME, THE TEMPLATE
FOR THE DOCUMENTARY FILMS
00:24:26.501 --> 00:24:29.459
OF THE WAR IS ACTUALLY
IN HENRY V,
00:24:29.501 --> 00:24:32.042
THIS AMAZING, PATRIOTIC POEM.
00:24:32.083 --> 00:24:33.918
DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT DOES?
00:24:33.959 --> 00:24:36.167
THE KING, IN DISGUISE,
WEARING A CLOAK,
00:24:36.209 --> 00:24:38.751
TALKS TO SOME COCKNEY SOLDIERS,
00:24:38.792 --> 00:24:41.459
AND HE SAYS, \"ISN\'T IT WONDERFUL
TO BE IN THE KING\'S COMPANY?\"
00:24:41.501 --> 00:24:43.459
AND THE SOLDIERS...
ONE OF THE SOLDIERS, BATES,
00:24:43.501 --> 00:24:45.626
SAYS, \"COLD A NIGHT AS \'TIS,
00:24:45.667 --> 00:24:47.459
\"I WISH HE WERE IN THAMES
UP TO HIS NECK,
00:24:47.501 --> 00:24:48.667
AND I BY HIM.\"
00:24:48.709 --> 00:24:50.459
NOW, THAT IS
ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT, RIGHT?
00:24:50.501 --> 00:24:52.459
\'CAUSE THE AUDIENCE KNOW
THAT\'S TRUE.
00:24:52.501 --> 00:24:54.000
\"A GOOD MANY HONEST MEN
00:24:54.042 --> 00:24:55.501
WILL LOSE THEIR LIVES
ON THE MORROW.\"
00:24:55.542 --> 00:24:57.459
THAT IS TRUE.
00:24:57.501 --> 00:25:00.083
BECAUSE YOU GIVE THAT NUGGET
OF TRUTH,
00:25:00.125 --> 00:25:04.042
YOU CAN THEN GET AWAY WITH
ALL THIS PATRIOTIC AMAZINGNESS.
00:25:04.083 --> 00:25:05.834
\"THE FEWER MEN,
THE GREATER SHARE OF HONOR.\"
00:25:05.876 --> 00:25:07.459
\"TODAY
IS CALLED ST. CRISPIN\'S\"...
00:25:07.501 --> 00:25:09.751
ALL THIS.
00:25:09.792 --> 00:25:12.501
AND THE FILMS
DO THAT CONSISTENTLY.
00:25:12.542 --> 00:25:16.459
- ♪ AND THE STORM CLOUDS
ALL ROLL OVER ♪
00:25:16.501 --> 00:25:19.542
♪ I SHALL SEE OLD PALS AGAIN ♪
00:25:19.584 --> 00:25:23.584
♪ ROUND THE BACK OF THE ARCHES ♪
00:25:23.626 --> 00:25:28.292
♪ DOWN IN SUNNYSIDE LANE ♪
00:25:28.334 --> 00:25:31.292
[dramatic orchestral music]
00:25:31.334 --> 00:25:39.334
♪ ♪
00:25:50.292 --> 00:25:52.083
- THE DOCUMENTARIES
PLAYED A VITAL PART
00:25:52.125 --> 00:25:54.584
IN ENCOURAGING SYMPATHY
BETWEEN CLASSES.
00:25:54.626 --> 00:26:02.626
I HAVE NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT.
00:26:05.626 --> 00:26:07.459
- I THINK THE BRITISH PEOPLE
KNEW FULL WELL
00:26:07.501 --> 00:26:10.834
THAT GENDER DIVISIONS PERSISTED,
CLASS DIVISIONS PERSISTED,
00:26:10.876 --> 00:26:14.125
INEQUALITIES PERSISTED
OF COURSE.
00:26:14.167 --> 00:26:18.167
BUT WHAT JENNINGS
AND OTHERS DID MANAGE TO DO
00:26:18.209 --> 00:26:22.042
WAS CREATE A NARRATIVE OF UNITY
00:26:22.083 --> 00:26:25.417
THAT THE BRITISH PEOPLE
COULD BUY INTO.
00:26:25.459 --> 00:26:26.459
- AND WHAT YOU GET IS,
00:26:26.501 --> 00:26:33.918
THE COLLECTIVE HERO
IS THE PEOPLE.
00:26:33.959 --> 00:26:37.292
AIR RAID WARDENS,
NAVIGATORS,
00:26:37.334 --> 00:26:39.876
NURSES,
AMBULANCE DRIVERS:
00:26:39.918 --> 00:26:43.125
ALL HEROES.
00:26:43.167 --> 00:26:45.876
AND SO WE WERE A NATION
OF HEROES,
00:26:45.918 --> 00:26:48.209
AND THAT\'S GONNA CHEER YOU UP
LIKE ANYTHING.
00:26:48.250 --> 00:26:51.459
- SO THE PEOPLE\'S WAR
BECAME THE CENTRAL PLANK
00:26:51.501 --> 00:26:52.792
OF PROPAGANDA.
00:26:55.501 --> 00:26:58.584
THAT WAS THEIR AGENDA,
AND THEY SUCCEEDED IN IT.
00:27:03.667 --> 00:27:06.209
- OH, I KNOW WHAT WE WERE UP TO
IN CROWN.
00:27:06.250 --> 00:27:08.167
WE WERE CHEERING EVERYBODY UP.
00:27:08.209 --> 00:27:10.375
IT WAS PROPAGANDA,
00:27:10.417 --> 00:27:12.792
AND WE WERE SAYING, \"THINGS
AREN\'T AS BAD AS YOU THINK,\"
00:27:12.834 --> 00:27:14.918
AND, \"EVERYTHING\'S FINE.\"
00:27:14.959 --> 00:27:16.542
AND THAT\'S WHAT WE WERE DOING.
00:27:16.584 --> 00:27:20.417
WE WERE LYING
TO THE BRITISH PUBLIC.
00:27:20.459 --> 00:27:22.459
AND...
00:27:22.501 --> 00:27:24.167
IT HELPED.
00:27:31.501 --> 00:27:34.459
- IT\'S A LONG ONE
DOWN TO AROUND THE 3-YARD LINE.
00:27:34.501 --> 00:27:35.459
WARD CUFF TAKES IT.
00:27:35.501 --> 00:27:37.125
COMING UP WITH IT OVER THE 10.
00:27:37.167 --> 00:27:38.459
NICE BLOCK THERE
BY LEEMANS.
00:27:38.501 --> 00:27:40.459
CUFF STILL GOING.
HE\'S UP TO THE 25.
00:27:40.501 --> 00:27:44.042
AND NOW HE\'S HIT AND HIT HARD
ABOUT THE 27-YARD LINE.
00:27:44.083 --> 00:27:45.542
BRUISER KINARD
MADE THE TACK...
00:27:45.584 --> 00:27:46.751
- WE INTERRUPT THIS BROADCAST
00:27:46.792 --> 00:27:48.334
TO BRING YOU
THIS IMPORTANT BULLETIN
00:27:48.375 --> 00:27:49.459
FROM THE UNITED PRESS.
00:27:49.501 --> 00:27:51.042
FLASH.
WASHINGTON.
00:27:51.083 --> 00:27:54.667
THE WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES
JAPANESE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR.
00:27:54.709 --> 00:27:58.000
- AND ACCEPT NO RESULT
SAVE VICTORY.
00:27:58.042 --> 00:28:01.459
NOT ONLY MUST THE SHAME
OF JAPANESE TREACHERY
00:28:01.501 --> 00:28:02.918
BE WIPED OUT,
00:28:02.959 --> 00:28:05.250
BUT THE SOURCES
OF INTERNATIONAL BRUTALITY
00:28:05.292 --> 00:28:07.083
WHEREVER THEY EXIST
00:28:07.125 --> 00:28:10.876
MUST BE ABSOLUTELY
AND FINALLY BROKEN.
00:28:12.584 --> 00:28:16.792
WE HAVE AT TIMES
MET OBSTACLES AND DIFFICULTIES,
00:28:16.834 --> 00:28:20.250
DIVISIONS AND DISPUTES.
00:28:20.292 --> 00:28:26.459
THAT IS NOW ALL PAST
AND, I AM SURE, FORGOTTEN.
00:28:29.292 --> 00:28:31.459
- THE FIRST THING WE HAVE TO DO
TO UNDERSTAND THE \'40s
00:28:31.501 --> 00:28:33.501
IS TO DIVEST OURSELVES
OF THE CONTEMPORARY NOTION
00:28:33.542 --> 00:28:36.417
THAT THIS
WAS THE GREATEST GENERATION.
00:28:36.459 --> 00:28:41.459
THEY WERE STILL HUMAN BEINGS,
AND THEY... THEIR...
00:28:41.501 --> 00:28:43.209
THEY DID THE THINGS
THEY HAD TO DO,
00:28:43.250 --> 00:28:46.501
BUT THEY DIDN\'T ALWAYS DO IT
WILLINGLY OR EASILY.
00:28:46.542 --> 00:28:47.584
THERE WERE A LOT PEOPLE
00:28:47.626 --> 00:28:50.459
WHO WERE NOT ANXIOUS
TO GO TO WAR.
00:28:50.501 --> 00:28:52.417
- IN THE FALL OF 1941,
00:28:52.459 --> 00:28:56.334
THE BIG PUBLIC DEBATE HAD BEEN
ON ISOLATIONISM,
00:28:56.375 --> 00:28:58.334
OR DO WE SUPPORT A WAR?
00:28:58.375 --> 00:28:59.959
THE TYPICAL RECRUIT IS A GUY
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.417
THAT\'S JUST GOTTEN OUT
OF HIGH SCHOOL,
00:29:02.459 --> 00:29:04.626
DIDN\'T LIKE HISTORY
IN HIGH SCHOOL,
00:29:04.667 --> 00:29:08.459
AND NO GREATER UNDERSTANDING
OF THE LARGER PURPOSE
00:29:08.501 --> 00:29:10.876
OF A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY.
00:29:10.918 --> 00:29:13.083
- EVEN AFTER PEARL HARBOR,
00:29:13.125 --> 00:29:15.792
MANY PEOPLE
WERE MAKING THE ARGUMENT
00:29:15.834 --> 00:29:19.459
THAT THIS NEEDED
TO BE A LOCALLY DEFINED WAR,
00:29:19.501 --> 00:29:20.709
NOT A GLOBAL WAR.
00:29:20.751 --> 00:29:22.167
WE HAD BEEN ATTACKED BY JAPAN,
00:29:22.209 --> 00:29:23.834
WE NEEDED TO RESPOND
TO THAT ATTACK,
00:29:23.876 --> 00:29:26.834
BUT WHY DID THAT
NECESSARILY LEAD US TO EUROPE?
00:29:26.876 --> 00:29:31.292
WHY DID THAT LEAD US
TO NORTH AFRICA?
00:29:31.334 --> 00:29:33.459
- I DID NOT
THINK IT OUT AT ALL.
00:29:33.501 --> 00:29:35.792
I DID NOT
THINK IT OUT AT ALL.
00:29:35.834 --> 00:29:38.167
I MEAN,
IT\'S STRANGE TO SAY IT,
00:29:38.209 --> 00:29:39.334
BUT I THOUGHT,
00:29:39.375 --> 00:29:41.292
THAT WAS WHAT WAS HAPPENING
IN GERMANY
00:29:41.334 --> 00:29:44.459
AND IF THIS IS WHAT THE GERMANS
WANT TO DO, LET \'EM DO IT.
00:29:44.501 --> 00:29:46.042
- THERE WAS A VERY HIGH RATE
OF PEOPLE
00:29:46.083 --> 00:29:47.042
WHO SIMPLY WOULDN\'T FIGHT.
00:29:47.083 --> 00:29:48.209
THERE WAS A HIGH RATE OF PEOPLE
00:29:48.250 --> 00:29:49.459
WHO DIDN\'T UNDERSTAND
WHAT THE HELL
00:29:49.501 --> 00:29:51.083
THEY WERE DOING IN THE ARMY
TO BEGIN WITH
00:29:51.125 --> 00:29:53.459
AND WHY THEY WERE CALLED UPON
TO SPILL THEIR BLOOD.
00:29:53.501 --> 00:29:54.709
THEY SAW NO REASON FOR IT.
00:29:54.751 --> 00:29:56.834
- WHEN YOU WERE DRAFTED,
DID YOU THINK,
00:29:56.876 --> 00:29:59.209
\"OH, GREAT, NOW I GET
TO GO FIGHT FASCISM\"?
00:29:59.250 --> 00:30:01.417
- NO.
00:30:01.459 --> 00:30:03.542
I HAD A WIFE,
AND I HAD A CHILD,
00:30:03.584 --> 00:30:09.292
AND I WAS SORT OF BEYOND THE AGE
OF BEING DRAFTED.
00:30:09.334 --> 00:30:11.918
I WAS IN MY 30s.
I SAID, \"WHY PICK ON ME?\"
00:30:17.751 --> 00:30:19.459
narrator:
THE UNPRECEDENTED EXPANSION
00:30:19.501 --> 00:30:22.709
OF AMERICA\'S ARMED FORCES
DEMANDED INNOVATIVE WAYS
00:30:22.751 --> 00:30:26.042
TO TRAIN AND MOTIVATE
NEW RECRUITS.
00:30:26.083 --> 00:30:29.459
GENERAL GEORGE C. MARSHALL,
ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF,
00:30:29.501 --> 00:30:31.501
WAS THE MAN IN CHARGE.
00:30:31.542 --> 00:30:34.792
- MARSHALL
HAD A DOUBLED-FACED PROBLEM.
00:30:34.834 --> 00:30:37.459
THE AVERAGE RECRUIT
WAS UNPREPARED.
00:30:37.501 --> 00:30:41.083
YOU HAD TO GIVE THEM
SOME KIND OF MOTIVATION.
00:30:41.125 --> 00:30:48.042
BUT IN AMERICA, PROPAGANDA
WAS SEEN AS ANTI-DEMOCRATIC.
00:30:48.083 --> 00:30:50.083
DEEPLY ROOTED
IN A CERTAIN ASPECT
00:30:50.125 --> 00:30:51.709
OF AMERICAN CULTURE
IS THE NOTION
00:30:51.751 --> 00:30:54.209
THAT EVERYONE THINKS
FOR THEMSELVES,
00:30:54.250 --> 00:30:56.083
ABOVE AND BEYOND
COMMUNITY STANDARDS
00:30:56.125 --> 00:30:57.501
OR COMMUNITY VALUES.
00:30:57.542 --> 00:31:00.459
THEN THERE WAS RESISTANCE
TO THE IDEA OF BEING INSCRIPTED
00:31:00.501 --> 00:31:03.459
INTO SOME KIND OF LARGER SYSTEM
OF THOUGHT.
00:31:03.501 --> 00:31:06.459
ROOSEVELT HIMSELF WAS ON RECORD
AS STATING
00:31:06.501 --> 00:31:08.501
THAT HE DID NOT WANT THERE TO BE
00:31:08.542 --> 00:31:11.000
A STATE PROPAGANDA AGENCY
CREATED.
00:31:11.042 --> 00:31:13.417
HE DID NOT WANT
THE PERCEPTION TO BE
00:31:13.459 --> 00:31:16.000
THAT THE GOVERNMENT
WAS INVOLVED IN PROPAGANDA.
00:31:16.042 --> 00:31:20.292
HE DID, HOWEVER, WANT PEOPLE
TO BE WITH THE PROGRAM.
00:31:22.709 --> 00:31:25.167
SO HOW DO YOU LOWER
PEOPLE\'S RESISTANCE
00:31:25.209 --> 00:31:28.459
TO THE CONCEPT OF PROPAGANDA
WHILE AT THE SAME TIME
00:31:28.501 --> 00:31:30.501
FORCEFULLY PRESENTING
A POINT OF VIEW...
00:31:30.542 --> 00:31:34.000
A PARTISAN PERSPECTIVE
OF SOME KIND.
00:31:40.083 --> 00:31:43.709
- MARSHALL REVIEWED A ROSTER
OF HOLLYWOOD FILMMAKERS
00:31:43.751 --> 00:31:47.459
WHO MIGHT BE ABLE TO PUT ACROSS
AN EMOTIONAL MOTIVATION
00:31:47.501 --> 00:31:49.959
FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE WAR.
00:32:03.042 --> 00:32:05.209
- FRANK CAPRA
WAS A TRUE BELIEVER,
00:32:05.250 --> 00:32:08.792
AN OVER-THE-TOP ENTHUSIAST
FOR THE AMERICAN WAY.
00:32:08.834 --> 00:32:11.292
- \"THAT CAUSE FOR WHICH
THEY GAVE
00:32:11.334 --> 00:32:14.459
THE LAST FULL MEASURE
OF DEVOTION\"...
00:32:14.501 --> 00:32:17.751
- CAPRA HAD NEVER MADE
A DOCUMENTARY FILM BEFORE,
00:32:17.792 --> 00:32:22.459
BUT HE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE ROLE
OF THE FILMMAKER IS
00:32:22.501 --> 00:32:25.125
TO MANIPULATE
AND CONTROL PEOPLE,
00:32:25.167 --> 00:32:28.667
AS CAPRA OFTEN SAID,
SITTING IN THE DARK.
00:32:28.709 --> 00:32:30.626
Narrator: GENERAL MARSHALL
SUMMONED CAPRA
00:32:30.667 --> 00:32:33.125
TO A MEETING AT THE PENTAGON.
00:32:33.167 --> 00:32:37.459
- HE SAID, UH,
\"WE HAVE AN ENORMOUS PROBLEM.
00:32:37.501 --> 00:32:42.167
\"GIVE THE BOYS A REASON TO FIGHT
AND DON\'T LIE.
00:32:42.209 --> 00:32:44.292
\"THEY MUST BELIEVE IT.
00:32:44.334 --> 00:32:47.167
IF THEY DON\'T BELIEVE IT,
WE\'RE DEAD.\"
00:32:52.667 --> 00:32:56.083
- THE TASK
FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PROPAGANDIST
00:32:56.125 --> 00:32:57.626
IS ALL THE GREATER.
00:32:57.667 --> 00:33:00.417
I MEAN,
IT IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT
00:33:00.459 --> 00:33:02.459
TO GET PROPAGANDA RIGHT
00:33:02.501 --> 00:33:05.459
BECAUSE THERE
ARE VERY FEW OTHER WAYS
00:33:05.501 --> 00:33:08.876
OF ENFORCING CONFORMITY
IN WARTIME SOCIETY
00:33:08.918 --> 00:33:11.501
IN THE SAME WAY THAT YOU DO
IN TOTALITARIAN STATES.
00:33:11.542 --> 00:33:15.042
[crowd chanting in German]
00:33:19.959 --> 00:33:24.667
[rhythmic drumming]
00:33:24.709 --> 00:33:26.751
narrator:
CAPRA BEGAN RESEARCH
00:33:26.792 --> 00:33:28.459
FOR HIS WHY WE FIGHTSERIES
00:33:28.501 --> 00:33:31.375
BY SCREENING
CONFISCATED ENEMY FILMS,
00:33:31.417 --> 00:33:33.876
INCLUDING TRIUMPH OF THE WILL.
00:33:33.918 --> 00:33:37.792
- THEY SCARED
THE HELL OUT OF ME.
00:33:37.834 --> 00:33:39.876
THESE PEOPLE WERE REAL,
00:33:39.918 --> 00:33:41.918
AND WHEN THEY SAID
\"HEIL HITLER,\"
00:33:41.959 --> 00:33:44.375
THEY MEANT IT.
00:33:44.417 --> 00:33:47.334
I SAT THERE,
AND I SAT THERE.
00:33:47.375 --> 00:33:50.459
I WAS A VERY UNHAPPY MAN.
00:33:50.501 --> 00:33:53.167
HOW DO I REACH THE KID
DOWN THE STREET, YOU KNOW,
00:33:53.209 --> 00:33:54.459
THE AMERICAN KID?
00:33:54.501 --> 00:33:56.459
HOW DO I TELL HIM...
HE\'S RIDING HIS BIKE AND...
00:33:56.501 --> 00:33:58.542
\"HEY, HEY, YOU KNOW...
00:33:58.584 --> 00:34:02.167
DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU\'VE GOT
IN FRONT OF YOU?\"
00:34:02.209 --> 00:34:06.959
AND SO, THOUGHT HIT ME,
\"WELL, HOW DID IT REACH ME?\"
00:34:08.501 --> 00:34:14.250
- THE ENEMY FILMS HAD HANDED HIM
PRECISELY THE TOOL
00:34:14.292 --> 00:34:15.918
THAT HE NEEDED
TO COUNTER THEM.
00:34:15.959 --> 00:34:20.459
[dramatic drumming]
00:34:20.501 --> 00:34:28.501
[trumpet fanfare]
00:34:29.542 --> 00:34:31.459
- RIEFENSTAHL\'S
TRIUMPH OF THE WILL
00:34:31.501 --> 00:34:34.459
AND FOOTAGE FROM ITALY
AND FROM JAPAN
00:34:34.501 --> 00:34:35.959
ARE CUT INTO THESE FILMS
00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:39.334
TO SHOW YOU
THE NATURE OF THE ENEMY.
00:34:39.375 --> 00:34:40.959
- LET THEM SEE THE GUYS.
00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:43.459
LET THEM SEE THESE GUYS.
00:34:43.501 --> 00:34:46.000
WE MAKE NOTHING,
WE SHOOT NOTHING,
00:34:46.042 --> 00:34:49.751
BUT WE USE THEIR OWN STUFF
AS PROPAGANDA
00:34:49.792 --> 00:34:51.501
FOR OURSELVES.
00:34:59.042 --> 00:35:02.042
[all cheering]
00:35:08.501 --> 00:35:12.667
- THE USE OF FOOTAGE
FROM THE ENEMY PROPAGANDIST
00:35:12.709 --> 00:35:15.501
CAN FUNCTION
AS A FORM OF JUJITSU.
00:35:15.542 --> 00:35:20.459
YOU\'RE TAKING THE
LEAD POWERFUL MOVE OF THE ENEMY,
00:35:20.501 --> 00:35:23.751
AND BY MOVING IN A COUNTER WAY,
00:35:23.792 --> 00:35:26.501
YOU ALLOW THEM
TO DEFEAT THEMSELVES.
00:35:28.292 --> 00:35:30.167
WITHOUT HAVING
A VOICEOVER NARRATOR
00:35:30.209 --> 00:35:32.459
TELLING YOU THIS,
YOU GET A SENSE
00:35:32.501 --> 00:35:36.334
THAT OVER AT LEAST
A PERIOD OF 15 YEARS
00:35:36.375 --> 00:35:41.375
THESE COUNTRIES HAVE BEEN
CULTIVATING A WAR MACHINE.
00:35:41.417 --> 00:35:43.459
- IT SHOWS THAT
THIS IS WHAT YOU GET
00:35:43.501 --> 00:35:45.751
FROM NAZI GERMANY,
WHICH IS BRUTALITY
00:35:45.792 --> 00:35:49.626
AND DESTRUCTION OF HUMAN LIFE,
AND THEY THINK IT\'S GREAT.
00:35:49.667 --> 00:35:52.667
- [speaking Italian]
00:35:55.501 --> 00:35:57.459
- \"THE GREATEST INTELLECT
IN THE WORLD
00:35:57.501 --> 00:35:59.584
CAN BE SILENCED WITH THIS.\"
00:35:59.626 --> 00:36:03.292
THAT IS AN EXACT TRANSLATION
OF THE WORDS THESE BLACKSHIRTS
00:36:03.334 --> 00:36:05.417
CHEER SO LUSTILY.
00:36:05.459 --> 00:36:06.667
- THIS DID A VERY GOOD JOB
00:36:06.709 --> 00:36:09.834
OF DESTROYING ANY DOUBT
IN SOMEONE\'S MIND
00:36:09.876 --> 00:36:12.417
AS TO THE FACT THAT
WE OUGHT TO BE IN THE WAR,
00:36:12.459 --> 00:36:14.667
AND WE\'RE ON THE RIGHT SIDE.
00:36:14.709 --> 00:36:18.459
- ANYTHING WE SAID ON OUR SIDE
IS NOT PROPAGANDA,
00:36:18.501 --> 00:36:20.209
THAT WAS THE TRUTH.
00:36:20.250 --> 00:36:23.125
THE NAZIS...
00:36:23.167 --> 00:36:25.083
THEY WERE PROPA...
THEY LIED.
00:36:25.125 --> 00:36:26.667
THAT WAS PROPAGANDA.
00:36:26.709 --> 00:36:29.876
SAW PROPAGANDA AS LIES.
00:36:29.918 --> 00:36:32.751
- [speaking German]
00:36:32.792 --> 00:36:34.459
- LEBENSRAUM,
THEY DEMANDED,
00:36:34.501 --> 00:36:37.542
LIVING ROOM.
00:36:37.584 --> 00:36:40.667
- WE SAW THE NAZIS
THROUGH CAPRA\'S EYES.
00:36:40.709 --> 00:36:43.459
WE SAW THE JAPANESE
THROUGH CAPRA\'S EYES.
00:36:43.501 --> 00:36:45.459
AND WE BELIEVED
EVERY MOMENT OF IT,
00:36:45.501 --> 00:36:47.709
EVERY WORD,
EVERY...
00:36:47.751 --> 00:36:48.876
EVERYTHING.
00:36:48.918 --> 00:36:53.459
[trumpet fanfare]
00:36:53.501 --> 00:36:55.834
- HOLLYWOOD\'S EVENT OF THE YEAR,
OSCAR NIGHT.
00:36:55.876 --> 00:36:57.459
MOVIELAND\'S GREAT ARE PRESENT
00:36:57.501 --> 00:36:59.751
AS THE FILM WORLD\'S SERVICE FLAG
IS UNFURLED,
00:36:59.792 --> 00:37:02.292
HONORING THOUSANDS IN UNIFORM.
00:37:02.334 --> 00:37:05.459
- THE SUCCESS OF WHY WE FIGHT
ENCOURAGED THE GOVERNMENT
00:37:05.501 --> 00:37:08.459
TO EXPAND ITS MORALE-BUILDING
EFFORTS TO CIVILIANS
00:37:08.501 --> 00:37:13.292
THROUGH A NEWLY CREATED
OFFICE OF WAR INFORMATION.
00:37:13.334 --> 00:37:16.292
- THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT,
00:37:16.334 --> 00:37:18.083
THROUGH THE USE OF PICTURES,
00:37:18.125 --> 00:37:20.375
ENDEAVOUR TO REGIMENT
00:37:20.417 --> 00:37:23.751
THE EMOTIONS
OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
00:37:23.792 --> 00:37:27.417
THIS GOVERNMENT IS ENGAGED
IN A WAR
00:37:27.459 --> 00:37:31.209
TO SAVE
AND PERPETUATE DEMOCRACY,
00:37:31.250 --> 00:37:34.459
NOT IN A WAR TO DESTROY IT.
00:37:34.501 --> 00:37:37.125
- ALL DURING WORLD WAR II,
00:37:37.167 --> 00:37:41.459
THE OVERALL STRATEGY
FOR AMERICAN PROPAGANDISTS WAS
00:37:41.501 --> 00:37:45.459
THIS WONDERFUL LOCUTION,
THE STRATEGY OF TRUTH.
00:37:45.501 --> 00:37:50.584
- THE TERM WAS CONCOCTED
TO DEFINE A CERTAIN POLICY
00:37:50.626 --> 00:37:56.417
THAT UNDERSTOOD THAT STRATEGY
WAS NECESSARY
00:37:56.459 --> 00:38:01.584
TO GET TO A TRUTH
WHICH NEEDED TO BE DISSEMINATED.
00:38:01.626 --> 00:38:04.459
- WE ARE GOING TO ACCENTUATE
THE POSITIVE
00:38:04.501 --> 00:38:05.792
AND ELIMINATE THE NEGATIVE.
00:38:05.834 --> 00:38:07.459
THAT WE WILL TELL WHAT WE CAN
00:38:07.501 --> 00:38:09.751
AND BE DISCREETLY QUIET
ABOUT THE REST.
00:38:09.792 --> 00:38:13.459
Narrator: THE O.W.I. PROMOTED
THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE,
00:38:13.501 --> 00:38:15.459
BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD,
00:38:15.501 --> 00:38:19.584
WITH FILMS ON SUBJECTS
LIKE THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS,
00:38:19.626 --> 00:38:23.459
A WINDOW WASHER
AT THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING,
00:38:23.501 --> 00:38:26.959
AND THE CREATION
OF THE LATEST ARMY VEHICLE.
00:38:28.167 --> 00:38:30.542
- THEY TRIED TO DROWN MY MOTOR.
00:38:30.584 --> 00:38:34.125
MY IGNITION WAS SET TOO HIGH
FOR THAT.
00:38:34.167 --> 00:38:38.417
THEY TRIED TO BREAK MY BACK
ON ROLLER-COASTER ROADS.
00:38:38.459 --> 00:38:41.125
WHEN I HELD TOGETHER,
IT LOOKED AS IF THE ARMY AND I
00:38:41.167 --> 00:38:44.459
MIGHT SOMEHOW GET ALONG
BECAUSE THEY GAVE ME A NICKNAME.
00:38:44.501 --> 00:38:46.125
FROM THE WORDS
\"GENERAL PURPOSE,\"
00:38:46.167 --> 00:38:47.584
THEY TOOK THE \"G\" AND THE \"P.\"
00:38:47.626 --> 00:38:50.459
THEY CALLED ME JEEP.
00:38:50.501 --> 00:38:51.459
HMM.
00:38:51.501 --> 00:38:54.459
SOUNDED MORE LIKE A NOISE
THAN A NAME.
00:38:54.501 --> 00:38:57.792
- THESE WERE NOT FILMS SAYING,
YOU KNOW,
00:38:57.834 --> 00:39:00.000
THE NAZIS ARE TERRIBLE
AND WE\'RE GREAT
00:39:00.042 --> 00:39:01.959
OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:05.918
THEY HAD NOTHING
TO DO WITH THAT,
00:39:05.959 --> 00:39:07.918
WITH THE ENEMY AS SUCH.
00:39:07.959 --> 00:39:11.209
- I GOT ALL SET TO GO TRAVEL.
00:39:11.250 --> 00:39:12.667
THEY FITTED ME UP
FOR SHIPMENT OVERSEAS
00:39:12.709 --> 00:39:17.042
TO DO THE JOB I WAS BUILT FOR.
00:39:17.083 --> 00:39:20.375
I WAS SENT OVER
BY THE THOUSANDS.
00:39:20.417 --> 00:39:22.667
- WHAT IS BEING INTRODUCED
IN THOSE FILMS IS
00:39:22.709 --> 00:39:24.542
A WAY OF LOOKING
AT THE UNITED STATES
00:39:24.584 --> 00:39:27.876
WITHIN A LARGER GLOBAL CONTEXT.
00:39:27.918 --> 00:39:31.417
- WE LAND TOGETHER
ON A LOT OF DIFFERENT SHORES.
00:39:31.459 --> 00:39:33.459
- THESE ARE FILMS
THAT ENCOURAGE ACCEPTANCE
00:39:33.501 --> 00:39:35.667
OF AN IMAGE
OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE.
00:39:35.709 --> 00:39:40.292
- I WAS WITH MR. ROOSEVELT
IN CASABLANCA.
00:39:42.125 --> 00:39:45.459
AND I WAS PART OF THE VICTORY
IN NORTH AFRICA.
00:39:45.501 --> 00:39:48.834
Narrator: THE O.W.I. SCREENED
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A \'JEEP\'
00:39:48.876 --> 00:39:50.459
IN A NEWLY LIBERATED FRENCH TOWN
00:39:50.501 --> 00:39:54.042
JUST DAYS
AFTER THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY.
00:39:54.083 --> 00:39:57.292
AS THE FILM ENDED,
JUBILANT VIEWERS SHOUTED OUT,
00:39:57.334 --> 00:40:00.918
\"VIVE LE JEEP!
VIVE LE JEEP!\"
00:40:00.959 --> 00:40:05.250
- IT WAS AN EXPANSIVE VIEW
OF THE WORLD.
00:40:05.292 --> 00:40:09.501
THESE FILMS WERE MADE TO SHOW
WE ARE PARTNERS,
00:40:09.542 --> 00:40:10.918
WE KNOW YOUR CULTURE,
00:40:10.959 --> 00:40:14.542
WE\'RE COMING HERE TO ADMIRE
WHO YOU ARE,
00:40:14.584 --> 00:40:17.459
AND HAVE YOU COME AND VISIT US
00:40:17.501 --> 00:40:21.375
AND SEE WHAT WE HAVE
IN MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN.
00:40:23.501 --> 00:40:25.334
IT REALLY HAD A SENSE OF...
00:40:25.375 --> 00:40:27.751
WELL, LIKE
WE ARE THE WORLDTODAY.
00:40:27.792 --> 00:40:29.876
WELL, THAT WAS WE ARE THE WORLD.
00:40:29.918 --> 00:40:37.709
[choral singing]
00:40:37.751 --> 00:40:39.209
narrator:
BY THE MIDDLE OF THE WAR,
00:40:39.250 --> 00:40:43.459
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAD CREATED
A VAST DISTRIBUTION NETWORK.
00:40:43.501 --> 00:40:47.125
SCORES OF FILMS TRANSLATED
INTO DOZENS OF LANGUAGES
00:40:47.167 --> 00:40:51.459
REACHED MILLIONS OF SOLDIERS
AND CIVILIANS AROUND THE WORLD.
00:40:51.501 --> 00:40:53.709
Choir: ♪ OH, SAY DOES THAT ♪
00:40:53.751 --> 00:40:57.501
♪ STAR-SPANGLED BANNER ♪
00:40:57.542 --> 00:41:01.959
♪ YET WAVE ♪
00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:04.375
♪ O\'ER THE LAND ♪
00:41:04.417 --> 00:41:08.501
- ALL THESE FILMS WERE KIND OF
SINGING OF AMERICAN VIRTUE,
00:41:08.542 --> 00:41:11.459
FULL OF MAIN STREET
AND HAPPY PEOPLE
00:41:11.501 --> 00:41:13.209
MEETING OUTSIDE OF THEIR SHOPS.
00:41:13.250 --> 00:41:18.083
Choir: ♪ THE BRAVE ♪
00:41:18.125 --> 00:41:19.501
- ALL WHITE, OF COURSE.
00:41:29.209 --> 00:41:31.042
- THERE WAS A FEELING,
A GENERAL FEELING,
00:41:31.083 --> 00:41:33.375
THAT THIS IS A WHITE MAN\'S WAR.
00:41:35.501 --> 00:41:37.459
THERE WAS SOME
ATROCIOUS HAPPENINGS
00:41:37.501 --> 00:41:40.709
IN ARMY CAMPS IN THE SOUTH.
00:41:40.751 --> 00:41:46.667
A SERGEANT GOT OFF A TRAIN
IN ALABAMA TO GET A SMOKE,
00:41:46.709 --> 00:41:52.584
AND A PEACE OFFICER SHOT HIM
AND KILLED HIM.
00:41:52.626 --> 00:41:58.584
AND THE OFFICER\'S JUSTIFICATION
WAS, \"HE CLENCHED HIS FIST.\"
00:41:58.626 --> 00:42:02.334
- THERE WAS THIS RHETORIC
OF DEFEATING HITLER.
00:42:02.375 --> 00:42:06.459
WE KNEW THAT HE WAS, YOU KNOW,
AN ARDENT RACIST
00:42:06.501 --> 00:42:08.792
AND, YOU KNOW,
ALL OF THAT BUSINESS.
00:42:08.834 --> 00:42:12.542
YET THERE WAS THIS CONTRADICTION
IN AMERICAN LIFE
00:42:12.584 --> 00:42:16.292
OF A HOSTILE WHITE SOCIETY.
00:42:16.334 --> 00:42:17.501
IT WAS BAD NEWS.
00:42:26.292 --> 00:42:28.667
- ON EVERY NAVY SHIP
THERE ARE MANY MEN
00:42:28.709 --> 00:42:30.459
WHOSE VIGILANCE
IS ESSENTIAL
00:42:30.501 --> 00:42:34.626
THROUGHOUT THE SILENT HOURS
OF THE NIGHT,
00:42:34.667 --> 00:42:37.375
OFFICERS WHO,
BECAUSE OF THEIR DUTIES,
00:42:37.417 --> 00:42:40.459
MUST CARRY MANY OPERATING
DETAILS IN THEIR MINDS,
00:42:40.501 --> 00:42:45.125
MUST BE READY FOR ANY EMERGENCY
INVOLVING DANGER TO SHIP OR CREW
00:42:45.167 --> 00:42:47.626
DAY OR NIGHT.
00:42:47.667 --> 00:42:50.459
THIS IS WHERE YOU,
THE NAVY STEWARD,
00:42:50.501 --> 00:42:54.042
PLAY AN ESSENTIAL PART
IN THE OPERATION OF OUR FLEET.
00:42:56.876 --> 00:42:58.334
BY RELIEVING OFFICERS
00:42:58.375 --> 00:43:01.459
OF SOME OF THE ROUTINE TASKS
OF DAILY LIVING,
00:43:01.501 --> 00:43:04.292
YOU GIVE THEM MORE TIME
FOR THEIR DUTIES.
00:43:04.334 --> 00:43:06.209
YOU MAKE A DIRECT CONTRIBUTION
00:43:06.250 --> 00:43:08.751
TO THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF YOUR SHIP.
00:43:11.709 --> 00:43:14.459
- WHEN I WAS IN FORT HUACHUCA,
ARIZONA,
00:43:14.501 --> 00:43:16.918
THE COMPANY COMMANDER SAID,
\"WELL, YOU KNOW,
00:43:16.959 --> 00:43:19.792
\"I WANT TO SEND YOU
TO PROJECTIONIST SCHOOL
00:43:19.834 --> 00:43:21.626
\"BECAUSE WE HAVE
A LOT OF TRAINING FILMS,
00:43:21.667 --> 00:43:24.459
AND WE NEED SOMEBODY
TO SHOW \'EM.\"
00:43:24.501 --> 00:43:26.918
- SUBMIT THE
MENU TO THE MESS CATERER,
00:43:26.959 --> 00:43:28.459
WHO MAY WISH TO MAKE
A FEW CHANGES
00:43:28.501 --> 00:43:31.709
BEFORE OBTAINING THE APPROVAL
OF THE MESS PRESIDENT.
00:43:31.751 --> 00:43:36.751
- I REALLY WANTED
TO GET INTO COMBAT, BUT...
00:43:36.792 --> 00:43:39.459
YOU KNOW, \'CAUSE COMBAT IS,
00:43:39.501 --> 00:43:42.459
FOR THE UNINITIATED,
ALWAYS EXCITING.
00:43:42.501 --> 00:43:46.834
YOU KNOW, MACHINE GUN FIRE
AND USING BAYONETS.
00:43:46.876 --> 00:43:48.918
BUT THE GUY SAID,
\"NO, NO, NO.
00:43:48.959 --> 00:43:50.501
\"WE\'RE NOT GONNA GO INTO COMBAT.
00:43:50.542 --> 00:43:52.042
\"WHEN THEY SHIP US OVERSEAS,
00:43:52.083 --> 00:43:53.459
\"THEY\'RE GONNA BREAK US UP,
00:43:53.501 --> 00:43:55.876
\"AND YOU KNOW,
WE\'RE GONNA BE LOADING SHIPS
00:43:55.918 --> 00:44:00.334
OR BUILDING AIRFIELDS
OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.\"
00:44:00.375 --> 00:44:03.584
WE ALL KNEW THAT THE ARMY
WAS SEGREGATED.
00:44:03.626 --> 00:44:06.834
- THE UNITED STATES ARMY
WAS IN A DILEMMA
00:44:06.876 --> 00:44:10.459
ON THE SUBJECT
OF AFRICAN-AMERICAS.
00:44:10.501 --> 00:44:13.751
HOW COULD THEY BE GIVEN
A SPIRIT OF ONENESS
00:44:13.792 --> 00:44:16.459
WITH THE ALLIED CAUSE?
00:44:16.501 --> 00:44:20.167
AND SO THERE URGENTLY
HAD TO BE
00:44:20.209 --> 00:44:24.626
A BLACK VERSION OF PROPAGANDA.
00:44:24.667 --> 00:44:25.918
Narrator:
THE PRODUCTION TEAM
00:44:25.959 --> 00:44:27.959
FOR THE NEGRO FILM
COMPRISED
00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:31.125
SEVERAL OF THE CAPRA UNIT\'S
HOLLYWOOD PROFESSIONALS
00:44:31.167 --> 00:44:33.792
PLUS A TECHNICAL ADVISOR
FROM NEW YORK,
00:44:33.834 --> 00:44:37.250
THE ONLY AFRICAN-AMERICAN.
00:44:37.292 --> 00:44:40.834
- THIS WAS SEEN AS A WAY
TO PREACH THE MESSAGE
00:44:40.876 --> 00:44:44.918
THAT NEGROS ARE WISHED TO BE
IN THE WAR.
00:44:44.959 --> 00:44:49.459
HOWEVER, THE STATUS QUO
PRESENTS A PROBLEM.
00:44:49.501 --> 00:44:51.459
- GENERAL MARSHALL
AND ALL OF THE OFFICERS
00:44:51.501 --> 00:44:54.334
REPEATEDLY SAID AD NAUSEAM,
00:44:54.375 --> 00:44:58.459
\"THE ARMY IS NOT
A SOCIOLOGICAL LABORATORY.\"
00:44:58.501 --> 00:45:03.125
THE LINES WERE DRAWN CLEARLY
AND DISTINCTLY.
00:45:03.167 --> 00:45:07.751
- SO THE ARMY\'S WISH
WAS THAT THE FILM NOT IN ANY WAY
00:45:07.792 --> 00:45:14.459
UPSET CIVILIAN MORES,
RACIAL MORES OF SEGREGATION.
00:45:14.501 --> 00:45:18.792
- \"PLAY DOWN COLORED SOLDIERS
MOST NEGROID IN APPEARANCE.\"
00:45:18.834 --> 00:45:20.209
[chuckles]
00:45:23.501 --> 00:45:27.459
\"HAS AMERICAN STANDARDS
OF GOOD LOOKS.
00:45:27.501 --> 00:45:29.375
\"BROWN OR LIGHTER-SKINNED
INDIVIDUALS
00:45:29.417 --> 00:45:32.292
\"NEED TO BE EMPHASIZED
JUST A LITTLE.
00:45:32.334 --> 00:45:35.167
DELICATE POINT.\"
00:45:35.209 --> 00:45:36.918
narrator:
THE FIRST DRAFT OF THE SCRIPT
00:45:36.959 --> 00:45:39.042
BY A VETERAN
HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITER
00:45:39.083 --> 00:45:41.918
WAS SUBMITTED TO THE ARMY
FOR APPROVAL.
00:45:41.959 --> 00:45:45.417
- AND IT WAS NOT UNSYMPATHETIC,
00:45:45.459 --> 00:45:47.292
BUT IT HAD NOTHING
TO DO WITH THE ISSUE.
00:45:47.334 --> 00:45:50.876
AND THEY SAID, \"OH, MY GOD,
YOU CAN\'T DO THIS.
00:45:50.918 --> 00:45:52.459
YOU CAN\'T DO THIS.\"
00:45:52.501 --> 00:45:55.709
THEY SAID, \"WHAT DO WE DO?
WHAT DO WE DO? WHAT DO WE DO?\"
00:45:55.751 --> 00:45:58.417
FINALLY SOMEBODY POINTED TO ME
AND SAID,
00:45:58.459 --> 00:46:00.834
\"WELL, WHY DON\'T WE LET
THAT GUY ALONG
00:46:00.876 --> 00:46:05.459
AND SEE WHAT HE COMES UP WITH?\"
00:46:05.501 --> 00:46:08.375
- SO CARLTON MOSS
HAD THE PROBLEM
00:46:08.417 --> 00:46:10.459
OF WHAT TO DO WITH THE SCRIPT.
00:46:10.501 --> 00:46:15.459
THE NEGRO SOLDIER
HAD TO REFLECT THE REALITY
00:46:15.501 --> 00:46:17.417
OF AMERICAN SEGREGATED LIFE
00:46:17.459 --> 00:46:21.459
WHILE AT THE SAME TIME
GIVING BLACK SOLDIERS
00:46:21.501 --> 00:46:24.083
A STAKE IN THE OUTCOME,
00:46:24.125 --> 00:46:26.501
AND IT SEEMED SO IMPOSSIBLE.
00:46:30.501 --> 00:46:34.792
- THE NEGRO SOLDIERWAS SENT
TO US, YOU KNOW, CANNED UP.
00:46:34.834 --> 00:46:38.042
AND FROM OUR BATTALION COMMANDER
ON DOWN,
00:46:38.083 --> 00:46:40.792
THERE WAS SPECIAL CONCERN,
00:46:40.834 --> 00:46:45.501
BUT WE DIDN\'T KNOW
WHAT THIS WAS GOING TO BE.
00:46:45.542 --> 00:46:50.918
TO ME, IT WAS JUST ANOTHER...
YOU KNOW, ANOTHER TRAINING FILM.
00:46:50.959 --> 00:46:53.834
WE WERE, I GUESS,
A LITTLE BIT MORE EXCITED
00:46:53.876 --> 00:46:55.542
THAN WE WOULD BE
00:46:55.584 --> 00:46:58.834
IF WE WERE GONNA WATCH
ANOTHER FILM ABOUT V.D.
00:47:02.334 --> 00:47:05.375
[choir humming]
00:47:05.417 --> 00:47:13.417
♪ ♪
00:47:24.876 --> 00:47:27.959
- THANK YOU, SOLDIER.
00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:32.459
MY PREPARED TEXT TODAY
WAS TO HAVE BEEN,
00:47:32.501 --> 00:47:37.125
MAKE THY NAME BE REMEMBERED
IN ALL GENERATIONS,
00:47:37.167 --> 00:47:42.459
BUT I THINK I\'M GOING TO DEPART
FROM MY PREPARED SERMON.
00:47:42.501 --> 00:47:43.918
- I WAS NEVER
TO PLAY THE MINISTER.
00:47:43.959 --> 00:47:47.459
I TOLD YOU THAT.
NO, I WAS NEVER.
00:47:47.501 --> 00:47:50.542
WE LOOKED FOR A PERSON
TO PLAY THE PART,
00:47:50.584 --> 00:47:53.459
AND WE CALLED IN ALL THE ACTORS,
00:47:53.501 --> 00:47:55.751
AND THESE GUYS
JUST KEEP BUTCHERING IT UP,
00:47:55.792 --> 00:47:58.709
WELL, JUST WAVING THEIR ARMS
AND WHATNOT.
00:47:58.751 --> 00:48:03.042
- WHAT YOU USUALLY
WERE ACCUSTOMED TO ON THE SCREEN
00:48:03.083 --> 00:48:07.459
WAS TO SEE STEPIN FETCHIT,
TO SEE...
00:48:07.501 --> 00:48:11.375
HATTIE MCDANIEL,
AND PEOPLE LIKE THAT.
00:48:11.417 --> 00:48:16.459
- ♪ GOT TO GET OUT
THAT OLD IRONIN\' BOARD ♪
00:48:16.501 --> 00:48:21.083
♪ FIX \'EM UP FOR
THE GENTS TO WEAR ♪
00:48:21.125 --> 00:48:23.959
PRAISE THE LORD, MISTER HOME.
00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:25.459
IS YOU A HAND
OR IS YOU AIN\'T?
00:48:25.501 --> 00:48:27.083
- HI, AUNT DILSEY.
00:48:27.125 --> 00:48:31.375
- THAT WAS THE DIET THAT
THE AVERAGE AMERICAN WAS FED
00:48:31.417 --> 00:48:34.542
BY THE MEDIA:
BUFFOONS.
00:48:34.584 --> 00:48:37.250
[jaunty music]
00:48:37.292 --> 00:48:39.667
- I WAS OVER AT THE U.S.O.
THE OTHER NIGHT,
00:48:39.709 --> 00:48:43.626
AND I MET SOMEBODY I HADN\'T SEEN
IN QUITE A LONG TIME.
00:48:43.667 --> 00:48:46.334
THE LAST TIME I SAW THIS MAN...
00:48:46.375 --> 00:48:48.959
WELL, ONE OF MY MEMBERS
TREATED ME TO A TICKET
00:48:49.000 --> 00:48:52.125
TO YANKEE STADIUM
TO SEE JOE LOUIS
00:48:52.167 --> 00:48:53.876
VERSUS MAX SCHMELING.
00:48:53.918 --> 00:48:57.459
[audience cheering]
00:48:57.501 --> 00:49:00.292
- WHAT CARLTON MOSS DID IS
00:49:00.334 --> 00:49:05.042
INTRODUCE BLACK AMERICANS
WHO WERE ACHIEVERS.
00:49:08.250 --> 00:49:11.459
- IN 1 MINUTE AND 49 SECONDS,
00:49:11.501 --> 00:49:14.626
AND AMERICAN FIST
WON A VICTORY,
00:49:14.667 --> 00:49:16.876
BUT IT WASN\'T THE FINAL VICTORY.
00:49:16.918 --> 00:49:18.918
- NOW, HOW MANY PEOPLE
WOULD SPOT THAT?
00:49:18.959 --> 00:49:21.417
HE SAYS IT\'S AN AMERICAN FIST.
00:49:21.459 --> 00:49:22.751
IT\'S NOT A BLACK FIST.
00:49:22.792 --> 00:49:25.250
AT THAT SPLIT SECOND, IT\'S NOT.
00:49:25.292 --> 00:49:27.584
AND THAT\'S WHAT THE MOVIE
WAS DOING.
00:49:27.626 --> 00:49:31.459
- JOE LOUIS TRAINING
FOR THE FIGHT OF HIS LIFE.
00:49:31.501 --> 00:49:33.876
- ACHIEVEMENT,
GRAB IT WHILE YOU CAN,
00:49:33.918 --> 00:49:35.417
AND PUT IT IN THE FILM
00:49:35.459 --> 00:49:36.959
AND SET ASIDE THE FACT
00:49:37.000 --> 00:49:41.626
THAT IT WAS STILL
A SEGREGATED HEROISM.
00:49:41.667 --> 00:49:44.667
- THEY WERE SHOCKED
AND SURPRISED
00:49:44.709 --> 00:49:47.000
THAT THE ARMY DID THIS.
00:49:47.042 --> 00:49:49.501
[cannons firing]
00:49:49.542 --> 00:49:51.792
- FIGHTING
WITH THE 8TH ILLINOIS...
00:49:51.834 --> 00:49:54.792
- IT WAS SO DIFFERENT
THAN WHAT WE HAD, YOU KNOW,
00:49:54.834 --> 00:49:57.209
WHAT WE WERE USED TO SEEING.
00:49:57.250 --> 00:50:00.918
WE SAW, FOR THE FIRST TIME,
SCENES OF WHAT WE DID
00:50:00.959 --> 00:50:04.375
IN WORLD WAR I,
THE WAR OF 1812,
00:50:04.417 --> 00:50:06.959
IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
00:50:07.000 --> 00:50:10.334
- THE FIRST TO DIE
IN THE BOSTON MASSACRE
00:50:10.375 --> 00:50:12.167
WAS CRISPUS ATTUCKS.
00:50:12.209 --> 00:50:16.167
AT CONCORD BRIDGE,
SAM CRAFT AND JOHN FERRIT
00:50:16.209 --> 00:50:19.459
HELPED TO FIRE
THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD.
00:50:19.501 --> 00:50:20.626
AT BUNKER HILL...
00:50:20.667 --> 00:50:24.417
- IT WAS VERY GOOD TO SEE.
00:50:24.459 --> 00:50:29.209
- MOSS WROTE THAT HISTORY,
AND AT THE TIME,
00:50:29.250 --> 00:50:31.459
TRUMAN GIBSON KNEW IT,
00:50:31.501 --> 00:50:34.167
BUT NOBODY ELSE KNEW IT.
00:50:34.209 --> 00:50:36.167
JUST IMPOSSIBLE.
00:50:36.209 --> 00:50:38.501
WHERE WOULD YOU HAVE GOT IT?
00:50:38.542 --> 00:50:41.876
- IN A SHORT WHILE,
THESE YOUNG OFFICERS
00:50:41.918 --> 00:50:46.250
WILL BE FULL-FLEDGED
COMBAT FLIERS,
00:50:46.292 --> 00:50:48.459
TAKING THEIR PLACE
AT THE CONTROLS
00:50:48.501 --> 00:50:51.292
OF OUR FIGHTER PLANES.
00:50:51.334 --> 00:50:53.417
- THE ARMY PORTRAYED US
00:50:53.459 --> 00:50:57.459
JUST LIKE THEY
WOULD PORTRAY ANYBODY ELSE.
00:50:57.501 --> 00:51:00.459
IT WAS SORT OF THRILLING.
00:51:00.501 --> 00:51:04.417
AND YOU KNOW, NOW WE\'RE
IN ANOTHER EVEN BIGGER WAR,
00:51:04.459 --> 00:51:09.167
AND WE WANT YOU, WE NEED YOU,
ON BOARD.
00:51:09.209 --> 00:51:11.918
Narrator: OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS
WITHIN THE MILITARY,
00:51:11.959 --> 00:51:14.167
THE FILM WAS SHOWN
TO EVERY BLACK SOLDIER
00:51:14.209 --> 00:51:17.083
STARTING IN FEBRUARY 1944.
00:51:17.125 --> 00:51:20.209
AND AFTER A LOBBYING CAMPAIGN
BY THE NAACP,
00:51:20.250 --> 00:51:22.125
THE ARMY MADE THE NEGRO SOLDIER
00:51:22.167 --> 00:51:25.626
PART OF BASIC ORIENTATION
FOR ALL NEW RECRUITS
00:51:25.667 --> 00:51:29.209
AND SPONSORED DISTRIBUTION
TO CIVILIANS.
00:51:29.250 --> 00:51:31.626
- IT WAS MADE AVAILABLE
TO ANY WHITE PERSON
00:51:31.667 --> 00:51:33.167
WHO WOULD LOOK AT IT.
00:51:33.209 --> 00:51:35.334
13,000 THEATERS.
00:51:35.375 --> 00:51:36.834
THOUSANDS OF SCHOOLS.
00:51:36.876 --> 00:51:39.417
AND SCHOOL\'S WHERE I SAW IT.
00:51:39.459 --> 00:51:44.375
SO A VAST POPULATION SAW
BLACK HEROES FOR THE FIRST TIME.
00:51:44.417 --> 00:51:46.459
EITHER THEY WERE BLACK
AND CELEBRATED THE HEROES,
00:51:46.501 --> 00:51:50.876
OR THEY WERE WHITE AND LEARNED
THAT THERE WERE SUCH HEROES.
00:51:50.918 --> 00:51:53.459
- I GREW UP IN THE SOUTH.
00:51:53.501 --> 00:51:55.792
AND I WANT TO TELL YOU THAT
WHEN LINCOLN\'S BIRTHDAY
00:51:55.834 --> 00:51:58.959
BECAME A NATIONAL HOLIDAY
IN SCHOOL,
00:51:59.000 --> 00:52:02.167
I WAS YOUNG,
WE SAID, \"WHO\'S LINCOLN?\"
00:52:02.209 --> 00:52:05.501
I MEAN, THEY DIDN\'T EVEN WANT
LINCOLN IN THE VOCABULARY,
00:52:05.542 --> 00:52:08.459
MUCH LESS BLACK SOLDIERS.
00:52:08.501 --> 00:52:14.417
THE NEGRO SOLDIER WAS
AN EYE-OPENER AT THAT TIME.
00:52:14.459 --> 00:52:17.083
- CARLTON MOSS WALKED AWAY
FROM IT
00:52:17.125 --> 00:52:19.334
PROUD OF WHAT HE HAD DONE.
00:52:19.375 --> 00:52:23.709
TO HIM, IT WAS A FIRST STEP
TOWARD SOMETHING GREATER.
00:52:25.459 --> 00:52:28.792
- OH, GOD,
WE THANK YOU FOR THIS LAND
00:52:28.834 --> 00:52:31.834
WHICH OUR FATHERS
HAVE HELPED TO BUILD.
00:52:31.876 --> 00:52:34.459
GRANT THAT WE MAY,
WITH YOUR HELP,
00:52:34.501 --> 00:52:36.751
BE WORTHY OF THIS HERITAGE,
00:52:36.792 --> 00:52:38.459
AND IN OUR TURN,
00:52:38.501 --> 00:52:41.459
ENRICH IT FOR OUR CHILDREN
00:52:41.501 --> 00:52:44.459
SO THAT GOVERNMENT
OF THE PEOPLE,
00:52:44.501 --> 00:52:47.334
BY THE PEOPLE,
FOR THE PEOPLE
00:52:47.375 --> 00:52:51.459
SHALL NOT PERISH
FROM THIS EARTH.
00:52:51.501 --> 00:52:55.334
- NEGRO SOLDIERIS A FILM
WHOSE CENTRAL STATEMENT
00:52:55.375 --> 00:52:56.792
IS TRYING TO EXPLODE.
00:52:56.834 --> 00:52:59.459
IT\'S TRYING
TO PRESENT OPPORTUNITIES
00:52:59.501 --> 00:53:01.459
FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVANCEMENT
00:53:01.501 --> 00:53:04.459
THAT HAVE TO PRESUME
A COLLAPSE OF SEGREGATION,
00:53:04.501 --> 00:53:08.459
AND IT CAN\'T DO THAT,
BUT IT DOES.
00:53:08.501 --> 00:53:11.542
- MOST MOVIES ARE NOT REALISTIC.
00:53:11.584 --> 00:53:14.417
IT DOESN\'T SHOW
COLORED BATHROOMS,
00:53:14.459 --> 00:53:16.459
DOESN\'T SHOW
WHERE YOU HAD TO EAT,
00:53:16.501 --> 00:53:18.459
WHERE YOU HAD TO LIVE.
00:53:18.501 --> 00:53:21.209
THIS WAS A TRAINING FILM.
00:53:21.250 --> 00:53:23.042
ONLY IT\'S TRAINING OUR MINDS
00:53:23.083 --> 00:53:25.709
THAT THIS IS THE WAY
WE SHOULD GO.
00:53:25.751 --> 00:53:29.667
- IT\'S A FASCINATING VERSION
OF THE STRATEGY OF TRUTH.
00:53:29.709 --> 00:53:33.459
THE VIEWER TODAY CANNOT HELP
BUT REALIZE,
00:53:33.501 --> 00:53:36.042
\"WAIT A MINUTE,
THESE GUYS ARE LYING.\"
00:53:36.083 --> 00:53:37.584
ON THE OTHER HAND,
\"WAIT A MINUTE,
00:53:37.626 --> 00:53:43.375
THESE GUYS ARE SHOWING US,
IN FACT, AN END TO SEGREGATION.\"
00:53:43.417 --> 00:53:48.334
- THE ABOLITION OF SEGREGATION
BY TRUMAN IN ONE FELL SWOOP
00:53:48.375 --> 00:53:52.083
WAS A PART
OF THE ARMY\'S CHANGING...
00:53:52.125 --> 00:53:54.542
GRADUAL CHANGE IN ATTITUDES.
00:53:54.584 --> 00:53:57.459
SO I THINK THE FILM
WAS VERY IMPORTANT.
00:53:57.501 --> 00:54:00.834
IT TOUCHED THE COMMAND,
TOP COMMAND,
00:54:00.876 --> 00:54:03.751
ON A HUMAN LEVEL.
00:54:09.459 --> 00:54:11.459
- SOMEBODY SAYS SOMEWHERE,
00:54:11.501 --> 00:54:16.042
\"WHAT A PITY
TO WASTE SUCH A GREAT CRISIS.\"
00:54:16.083 --> 00:54:18.751
POWERLESS PEOPLE
INVENT OTHER WAYS,
00:54:18.792 --> 00:54:20.876
AND THAT\'S WHAT MOSS WAS DOING.
00:54:20.918 --> 00:54:28.918
[people singing]
00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:36.459
[upbeat marching music]
00:54:36.501 --> 00:54:40.167
all: ♪ WHEN THE NATION
CALLS ON MEN TO FIGHT ♪
00:54:40.209 --> 00:54:43.751
♪ ALL THE MEN
ARE TRIED AND TRUE ♪
00:54:43.792 --> 00:54:47.459
♪ FROM A THOUSAND NATIONS
THEY SHALL COME ♪
00:54:47.501 --> 00:54:51.459
♪ WHEN THE WALLS
COME TUMBLING DOWN ♪
00:54:51.501 --> 00:54:55.334
♪ JOSHUA FIT
THE BATTLE OF JERICHO ♪
00:54:55.375 --> 00:54:59.042
♪ JERICHO, JERICHO ♪
00:54:59.083 --> 00:55:02.000
♪ JOSHUA FIT
THE BATTLE OF JERICHO ♪
00:55:02.042 --> 00:55:06.584
♪ AND THE WALLS
COME TUMBLING DOWN ♪
00:55:11.501 --> 00:55:12.542
narrator: NEXT TIME...
00:55:12.584 --> 00:55:14.083
- THIS BEING PART
OF THE APPLICATION
00:55:14.125 --> 00:55:15.959
FOR MEMBERSHIP
IN THE COMMUNIST PARTY.
00:55:16.000 --> 00:55:17.459
- PEOPLE WERE AFRAID
OF NARRATION.
00:55:17.501 --> 00:55:20.375
THEY WERE AFRAID TO TALK
ABOUT POLITICAL IDEAS.
00:55:20.417 --> 00:55:23.250
- I WAS NOT INTERESTED
IN CONVENTIONAL DOCUMENTARY.
00:55:23.292 --> 00:55:25.876
I\'M INTERESTED IN STORIES.
00:55:25.918 --> 00:55:28.459
DRAMA TAKES PLACE EVERYWHERE.
00:55:28.501 --> 00:55:31.250
- WE JUST WALKED IN SHOOTING,
00:55:31.292 --> 00:55:34.125
AND THERE WAS A FEELING,
\"BY GOD, WE\'RE GETTING IT.\"
00:55:34.167 --> 00:55:37.459
- PEOPLE DON\'T BELIEVE
THAT IT HASN\'T BEEN MANIPULATED.
00:55:37.501 --> 00:55:39.292
- THE PRESIDENT
OF THE NEWS DIVISION SAID,
00:55:39.334 --> 00:55:41.501
\"TURN OFF
THE [bleep] PROJECTOR.\"
00:56:24.209 --> 00:56:25.459
narrator:
FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM
00:56:25.501 --> 00:56:26.959
HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY
00:56:27.000 --> 00:56:29.459
THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT
FOR THE HUMANITIES.
00:56:29.501 --> 00:56:33.334
BECAUSE DEMOCRACY
DEMANDS WISDOM.
00:56:33.375 --> 00:56:34.459
BY AN AWARD
00:56:34.501 --> 00:56:36.876
FROM THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT
FOR THE ARTS.
00:56:36.918 --> 00:56:38.459
ART WORKS.
00:56:38.501 --> 00:56:42.042
AND BY THE NATHAN CUMMINGS
FOUNDATION.
00:56:45.250 --> 00:56:46.459
Female announcer: BE MORE.
00:56:46.501 --> 00:56:47.834
PBS.
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 56 minutes
Date: 2012
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: 8-12, College, Adult
Color/BW: /
Closed Captioning: Available
Existing customers, please log in to view this film.
New to Docuseek? Register to request a quote.
Related Films
A look at World War I as the battlefield for the first propaganda war…
Winner of the first Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject, presents…