Film Snail

War

They Stooge to Conga

They Stooge to Conga

January 1, 1943

The Stooges are repairmen who get a job fixing the doorbell in large house which is the secret headquarters of some Nazi spies. They manage to ruin most of the house while working on the wiring and then subdue the spies and sink an enemy submarine by remote control.

P-38 Flight Characteristics

January 1, 1943

Training film for pilots of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning pursuit aircraft, focusing particularly on flight characteristics during operation on only one engine.

How to Fly the P-47: Ground Handling, Take Off, Normal Flight

January 1, 1943

War Department Training Film No. 107-B. This is the second in a series of pictures introducing pilots to the P-47. A third picture will cover high altitude flight and aerobatics. In this film you will see GROUND HANDLING ... TAKE-OFF ... NORMAL FLIGHT ... LANDING Presented by the Army Air Forces in cooperation with Republic Aviation (1943)

Air War in Europe

January 1, 1943

1943 US Army Air Forces film documentary

Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike

Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike

January 1, 1943

The second film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series. It introduces Germany as a nation whose aggressive ambitions began in 1863 with Otto von Bismarck and the Nazis as its latest incarnation.

Combat America

Combat America

January 1, 1943

Produced in 1943 under the guidance of Army Air Force Lieutenant Clark Gable, this film follows a single 8th Air Force B-17 crew from training through a series of missions over Europe.

Stand by for Action

Stand by for Action

December 31, 1942

U. S. Navy Lieutenant Gregg Masterman, of The Harvard and Boston Back Bay Mastermans, learned about the sea while winning silver cups sailing his yacht. He climbs swiftly in rank, and is now Junior Aide to Rear Admiral Stephen Thomas.

Commandos Strike at Dawn

Commandos Strike at Dawn

December 30, 1942

A gentle widower, enraged at Nazi atrocities against his peaceful Norwegian fishing village, escapes to Britain and returns leading a commando force against the oppressors.

Barney Bear's Victory Garden

Barney Bear's Victory Garden

December 25, 1942

Barney Bear grows a victory garden that a gopher is only too happy to gobble up.

Reunion in France

Reunion in France

December 25, 1942

Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, an opponent of the Nazis in German-occupied Paris, hides a downed American flyer, Pat Talbot, and attempts to get him safely out of the country.

Lady from Chungking

Lady from Chungking

December 21, 1942

During World War II, Chinese guerrillas fight against the occupying Japanese forces. A young woman is the secret leader of the villagers, who plot to rescue two downed Flying Tigers pilots who are currently in the custody of the Japanese. The rescue mission takes on even more importance with the arrival of a Japanese general, which signals a major offensive taking place in the area.

The Great Impersonation

The Great Impersonation

December 18, 1942

An Englishman kills a German look-alike and poses as a Nazi spy in London.

Journey for Margaret

Journey for Margaret

December 17, 1942

An American newspaperman and his wife, end up in London after several retreats in the opening days of WWII. After a shrapnel wound and loss of her baby she returns to America. War weary, he is forced to do a story about war orphans, where he meets Margaret.

Madame Spy

Madame Spy

December 11, 1942

Joan Bannister is the wife of globe-trotting war correspondent David Bannister. Returning to the US, Bannister becomes suspicious when Joan begins keeping company with known Nazi functionaries, notably the sinister Mr. Peter. Suspecting that his own wife may be the elusive “Madame Spy” wanted by American authorities, Bannister is in for quite a few surprises.

China Girl

China Girl

December 9, 1942

Two-fisted newsreel photographer Johnny Williams is stationed in Burma and China in the early stage of WW II. Captured by the Japanese, he escapes from a concentration camp with the aid of beautiful, enigmatic 'China Girl' Miss Young. The two arduously make their way back to friendly lines so that Johnny can deliver the vital military information he's managed to glean from his captors.

Went the Day Well?

Went the Day Well?

December 7, 1942

The quiet village of Bramley End is taken over by German troops posing as Royal Engineers. Their task is to disrupt England's radar network in preparation for a full scale German invasion. Once the villagers discover the true identity of the troops, they do whatever they can to thwart the Nazis plans.

Army Surgeon

Army Surgeon

December 4, 1942

Drama about military doctors and nurses during wartime.

Thunder Rock

Thunder Rock

December 4, 1942

David Charleston, once a world renowned journalist, now lives alone maintaining the Thunder Rock lighthouse in Lake Michigan. He doesn't cash his paychecks and has no contact other than the monthly inspector's visit. When alone, he imagines conversations with those who died when a 19th century packet ship with some 60 passengers sank. He imagines their lives, their problems, their fears and their hopes. In one of these conversations, he recalls his own efforts in the 1930s when he desperately tried to convince first his editors, and later the public, of the dangers of fascism and the inevitability of war. Few would listen. One of the passengers, a spinster, tells her story of seeking independence from a world dominated by men. There's also the case of a doctor who is banished for using unacceptable methods. David has given up on life, but the imaginary passengers give him hope for the future.

The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya

The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya

December 3, 1942

Japanese Navy air cadets train for the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the HMS Prince of Wales.

Divine Soldiers of the Sky

December 1, 1942

In September 1942, the film company Nipponeigasha released Sora no Shinpei, a 55-minute documentary on the training of the Japanese army’s paratroopers. The movie was supported and supervised by the Army Aviation Headquarters and clearly belongs to the genre of kokusaku (national policy) films that fully complied with the government’s wartime ideology. The film followed a group of young soldiers through all stages of their training, starting form initial gymnastics, parachute packing, leaps from a mock-up aircraft and a jump tower up to their first deployment out of a flying aircraft. The movie and its eponymous theme song became widely popular. It was even screened in the occupied territories with the local audience reportedly waving their hands and stamping their feet to greet “the saviors” descending from the sky.