Film Snail

War

Out of the Depths

December 27, 1945

Told in flashback, Out of the Depths strives to explain why its four male protagonists are bobbing around the Pacific in a lifeboat. The story proper begins as Captain Faversham (Jim Bannon) and his crew embark upon a secret mission which takes them into Japanese waters. The plan is to prevent a kamikaze attack against the American invading forces. Compelling in itself, the plotline isn't improved by arbitrary doses of misfire pathos and comedy relief. One of the sailors is played by Ken Curtis, later to gain TV fame as Festus on Gunsmoke.

Red Meadows

Red Meadows

December 26, 1945

A suspense tale revolving around the memories of a Danish saboteur as he awaits his execution in a German war-time prison.

Wings for This Man

December 13, 1945

A tribute to the pioneering achievements of the Negro combat pilots trained at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Time to Kill

December 13, 1945

A group of sailors kid their shipmate Frank about his constant reading, when they would all rather play cards. But each of them has a dream for the future that they consider impossible. Harry wants a better world for his two kids, Shorty and Eddie want to start a trucking company, Joe wants to learn about engines, and another of the gang just wants to know how to write well. When Frank reveals that he's been studying to get his high school diploma and to have a career in the Navy, the others realize that the educational benefits offered by the Armed Forces Institute can help them achieve their dreams.

Operation Titanic

December 11, 1945

Operation Titanic (code name Frantic - 1944) in WWII. Western Allies planes on bombing missions (raids) over Germany shuttle between their bases in England resp. Italy and bases in Russia.

Land and Live in the Desert

Land and Live in the Desert

December 11, 1945

Documentary short film depicting the correct methods of surviving the crash landing of a military aircraft in the desert. Methods of conserving water, providing shelter, and signaling for help are depicted.

Headline Hunters

December 10, 1945

Headline Hunters is an 11-minute 1945 Canadian documentary film, part of the wartime Canada Carries On series, produced by Alan Field. The short film was made by the National Film Board of Canada. The film was a tribute to Canadian war correspondents who reported from the front lines in the Second World War.

Commandos Strike at Walcheren

December 9, 1945

Documentary about the 1944 landing of British, Norwegian and Belgian commandos on the German-occupied island of Walcheren, The Netherlands.

Cayuga Mission

December 9, 1945

On the OSS Operational Group's assistance in helping to organize and coordinate partisan activities in Italy during World War II. Describes the success of the mission; shows the "Cayuga Team" at a briefing and parachuting, along with supplies, into the hilly Italian terrain.

Clippers at War

December 7, 1945

The history of how Pan American World Airways served the Allied cause during the Second World War, especially in the Pacific and China-Burma-India theaters.

Appointment in Tokyo

Appointment in Tokyo

December 7, 1945

Produced by the Army Pictorial Service, Signal Corps, with the cooperation of the Army Air Forces and the United States Navy, and released by Warner Bros. for the War Activities Committee shortly after the surrender of Japan. Follow General Douglas MacArthur and his men from their exile from the Philippines in early 1942, through the signing of the instrument of surrender on the USS Missouri on September 1, 1945. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

They Were Expendable

They Were Expendable

December 7, 1945

After a demonstration of new PT boats, navy brass are still unconvinced of their viability in combat, leaving Lt. "Rusty" Ryan frustrated. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, however, Ryan and his buddy Lt. Brickley are told they can finally take their squadron into battle. The PT boats quickly prove their worth, successfully shooting down Japanese planes, relaying messages between islands, and picking off a multitude of enemy ships.

The Army-Navy Screen Magazine: Japanese Americans

December 4, 1945

During World War II, Japanese Americans were forced to live under guard at several camps because of racist fears.

The Air Plan

The Air Plan

December 3, 1945

Eric Portman narrates this 1945 retrospective account from the RAF Film Production Unit, celebrating the RAF's role in tghe Normandy campaign, with outstanding footage of RAF Typhoons's blitzing targets with salvos of rockets and cannon fire.

A Walk in the Sun

A Walk in the Sun

December 25, 1945

In the 1943 invasion of Italy, one American platoon lands, digs in, then makes its way inland to attempt to take a fortified farmhouse, as tension and casualties mount.

Too Young to Know

Too Young to Know

December 1, 1945

A returning GI searches for the wife who left him and gave away their son.

Nazi Concentration Camps

Nazi Concentration Camps

November 29, 1945

Produced and presented as evidence at the Nuremberg war crimes trial of Hermann Göring and twenty other Nazi leaders, this film consists primarily of dead and surviving prisoners and of facilities used to kill and torture during the World War II.

What Next, Corporal Hargrove?

What Next, Corporal Hargrove?

November 21, 1945

An Army corporal and his con-man sidekick take a shortcut to heroism in World War II France.

Mighty Prince

Mighty Prince

November 17, 1945

This film revolves around Choghtu Khong Tayiji, a 17th century Mongolian prince who waged a campaign of independence against Tibetan and Manchu forces.

Prison Ship

Prison Ship

November 15, 1945

Panic arises among Allied POWs aboard a Japanese freighter when they learn that the ship is actually a decoy target for American submarines on night patrol. The prisoners unite and attack their Japanese captors just as an American sub surfaces and, not knowing the prisoners are aboard, prepares to torpedo the ship.