Report from the Aleutians

Unrated

7/30/194347m

Theatrical Release (US)

Overview:

A documentary propaganda film produced by the U.S. Army Signal Corps about the Aleutian Islands Campaign during World War II. The film opens with a map showing the strategic importance of the island, and the thrust of the 1942 Japanese offensive into Midway and Dutch Harbor. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Director:

John Huston

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

world war ii
strategic air command
us army
alaska
aerial combat
bomber pilot
pacific theater
battle strategy
bombardier
signal corps
u.s. army air corps
american soldiers
bomber command
wartime propaganda

Cast

John Huston

~ as ~

Narrator (voice)

Walter Huston

~ as ~

Voices of officers (voice)

Milton Ashkin

~ as ~

Himself - USAAF Fighter Pilot (as Maj. Milton Ashkin)

Lyle A. Bean

~ as ~

Himself - USAAF Fighter Pilot (as Lt. Lyle A. Bean)

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 5 month(s) ago
6
Isn’t it interesting that when large-scale civilian projects are commissioned, even now, they can take years yet when the military get their teeth into something - it can be achieved in weeks, or even days? In this considerably more sophisticated than your usual wartime propaganda exercise designed for internal consumption in the USA, we see just how effectively the American forces have overcome the natural terrain and hostile climate of these remote islands at the bottom of the Bering Sea to reclaim land and build facilities capable of taking the war in the Pacific Ocean much close to their Japanese foe. Using an extensive and impressive collection of films, this follows the activities at work and at play of those tasked with building this base as well as those operating out of it. We go on extended missions over enemy territory for both reconnaissance and more deadly purposes; see how the men relax, how they worship and for a time it is almost as if we are there living with them. John Huston made the film and he narrates it with an impassioned pride that offers us less in the way of superlatives and a little more of the sense of the peril and menace as the bombing runs expose these gents to a formidable array of defensive systems that are in in no way overwhelmed by these “harassing” missions. It’s clearly trying to point out that this is a battle for the longer-term: there are no quick victories to be had here. There’s a stoicism evident amongst the airmen in this film that is about as far removed from Hollywood as you can get, and though some judicious editing might have better condensed it’s message from an overlong forty minutes, it’s a good example of bravery and wartime photography working tandem.