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Dominican Rep. Why We Fight 1: Prelude to War
6.4
333
Ratings
where to watch
flatrate
free
- Original title
- WWII - Why We Fight 1: Prelude to War
- Year
- 1942
- Running time
- 52 min.
- Country
United States- Director
- Cast
-
Documentary
- Producer
- Genre
- Documentary. War | II World War. Propaganda. Half-length Film
- Movie Groups
- Why We Fight
- Synopsis
- The official World War II US Government film statement defining the various enemies of the Allies and why they must be fought.
In this first installment of the "Why We Fight" US propaganda film series, the series illustrates a definiton of two worlds. The first is the Free world of the Allies' nations that honours life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The second is the Slave world of the Axis nations that honours only tyranny, brutality and unquestioning obedience to the leader and threatens to envelope the entire planet if the Free world does not make a stand. Walter Huston narrates a combination of archival footage, maps, and other graphics.
Why We Fight is a series of seven propaganda films commissioned by the United States government during World War II to demonstrate to American soldiers the reason for U.S. involvement in the war. Later on they were also shown to the general U.S. public to persuade them to support American intervention.
Most of the films were directed by Frank Capra, who was daunted and terrified by Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda film Triumph of the Will, and worked in direct response to it. The series faced a tough challenge: convincing an isolationist nation of the need to become involved in the war and ally with the Soviets, among other things. In many of the films, Capra and other directors spliced in Axis powers propaganda footage – re-contextualizing it so it promoted the cause of the Allies instead. The films were edited mostly by William Hornbeck, and are some of the best examples of found-footage montage ever produced. The animated portions of the films were produced by the Disney studios – with the animated maps following a convention of depicting Axis-occupied territory in black.
Most of the videos are made from stock footage collected by the government and granted for use in the film although some parts are re-acted for the film if there is none to show the topic.
At the end of each film, the quotation from Army Chief of Staff George Marshall that "...the victory of the democracies can only be complete with the utter defeat of the war machines of Germany and Japan." is shown on screen, followed by a ringing Liberty Bell over which is superimposed a large letter "V" zooming into the screen.
- Awards
-
1942: Oscar: Best Documentary (ex aequo)1943: National Board of Review (NBR): nominated to Top Documentaries.
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