Film Snail

War

Candlelight in Algeria

Candlelight in Algeria

March 19, 1944

Candlelight in Algeria is a 1944 British war film directed by George King and starring James Mason, Carla Lehmann and Raymond Lovell. This drama follows the exploits of Eisenhower's top aide, Mark Clark, and other important Allies as they journey to an important meeting held on Algeria's coast. The precise location of this vital secret gathering is upon a piece of film which must not fall into enemy hands

See Here, Private Hargrove

See Here, Private Hargrove

March 18, 1944

Journalist Marion Hargrove enters the Army intending to supplement his income by writing about his training experiences. He muddles through basic training at Fort Bragg with the self-serving help of a couple of buddies intent on cutting themselves in on that extra income.

Four Jills in a Jeep

Four Jills in a Jeep

March 17, 1944

Reenactments of actual USO experiences of its female stars entertaining troops overseas.

Prices Unlimited

March 16, 1944

Two young women, frustrated by war rationing, have a dream illustrating the likely results on prices in America should the measure were prematurely lifted. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2008.

Two-Man Submarine

Two-Man Submarine

March 16, 1944

Medical researchers Jerry Evans and Walt Hedges are assigned by a pharmaceutical company to work at a secret laboratory on a remote South Pacific Island in order to produce penicillium, the mold from which the magic drug penicillin is derived.

Land and Live in the Jungle

Land and Live in the Jungle

March 14, 1944

In this World War II military training film, a B-25 crew bails out over the jungle, and the pilot is separated from the rest of of his crew. The two groups of soldiers must survive until they can meet up and be rescued. The pilot does almost everything wrong, and the rest of his crew does almost everything right. We learn, by both bad and good example, how to survive in the jungle.

China Crisis: The Story of the 14th Air Force

March 14, 1944

This documentary depicts the American effort to support the Chinese government before and during the Second World War, by means of transport flights of materiel from India to China, by the fierce defense of China skies by the pilots of the American Volunteer Group (The Flying Tigers), and the subsequent absorption and augmentation of that unit by the U.S. Army Air Forces' Fourteenth Air Force. Also depicted are the millions of refugees fleeing the Japanese armies and the relocation of equipment, personnel, and (sometimes) civilians in advance of the invaders.

Trans-Canada Express

March 14, 1944

This short documentary from the Canada Carries On series celebrates the contribution of Canada’s railroads to the war effort. The film includes a sequence from Buster Keaton's 1926 silent comedy The General, as well as a re-enactment of Lord Strathcona driving the final spike into the Canadian Pacific Railway Line.

Train Busters

March 14, 1944

This short film depicts the strength and resources of the Royal Canadian Air Force, with its 32 overseas squadrons. It includes footage that explains the Allied air strategy of hitting the German army's nerve centres and features Canadian airplanes destroying a German munitions train.

This Is Guadalcanal

March 14, 1944

This U.S. Marine Corps documentary from 1944 showcases the battle of Guadalcanal. The small island of Guadalcanal was, like many of the Pacific islands, defended with great determination by the Japanese forces. Both the landing on the beaches and the subsequent inland fighting resulted in heavy casualties for the Americans - and the Japanese fought to almost the last man and the last bullet.

The 957th Day

March 14, 1944

The 957th Day was a propaganda short produced by the US Navy in 1944. The film uses authentic battle footage of the taking of Guam on July 21, 1944, and one narration follows the battle chronologically, while another narration mimics a radio news caster voice.

Expansion to Air Power

March 14, 1944

WWII Documentary about the expansion of the USAAF

London Terminus

March 13, 1944

Documentary depicting all the various different jobs that go to keep Waterloo Station running, illustrated via the device of one of the porters and his girl going to the local news cinema to watch a film about the station.

Fighting Sea-Fleas

March 13, 1944

First half of film portrays life in port, including rum issue, distribution of letters, and taking on ammunition, the remainder tells the story of an action against German S-boats, in a stock-shot compilation including some captured film. Officers briefed; boats leave harbour, put to sea, "action", a Nazi naval flag is reclaimed from wreckage in the sea, and the motor torpedo boat (MTB) returns to port flying it below the British White Ensign. Film ends with a sequence showing the funeral of a Canadian seaman.

Fighter Combat Formation: Attacks and Escorts

March 13, 1944

An ace fighter pilot captain expects to get leave, but instead is ordered to Washington, where a colonel explains that mounting casualties among fighter pilots require new, battle-tested tactics in combat. The captain sets out to train a group of young and relatively inexperienced pilots in the new methods. Fighter planes are used as both attack aircraft and as escorts for heavy bombers, and a variety of flight patterns and defensive and offensive maneuvers are explained to the young pilots.

Air Siege

Air Siege

March 13, 1944

A recount of the bombing campaign by the United States Army's Fifteenth Air Force against the oilfields and refineries in and around Ploesti, Romania during World War II.

Break-through

March 13, 1944

On June 6, 1944, supported by an immense naval armada, Allied troops, including the First Canadian Army, led by General Harry Crerar, launch an amphibious invasion of Normandy, France. Facing a fierce resistance by Nazi forces, the Allied armies establish a beachhead on the Normandy coast. Seeking redemption after their earlier rout at the Dieppe raid in 1942, the Canadians are able to gain control of Juno Beach. Before regrouping for an advance into France, Allied troops are replenished by transport of war materiél and reinforcements. The Canadian contingent is tasked with an attack on Caen, France, held by the German 7th Army.

Battle Wreckage

March 13, 1944

This historic documentary focuses on why large quantities of war materials, especially steel, are needed to win the war. Also featured is footage on the sea battle and beachhead landing of the Normandy invasion.

Position Firing

Position Firing

March 13, 1944

Hapless B-17 waist gunner "Trigger Joe" learns how to adjust his aim, to take into account the relative motion of his aircraft, his bullets, and the attacking enemy fighter.

Elementary and Pylon Eights

Elementary and Pylon Eights

March 13, 1944

This government documentary short film demonstrates for Army Air Forces pilots in World War II the safe execution of a variety of aeronautical maneuvers. An instructor, using animation, shows the proper procedure for setting up and executing S-turns, elementary figure eights, and pylon figure eights. Illustrating the right and wrong ways to perform these maneuvers are the animated characters Wilbur Right and Wilbur Wrong.