US War Department Orientation Film for US Military Personnel in Occupied Germany
Creator(s)
- U.S. War Department (Producer)
- Theodor Geisel (Director)
- Frank R. Capra (Director)
- United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Motion Picture Reference
Biographical History
Frank Capra was an Italian American film director, producer, and writer born in Italy and raised in Los Angeles from the age of five. Capra became one of America's most influential directors during the 1930s, winning three Academy Awards for Best Director from six nominations, along with three other Oscar wins from nine nominations in other categories. Among his leading films were "It Happened One Night" (1934), "You Can't Take It with You" (1938), and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939). Capra served in the US Army during World War I and became naturalized shortly thereafter. He reenlisted after Pearl Harbor and was offered a commission as a Major at the age of 44. Chief of Staff George Marshall bypassed the US Army Signal Corps and assigned Major Capra the job of producing seven propaganda films (the Why We Fight series) that would be seen less as propaganda pieces and more as the inspiring films that Capra had made. After World War II, Capra's career declined as his later films, such as "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946), performed poorly when they were first released. Outside of directing, Capra was active in the film industry, engaging in various political and social issues. He served as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, worked alongside the Writers Guild of America, and was head of the Directors Guild of America.
Scope and Content
Orientation Film no. 8. U.S. propaganda film telling the history of Germany with various atrocities and depicting Germans as friendly, trustworthy people. This film was used to demonstrate proper conduct to U.S. military personnel in postwar occupied Germany. Muddy faces of German POWs. CU, Hitler, swastika banners in street, Goebbels concentration camp gates, all "disappear." Ruins, small village. Bismarck's parade band, fighting on horseback across field. Idyllic country scenes, farming, dancing. Kaiser Wilhelm, "Deutschland ueber Alles", German troops marching in 1914 (scratchy), marching along roads, destruction/ruins in Europe, war chaos. More idyllic scenes, "cultural scenes" (orchestra). US Army parading (in retreat). WWII scenes, takeover of Europe. MCU, SS parade by, Czech woman cries into kerchief as they heil. CU, crying Polish woman, bodies in rubble, civilians devastated, crying over coffin, rubble/ruins. 01:06:32 Long sequence: US Army soldiers - wounded, tired, badly injured, burnt, amputated, freezing. Cut to folk dancing, travelogue shots of small town in Germany. Alternating shots of SA, SS parades and Nazi officials with "regular" civilian shots. Streets with swastikas, businesses against CUs various German professionals (postman, toymakers, cooks, clockworkers, clockmakers) - "practically every German was part of the network." Hitler Youth standing at attention, marching under "Nordmar Lager 1935" gate, parading, older teens, too; goosestepping. VAR MCUs Labor battalions marching. 01:11:04 CUs, Germans: old men, children, women - daily life - eating, etc. "Germans are not our friends." Flashbacks of Nazi footage, destroyed Allied cities (Rotterdam), ruins in Russia, refugees, corpses, injured Allied soldiers. Women and men slaveworkers shoveling. HAS, swastika flags. MCU German soldiers, German military industry, corpses. War scenes contrasted with peaceful bucolic settings. Sampling of the narration accompanying the film: "Just one mistake may cost you your life. Trust none of them." "Some day the German people might be cured of their disease. The super race disease. The world conquest disease. But they must prove that they have been cured beyond the shadow of a doubt before they ever again are allowed to take their place among respectable nations. Until that day. We stand guard."
Note(s)
End credit on film reads: "Seized Enemy Material. Used by permission of the Alien Property Custodian in the public interest under License No. LM-185." Acquisition Information: National Audiovisual Center [from the National Archives Collection]; Loan; 10/04/1993. Museum obtained a used 16mm print from the NAVC when it closed (?) or no longer wanted this print, among others. Acquisition dealt with by Peter Martz.
Subjects
- SWASTIKAS
- PARADES
- ALLIES
- FARMERS/FARMING
- CORPSES
- PROPAGANDA
- MILITARY VEHICLES
- VILLAGES
- CHILDREN
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (GERMAN)
- WOMEN
- DESTRUCTION
- HITLER YOUTH
- BOMBINGS
- FIGHTING
- HITLER, ADOLF
- BUSINESSES
- POSTWAR
- WOUNDED
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (AMERICAN)
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (ALLIES)
- GOEBBELS, JOSEPH
- INVASIONS
Places
- Rotterdam, Netherlands
- , Germany
- , Poland
- , Soviet Union
Genre
- Film
- Propaganda.