Cinemateca » Documentaries

The Tree in a Test Tube (1943)

admin2 — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:23:15 +0000

Stan and Ollie are stopped by narrator Pete Smith for the purpose of showing the audience how much wood and wood by-products the average person carries. Stan and Ollie then begin to open their pockets and briefcase, pulling out a variety of things that derive from the tree. The narrator talks all the way through this short film (about 7 minutes long). The idea is that scientists can put everything that comes from the tree into one test tube.

Short | Documentary

Stan Laurel	…	Stan
Oliver Hardy	…	Oliver
Pete Smith	…	Interlocutor (voice)
Lee Vickers	…	Narrator (voice)

Kampf um Norwegen – Feldzug 1940

admin2 — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:25:51 +0000

“Kampf um Norwegen – Feldzug 1940″ (English: Battle for Norway – 1940 campaign) is a 81 minute-long German documentary directed by Martin Rikli and Dr. Werner Buhre by orders of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. Produced in 1940, the movie follows the Invasion of Denmark and Norway in the spring 1940. For unknown reasons, the film was never shown in Germany. It was considered lost in its entirety until it surfaced at an Internet auction in 2005.

It’s Your America (Part II) (1945)

admin2 — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:49:41 +0000

The U.S. War Department described this film in the following words: “An American soldier, during his combat career, realizes the greatness of his country and determines to assume his share of the responsibilities of good citizenship upon his return to civilian life.” Contains “seized enemy material.”

It’s Your America (Part I) (1945)

admin2 — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:48:03 +0000

Here is Germany (1945)

admin2 — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:39:25 +0000

Here is Germany was made to prepare soldiers who had not seen combat to go to Germany for the US occupation after the May 8, 1945 unconditional surrender.
The film was, however, never used for its intended purpose.

Here is Germany was a 1945 propaganda documentary film directed by Frank Capra. Like its companion film, Know Your Enemy: Japan, the film is a full-length exploration of why one of the two major Axis countries started World War II and what had to be done to keep them from “doing it again”.

Target for Today (1944)

admin2 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:05:11 +0000

Target for Today is a 1944 documentary film billed as being filmed by and acted by the United States Army Air Force, all while under fire. It was directed by William Keighley. The film documents the October raids made by the Eighth Air Force on targets in Anklam, Marienburg and Gdynia in Poland, all industrial centers for the Nazi war machine.

The raids were made by B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers. General Hap Arnold called the series of attacks “the greatest strike ever”. According to Arnold, they helped cripple German aircraft production and signaled the beginning of the end for the Luftwaffe.

The documentary documents these three air raids from planning, to briefing, preparation, and then reveals in unparalleled sequences the brutal battles waged at 30,000 feet.

Wings for This Man (1945)

admin2 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:00:15 +0000

Wings for this Man is a propaganda film produced in 1945 by the U.S. Army Air Forces First Motion Picture Unit about the Tuskegee Airmen, the first unit of African-American pilots in the US military.

Know Your Ally – Britain (1944)

admin2 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:56:47 +0000

This film was prepared by the War Department to help you to know and understand one of your Allies. Subsequent films of this series will deal with the other people beside whom we fight and with whom we stand or fall.

True Glory (1945)

admin2 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:50:26 +0000

General Eisenhower introduces this joint US/British Government film that surveys the entire campaign in Western Europe from just before D-Day to the surrender of Germany in May 1945. Directed by Carol Reed.

At the Front in North Africa (1943)

admin2 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:38:31 +0000

This film covers activities during World War II relating to tank forces, troop review, artillery, Prisoners of War and the care of wounded in the area of Sidi Bel Abbes and the city of Algiers.