Transcripts For CSPAN3 WWII Films Of The First Motion Pictur

CSPAN3 WWII Films Of The First Motion Picture Unit October 8, 2017

For those of you have joined us onsite, welcome. We will take your questions. We ask that you hold on to them until the end of the presentation. If you can, please use the microphones so we can capture your voice online. For those of you watching online, you can ask questions. Log into the chat feature of this Youtube Channel and type your questions in. I will then ask the questions at the end of the session. You will find to hotlinks. One will take you to presentation the other to live captioning. Todays program is entitled world war ii and the first ion it sure unit films. World war ii and the First Motion Picture Unit films. They work in the National Archives Motion Picture preservation laboratory. They perform preservation work on Motion Pictures and records held at the National Archives. Before joining the 11th 2006, audrey worked with the film collection at a college. Heidi completed her education at washington university, earning a masters in history with a certificate in archives and records management. It is a pleasure to have them return to highlight their work. Please welcome our presenters audrey and heidi. [applause] audrey hi. You will be able to find these complete films after. We worship we work in the lab. We are only touching on handful of these films today. An goal is to provide introduction to these fascinating films, to explain why making them was important to the war effort. Berything you see today will available on the National Archives Youtube Channel. So you can go find the complete films later. Just a word about us. Then we will go very quickly. We work in the Motion Picture preservation lab. We provide duplication and preservation services. That means we assess deterioration, make new film copies and digitize for access. If you want to know more, please check out the short video we made a a few years back which is available on the main page of our Youtube Channel. It is called out of the dark. On to the main program. How did we end up with the First Motion Picture Unit . After the bombing of pearl harbor there was an urgent need , to train millions of men very quickly. An effective and efficient method that could also be used for recruitment and morale. When the United States ramped up production of munitions and aircraft, the United States military turned to film to teach men now to use them. To me demand, and march 1942 the commander of air forces devised a plan with jack warner of warner bros. Studios to create a separate filmmaking unit for the army and air force. Remember, the army was only a branch. It depended on the Army Signal Corps for their needs. They believed they needed their own film making unit. To promote itself as a distinct unit. The idea of the first major Motion Picture unit was born. They recruited members from the ranks of the studios. Ronald reagan, william holden, clark table, whose films can be seeing today. The armyair force contracted warner others to make several films to serve their needs. At the top of the list was a recruitment film to recruit airmen to fly the 10th of thousands of airplanes. Tens of thousands of planes rolling off a simply lines. Lieutenant James Stewart, you probably recognize him, was the perfect actor to play in the short film. He had enlisted in 1941. Rejected forally being underweight, but he is said to have eaten spaghetti every day to serve his country. Enlisted as a private, made full colonel by the end of the year. By the end of the war. Stewart struggled to be assigned combat duty. He was understandably peeved when he received orders to make winning your wings. It was so successful it garnered many new recruits. We see lieutenant James Stewart in all of his folksy glory. James stewart well, hello. Looks like i am back in the movies again, huh . As a matter of fact, i would like to do some talking. Dont go away until i get this thing off. It is not like it a cinch or for me to talk to you because it is my favorite subject. The Army Air Force. I cannot speak from long service long experience. Ive only been in the service a year. But ive learned a lot about what the air force has to offer. Thats what i want to talk to about. Right now, the greatest mass globalization in the history of the world is taking place. Men from farms, towns, single men, married then, brothers, sweethearts, businessmen, fathers and sons factory men, students from high school and college, all over america, everywhere, they are mobilizing and joining up. This war we are fighting today, tomorrow, and the next day, until we win is a war of the air. The whole world knows that. Our factories know that. Interceptors, light bombers, media mummers, rolling out of the factories. 65,000 fighting planes this year. 100,000 fighting planes next year. To keep them flying, 2 million men. Now, that is where you come in. The armyair force needs 15,000 captains, 40,000 lieutenants, 35,000 flying sergeants. How about it . Sorry. Another of the Warner Brothers recruitment films was made before the Motion Picture was activated. The rear gunner was not released until 1943. The film stars burgess meredith. You might know him better as the penguin from batman and he is a prolific actor, theater actor, already been in an adaptation of of mice and men and of course, Ronald Reagan in the bottom right hand corner. The film emphasizes everyone has a role to play. It follows merediths character as he learns his small stature is actually ideal for the position of rear gunner. Rear gunners Ronald Reagan was the chief personnel officer. In july of 1943, the First Motion Picture Unit began production in in hollywood. The unit was mostly staffed by hollywood veterans, writers, producers, technicians, and actors. The unit operated like any Hollywood Studio with one major difference, all of its members were in uniform. It turned out to be a bit to run down for the purposes so they moved to another studio. It had joined the army signal cold core. Legendary comedy producer and responsible for the our gang series. By march 1943, they reduced produce their first film which showed pilots examining their mistakes in the afterlife. In addition to the recruit and films, the first major Motion Picture unit was also in charge of overseeing combat motion. Video shot by the combat cameramen was incorporated into the films and used for intelligence purposes. They had a very important job and they were on the front lines. Is fromt extended clip a film the First Motion Picture Units made about itself. The complete film is 20 minutes and can be found on our Youtube Channel. We will show you about six minutes today. Shoot. Sorry. Well, the big day finally wait. Sorry this is the First Motion Picture Unit in california. Here we produce inspirational films which graphically illustrate what we are fighting for, what we are fighting against, i and while we are fighting with. Today we face a task of training men by the millions. Everincreasing numbers against the enemies. The maximum number of men and the minimum amount of time. To inspire lit as well as instruct. Activating many specialized organizations such as this. Mainly from the Motion Picture Industry Company men of the First Motion Picture Unit. Writers, directors, actors, electricians, cameramen, sound recorders. Men carefully chosen from among the most efficient film technicians available. Men with long years of training in the art and science of major Motion Pictures. While they are making pictures for the army, the army is making soldiers of them. First and foremost they are soldiers. Theyve got to do their job the army way. They have to be strictly g. I. From director to finished film, the course of the major motion richer film is charted by the office. The script is broken down, converted to men, money, materials. The Production Office coordinates and expedite the operations of many different departments that make up the first major Motion Picture unit. Of all the weapons of world war ii none have proved more , effective than words. Words are particularly potent when used by the major picture writer. This medium is one that is young, vital, compelling. One whose possibilities for visual education are endless. Virtually unexplored. The soldier writers of the First Motion Picture Unit work with collaborating agencies to receive effective structures. These are the sound stages of the first major Motion Picture unit. Especially structured, soundproofed, it airconditioned. Covers an area of 78,000 square feet. On a single stage measuring 236 feet long and 46 feet wide, as many as four Production Units can operate simultaneously. Here is one section where filming is about to begin on filming train project 226, training flight. Final check and director calls. Here we go. Rolling. [bell rings] the Art Department shows how art changes to war. Detailed sketches, architectural floor plans, blueprints. Miniature models of sets built to scale. Exact replicas and every respect. Here is a model of the said you saw on stage five. In south africa. This precise preproduction planning in the Art Department saves precious manhours and materials and allows training films that are economical as well as effective. Here is another model of headquarters somewhere in the south pacific. One of the sets in project 1024. Recognition of the japanese zero fighter. Reporting for duty, sir. Glad to have you with us, lieutenant. Glad to be here, major. We could certainly use you. Cigarette . Thank you, sir. How was the flight over . P 40. Ike the oh, you like the p 40 . A nice airplane. Maybe we can count on you not to shoot any down. I did not have any plans, sir. You mean jet pilots . I mean american pilots. Men with as much enthusiasm for , but 40 as you have without the ability to tell a friend from an enemy. Here, members of a bomber crew are in training project crash scenes in training project number 1010. Emergency care of paratroop casualties. First, the makeup expert applies a foundation of heavy grease paint. Then the other chemicals and strokes of a blending brush to make them look like this on the screen. Narrator not many months ago, narrator not many months ago, these serious soldier artists were the merry men who put life and laughter in mickey mouse. Today they turn their attention to technical things. Things like torque and the trajectory of a bomb. The inner workings of flight instruments. Things the student or men must know and the animated sequence of a training film can best help to teach him. Minute mechanical details the camera cannot capture in actuality are authentically illustrated in the drawings of these artists. No matter how unusual the article or product needed for a film, the property man has to know where to get it or how to make it. The warehouse and museum houses thousands of assorted objects. At a moments notice he can provide a before bag, boomerang, pedestal, or bananas. In the clip you just watched, you heard instructional, you heard the types of films produced by the First Motion Picture Unit described as instructional, operational, and inspirational and above everything the films were practical. Addressing specific needs of the armyair force. One urgent problem in the Pacific Theater was some pilots inability to tell the difference between japanese and american airplanes, leading to incidents of friendly fire. The solution was recognition of the japanese fighter. The film starred a recently captured zero fighter as well as , lieutenant Ronald Reagan. You saw an excerpt but the real utility of the film comes from animated sequences pinpointing the differences between the p 40 and the zero, which i highlighted on the screen. These straight, educational sequences are company by a dramatic story, showing reagan really knowsr, who his stuff making an all too , common mistake. Well, the big day finally came. The flyer was on his own. Do not expect too much, lieutenant. Not on your first day. Whats up . See something . Its a plane all right. What sort of a plane do see . Do you see . Friend or enemy . P40 or zero . Well now is the time to remember , your recognition. It a deep radiator, round tail curving in knows . Inline engine . P40. Or does it have an oil cooler, air scoop, pointed tail, radial engine . If it has, then it is a zero. Maybe come closer. [engine noise] start climbing, saunders. Narrator take another look. Hold it, saunders. Make sure. [gunfire] narrator now, look at that plane. That is no zero. That is a p40. Good thing you missed. You would not want that on your conscience. Look, it is coming back. Would you like to take another shot at it . Ok, we wont rub it in. You have got it coming to you. Not waiting to get your recognition. I wish i could apologize from here. In the end, he vindicated himself following the , identification checklist and downing a zero. The copy that we scanned for that comes from the Ronald Reagan library. Another famous face in the Motion Picture unit was clark gable, who joined to honor his late wife Carole Lombard who had recently died in a plane wreck. After completing the rigorous candidate officer school, he was he gained command of the major Motion Picture unit operating the first bombers to , england. He flew combat missions over germany, earning the air medal and distinguished iron cross. He returned and the footage from was used in films produced by clark gable. He also narrated a film recruiting men to be in the air force titled wings up. One flying fortress. Made of seattle now visiting the , pacific. Pretty, isnt it . It has been flying for 3000 miles. Unfortunately, it is lost. It is this mans fault. His nerve is gone. Everything he has taught has left him. Everything he has been taught has left him. [ominous music] pity is they got through their objective. Had to fight off half a dozen planes besides. Now, they are lost on the way back. One week late. Too bad. For our side. That plane was worth 350,000. I dont know what amount you would quote on the man. How much would you take for your life . What if this man get this job . Isnt there an xray machine it that can look into a man and say he will do. Yes, there is such a machine that looks into mans mind, and finds themls adequate or wanting. It is called the air candidate school of the Army Air Force and it is situated in florida. It stands for i sustained the wings. These men and their minds, their and their discipline, the hope on which we will always keep them flying. How does this school test these men . How does it expose those who must not lead and teach those who can to lead . Where and how do we get those men . That is important enough to know. Up provides a view of a program explicitly designed to weed out the men who could not perform under the pressure of combat. In the next film, we can feel with the recruits were subjected to. Still being processed. Give your name. How is your mother . Are a Real Estate Agent . You are looking around as if you want to buy the place. You hit the bottom step. Angle and 45 degree your head straight. Jump. How old are you . 25 wrinkles under that gin . Two . Two more wrinkles for them . Halt. Get that chest up in the air. Get it up. Way up. Get some wrinkles under that chin. More wrinkles. When i say jump, you say how high. Jump. What did you come down for mr. . What did you come down for, mister . Wipe that smile off your face . Step on it. Have you done . March. You are in it now. The next six weeks, every moment of your time is accounted for and arranged so you must hurry, hurry, hurry. You are about seven hours of sleep. You are lucky and a very bright student if you can manage five. You and a privilege to eat or drink in any public place. You cannot even go out of your room, not even into the hall to visit. Hey, is this necessary . You know it is necessary, but it is not for you. You are too dignified. Maybe you have your pride. Ormaybe you have your pride. Right, mister. Just resign. Nothing will happen to you. You will go back to your old rank. Nobody will hold it against you, unless you hold it against yourself. But we want to find out now whether you have been picked to you who have been picked to command can learn to obey. The soldier who cannot stand up under strict regulations, discipline, and restrictions, cannot discipline himself or others. This is where we must find out. Not here when all these lives are involved. Remember, clark gable would have undergone this kind of training himself. So, now i am going to hand it back to audrey to speak about the next couple of films. Audrey the next two films feature two parts of the same process. Gathering and analyzing aerial photographic intelligence. Youll also notice they dont have very interesting titles. Most do not have interesting titles because they were made for the general public. They were not made for the general public. They were made for internal use, so they tell us exactly what they are. The first is a process Training Program focusing on the names of the units that participate and the steps of the process. Well parts of the film ar

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