Even before America entered World War II, some of Hollywood's best filmmakers were actively engaged in work against the Germans and Japanese. John Ford had been snooping unofficially with naval intelligence since the 1920s. Actually, there were no real American intelligence services between the wars, but Ford was connected to a group of officers (and with J. Edgar Hoover) who were sure that…
1942 John Ford The significance of John Ford's Oscar-winning documentary lies more in its historical importance than in its entertainment value. A commander in the Navy, Ford was on Midway Island when the Japanese attacked in 1942. As the story goes, when he learned what was about to happen, he placed 16mm cameras filled with color film in the sand and filmed as much of the action as he co…
1944 John Huston According to reference books and anecdotal sources, John Huston's documentary snapshot of one part of the Italian campaign has existed in at least three different versions. One, about five reels or 50 minutes long, was shown to American soldiers during World War II. Then a shortened, 30-minute edition with an introduction by General Mark Clark and a new musical soundtrack …
1944 William Wyler Soon after America entered World War II, director William Wyler, then age 40, joined the Army Air Corps. “I was European and Jewish,” he said in an interview for the PBS American Masters series, “and I didn't enlist as an ordinary soldier. I enlisted as a filmmaker to see if I could make a film that would help the war effort in some small way and tha…
1943 John Huston As the first Technicolor documentary that director John Huston made for the Army Signal Corps, this film lacks a certain dramatic tension. Instead, as the title indicates, it's a valuable record of a virtually unknown and unseen part of World War II. In a voice-over introduction, Huston says, “The Aleutian Islands are situated in the North Pacific Ocean, forming a c…