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| Why We Fight | |
|---|---|
 Intertitle for the seven-film series | |
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| Directed by | |
| Screenplay by | |
| Produced by | Frank Capra |
| Narrated by |
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| Cinematography | Robert J. Flaherty |
| Edited by | William Hornbeck |
| Music by | |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | |
Running time | 417 minutes (7 films) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Why We Fight is a series of sevenpropaganda films produced by theUS Department of War from 1942 to 1945, duringWorld War II. It was originally written for American soldiers to make them support theUnited States' involvement in the war, but US PresidentFranklin Roosevelt ordered distribution forpublic viewing.
Academy Award-winning filmmakerFrank Capra, daunted but impressed and challenged byLeni Riefenstahl's 1935propaganda filmTriumph of the Will, worked in direct response. The series faced various challenges, such as convincing anoninterventionist nation to get involved in the war and to become an ally of theSoviet Union. Many entries featureAxis powers' propaganda footage from up to 20 years earlier, recontextualized to promote theAllies.
Although primarily edited byWilliam Hornbeck, some parts were re-enacted "underWar Department supervision" if no relevant footage was available. Animated segments were produced byWalt Disney Productions, and the animated maps followed a convention of depicting Axis-occupied territory in black. In 2000, the USLibrary of Congress deemed the films "culturally significant" and selected them for preservation in theNational Film Registry.[1][2]
After the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and America's subsequent joiningWorld War II, American film directorFrank Capra enlisted with the armed forces. He was already an established Hollywood director responsible for directingAcademy Award-winning films such asIt Happened One Night (1934) andMr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). He was assigned to work directly underGeorge Marshall, theChief of Staff of the United States Army. Marshall felt that theSignal Corps, an army branch responsible for communications, was incapable of producing "sensitive and objective troop information films". One colonel explained the importance of these future films to Capra:
You were the answer to the General's prayer. ... You see, Frank, this idea about films to explain "Why" the boys are in uniform is General Marshall's own baby, and he wants the nursery right next to his Chief of Staff's office.[3]
During his first meeting with Marshall, Capra received his mission:
Now, Capra, I want to nail down with you a plan to make a series of documented, factual-information films—the first in our history—that will explain to our boys in the Armywhy we are fighting, and theprinciples for which we are fighting. ... You have an opportunity to contribute enormously to your country and the cause of freedom. Are you aware of that, sir?[4]
Shortly after his meeting with General Marshall, Capra viewedLeni Riefenstahl's "terrifying motion picture",Triumph of the Will. Capra describes the film[when?] as "the ominous prelude of Hitler's holocaust of hate. Satan couldn't have devised a more blood-chilling super-spectacle. ... Though panoplied with all the pomp and mystical trappings of a Wagnerian opera, its message was as blunt and brutal as a lead pipe: We, the Herrenvolk, are the new invincible gods!"[5][page needed]
According to Capra,Triumph of the Will "fired no gun, dropped no bombs. But as a psychological weapon aimed at destroying the will to resist, it was just as lethal." Capra still had no assistants or facilities, and he began to see his assignment as overwhelming:
I sat alone and pondered. How could I mount a counterattack againstTriumph of the Will; keep aliveour will to resist the master race? I was alone; no studio, no equipment, no personnel.[5][page needed]
Capra made his primary focus the creation of "one basic, powerful idea" that would spread and evolve into other related ideas. He considered one important idea that had always been in his thoughts:
I thought of the Bible. There was one sentence in it that always gave me goose pimples: "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."[5]
As a result, his goal became to "let theenemy prove to our soldiers the enormity of his cause—and the justness of ours." He would compile enemy speeches, films, newsreels, newspaper articles, with a list of the enemy's hostile actions. He presented his ideas to other officers who were now assigned to help him:
I told them of my hunch: Use the enemy's own films to expose their enslaving ends. Let our boys hear the Nazis and the Japs shout their own claims of master-race crud—and our fighting men willknow why they are in uniform.[5]
Weeks later, after major efforts and disappointments, Capra located hard-to-reach archives within government facilities, and by avoiding normal channels, he was able to gain access:
Peterson and I walked away on air. We had found the great cache of enemy films—and it was ours![5]
Produced from 1942 to 1945, the seven installments range from 40 to 76 minutes in length, and all are available for free onDVD or online since they have always beenpublic domain material by the US government. All are directed byFrank Capra and narrated byWalter Huston alongside radio actorsElliott Lewis,Harry von Zell, film actorLloyd Nolan and others. The score is performed by theArmy Air Force Orchestra.[14]
The films employed a great deal ofstock footage, including enemy propaganda (such as the Nazis'Triumph of the Will) recontextualized to discredit its creators. Other scenes were performed. Animation was produced byDisney Studios. The quotation ending each film ("The victory of the democracies can only be complete with theutter defeat of the war machines of Germany and Japan") is from theArmy Chief of StaffGeorge Marshall.
Prelude to War andThe Battle of China refer to theTanaka Memorial several times by portraying it as "Japan'sMein Kampf" in order to raise US morale for a protracted war against Japan. The authenticity of that document is not accepted by scholars today, and it is regarded as ananti-Japanese hoax, but theTanaka Memorial was widely accepted as authentic in the 1930s and the 1940s because Japanese actions corresponded so closely to its plans.
To justify theWestern Allies' help to theSoviet Union, the series omitted many facts which could have cast the Soviets in a negative light, such as theSoviet occupation of the Baltic States and theWinter War. However, it shows theMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact being signed and theSoviet invasion of Poland.[15]
AfterWorld War I, methods used to gain support from troops and civilians needed to change. Giving speeches to soldier recruits and to the US public was no longer effective. Film became the medium of choice to persuade US soldiers and recruits on why fighting was necessary.[16] As Kathleen German stated, "this was the first massive attempt to influence opinion in the U.S. military" through film.[17] Film was also chosen because it combined the senses of sight and hearing, which gives it an advantage over radio or print.[18] Capra, who had no experience in documentary films, was chosen because "of his commitment to American ideals" and because of the popularity of some of his earlier feature films. He was thought "to understand the heart and soul of American audiences".[16] Once the documentary series was completed, it was said to contain the "Capra touch".[19]
The series's appeal was furthered by its editing. "Throughout his career, Capra depended upon his skill as an editor to achieve the contrast of the individual and the group, critical in the success of his Hollywood movies."[20] Capra thought that it would be most effective to use the enemy's original film and propaganda in the series to expose the enemies with their own images. By taking pieces of the enemy material to edit together and placing his own narration over the results, Capra gave meaning and purpose to the war with added narrative.[21] That "parallel editing"[22] created an "us vs. them" image by re-framing and showing clips out of their original order and context.
By such careful editing, the films compare and contrast the forces of evil with the U.S. and its traditional values. Capra highlighted the differences between the US and the enemy and showed how the enemy would attack these values if "we" did not fight.[23][page needed] That worked to create a battle not only betweenAllies and theAxis powers but also between good and evil. Capra treated it as a matter of showing the enormity of the Axis and the justness of the Allies.[24]
TheWhy We Fight series became a heavily used means of presenting information about Axis powers for the American government during WWII. General Surles, director of the Department of War's Bureau of Public Relations, had hoped that the series would be effective enough to allow similar kinds of army films to be shown to the general public.[25] Surles saw that goal to be realized when US PresidentFranklin Roosevelt watchedPrelude to War, the most successful of the seven. Roosevelt considered it so important that he ordered its distribution in civilian arenas for public viewing.[21] However, some objections were raised against the series due to its persuasiveness.Lowell Mellett, coordinator of government films and aide to Roosevelt, saw the films as dangerous. He was most concerned with the effect that the series would have after the war was over and the "hysteria" that it would create in its wake.[25] At least 54 million Americans had seen the series by the end of the war, and studies were done to gauge the impact of the films. However, results were inconclusive, and so the effectiveness of the series is still disputed.[26]
Created by the US Army Pictorial Services, the films are in thepublic domain, and all of them are available for download on theInternet Archive.
Capra was involved in a number of other World War II propaganda films that were not part of theWhy We Fight series. He directed or co-directed the following films:
Capra also produced the 43-minute filmThe Negro Soldier (1944), directed byStuart Heisler, and the 42-minute filmKnow Your Ally: Britain (1944), directed byRobert Stevenson andAnthony Veiller.
Capra also directed, uncredited, the 13-minute 1945military training filmYour Job in Germany, written byDr. Seuss.
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