After introducing the documentary as a short-film category in the previous year, the Academy decided to open it up to features as well. It also decided that, in view of the tremendous increase in the number of films being made internationally to promote the war effort, it would open the nominations to foreign filmmakers as well. The result was a glut of nominees, and for the first and only time the Academy chose four winners, giving them "special awards" with citations. The documentary category has been rife with controversy, and perhaps making it an award for the most effective propaganda films was only the first instance.
The nominees were ...
- Africa, Prelude to Victory, The March of Time
- The Battle of Midway, United States Navy
- Combat Report, United States Army Signal Corps
- Conquer by the Clock, Frederick Ullman Jr., producer
- The Grain That Built a Hemisphere, Walt Disney, producer
- Henry Browne, Farmer, United States Department of Agriculture
- High Over the Borders, National Film Board of Canada
- High Stakes in the East, The Netherlands Information Bureau
- Inside Fighting China, National Film Board of Canada
- It's Everybody's War, United States Office of War Information
- Kokoda Front Line! Australian News & Information Bureau
- Listen to Britain, British Ministry of Information
- Little Belgium, Belgian Ministry of Information
- Little Isles of Freedom, Victor Stoloff and Edgar Loew, producers
- Mr. Blabbermouth! United States Office of War Information
- Mr. Gardenia Jones, United States Office of War Information
- Moscow Strikes Back, Artkino
- The New Spirit, Walt Disney, producer
- Prelude to War, United States Army Special Services
- The Price of Victory, William H. Pine, producer
- A Ship Is Born, United States Merchant Marine
- Twenty-One Miles, British Ministry of Information
- We Refuse to Die, William C. Thomas, producer
- White Eagle, Concanen Films
- Winning Your Wings, United States Army Air Force
The Battle of Midway, United States Navy. "A special award to Battle of Midway for the historical value of its achievement in offering a camera record of one of the decisive battles of the world -- a record unique both for the courage of those who made it under fire, and for its magnificent portray of the gallantry of our armed forces in battle."
A professionally made documentary, though today it seems clichéd in its narrative and musical effects. It was directed by John Ford, who also shot some of the footage. The screenplay was written by Ford, Dudley Nichols, and James Kevin McGuinness; the narrators include Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, and Donald Crisp; the score is by Alfred Newman; and it was edited by Robert Parrish.
Kokoda Front Line! Australian News & Information Bureau. "A special award to Kokoda Front Line! for its effectiveness in portraying, simply yet forcefully, the scene of war in New Guinea and for its moving presentation of the bravery and fortitude of our Australian comrades in arms."
Cameraman Damien Parer's footage of Australian soldiers in New Guinea is introduced by Parer and narrated by Peter Bathurst. Directed by Ken G. Hall. The footage is vivid and genuine, but the canned music track is obtrusive and sometimes inappropriate.
Moscow Strikes Back, Artkino. "A special award to Moscow Strikes Back for its vivid presentation of the heroism of the Russian Army and of the Russian people in the defense of Moscow, and for its achievement in so doing under conditions of extreme difficulty and danger."
The feature-length American version, released by Republic, has a narration, spoken by Edward G. Robinson and written by Albert Maltz and Elliot Paul. (Maltz was blacklisted in 1947 as one of the Hollywood Ten who were cited for contempt of Congress for their refusal to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.) The music score is by William Hodgson and Dimitri Tiomkin. The Soviet version, directed by Leonid Varlamov and Ilya Kopalin, won the Stalin Prize.
Prelude to War, United States Army Special Services. "A special award to Prelude to War for its trenchant conception and stirring dramatization of the events which forced our nation into the war and of the ideals for which we fight."
The first installment in the "Why We Fight" series, designed as a series of training films for American soliders and produced by Frank Capra and Anatole Litvak. It's a backgrounder on the causes of the war, thick with a propagandistic view of history and national character, but somewhat more sophisticated in its presentation than you might expect. The narrator is Walter Huston. The screenwriters include Julius and Philip Epstein, who would win Oscars the following year for Casablanca.
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