Search - WW II: Air War on DVD

A valuable collection of air-war shorts from the National Ar

Robert E. Tompkins | Palo Alto, CA USA | 09/09/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The National Archives supplied the motion-picture elements used in this compilation. According to the container, the titles in the set were "selected by Specialists at the National Archives." Here's a list of the set's contents. Except as noted, the elements used in the transfers were in very good condition. The production dates and running times are taken from the container and have not been verified.

VOLUME I:

The Rear Gunner (B/W, 1943, 26 min.) -- Produced by the U.S. Army Air Forces in cooperation with Warner Brothers; featuring Lieutenants Burgess Meredith and Ronald Reagan; directed by Ray Enright. The first few minutes of the film are affected by recurring image washout, which affects the soundtrack as well. The source of the problem is the original print since the soundtrack fade occurs about a second after the picture fade, matching the 20-frame sound advance on 35mm film.

The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (Technicolor from a 16mm original, 1944, 43 min.) -- Presented by the War Department; distributed by Paramount Pictures; directed by Lieutenant Colonel William Wyler. Worn print, uneven color, with plenty of vertical scratches and cinch marks. If you want a better version, look for Aircraft Films' 60th anniversary collector's edition, also available from Amazon.com.

VOLUME II:

Bomber: A Defense Report on Film (B/W, 1941, 10 min.) -- Presented by the Office of Production Management. Poet Carl Sandburg wrote the suitably bellicose narration for this film on the production of B-26 bombers.

Thunderbolt (Technicolor from a 16mm original, produced in 1944, released theatrically in 1947, 43 min.) -- Presented by Monogram Pictures; directed by Lieutenant Colonel William Wyler and Captain John Sturges; introduced by James Stewart.

VOLUME III:

Combat America (Technicolor from a 16mm original, 1945, 62 min.) -- Presented by the U.S. Army Air Forces; featuring 1st Lieutenant Clark Gable.

VOLUME IV:

Expansion to Air Power (B/W, 1944, 43 min.) -- The original classification of this film was Restricted. Presented by the Statistical Control Division, Management Control, Army Air Forces. A summary of the "story of the Army Air Forces from June 1939 to December 1943."

Army Air Forces: Pacific (B/W, 1944, 18 min.) -- An Army Air Forces film. Introduced by General H. H. (Hap) Arnold.

VOLUME V:

Air War in Europe (B/W, 1943, 14 min.) -- Presented by the Army Air Forces Motion Picture Service Detachment. Newsreel-style summary of recent air operations.

AAF Report (B/W, 1944, 41 min.) -- Prepared for the U.S. Army Air Forces by the Office of Strategic Services. Official motion-picture report from, and introduced by, General "Hap" Arnold on the accomplishments of the AAF since Pearl Harbor.

VOLUME VI:

The Fight for the Sky: Our Fighter Pilots versus the Luftwaffe in Western Europe (B/W, 1945, 20 min.) -- Produced by the First Motion Picture Unit, Army Air Forces; presented by the 8th Air Force Fighter Command. Concentrates on the accomplishments of the P-38 "Lightning," P-47 "Thunderbolt," and P-51 "Mustang" fighters. Features General James Doolittle.

The Thunderbolts: "Ramrod" to Emden! (B/W, 1943, 33 min.) -- Presented by the First Army Air Forces Combat Film Detachment; produced by the U.S. Army Pictorial Service (Signal Corps) and the Eighth Air Force Photographic Section. The story of one operation in the Battle of Germany as Thunderbolts of the 56th Fighter Group accompany a bombing mission to Emden."