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The Battle of China

  • 19441944
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 5m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
732
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
170,687
56,546
The Battle of China (1944)
DocumentaryHistoryWar
The Official World War II US Government account of Chinese defense against Japanese aggression.The Official World War II US Government account of Chinese defense against Japanese aggression.The Official World War II US Government account of Chinese defense against Japanese aggression.
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
732
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
170,687
56,546
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Directors
      • Frank Capra(uncredited)
      • Anatole Litvak(uncredited)
    • Writers
      • Confucius(book "Analects")
      • Julius J. Epstein
      • Philip G. Epstein
    • Stars
      • Claire Chennault(archive footage)
      • Kai-Shek Chiang(archive footage)
      • Madame Chiang(archive footage)
    Top credits
    • Directors
      • Frank Capra(uncredited)
      • Anatole Litvak(uncredited)
    • Writers
      • Confucius(book "Analects")
      • Julius J. Epstein
      • Philip G. Epstein
    • Stars
      • Claire Chennault(archive footage)
      • Kai-Shek Chiang(archive footage)
      • Madame Chiang(archive footage)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 11User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Awards
      • 1 win

    Photos

    The Battle of China (1944)
    Adolf Hitler in Why We Fight (1942)
    War Comes to America (1945)
    The Battle of China (1944)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Claire Chennault
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Kai-Shek Chiang
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Madame Chiang
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (as Madame Chiang Kai-shek)
    Teh Chu
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Winston Churchill
    Winston Churchill
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Anthony Eden
    Anthony Eden
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    William F. Halsey
    William F. Halsey
    • Self (looks up from desk)
    • (archive footage)
    Hirohito
    Hirohito
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Walter Huston
    Walter Huston
    • Abraham Lincoln
    • (voice)
    Douglas MacArthur
    Douglas MacArthur
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    William Mayer
    • Self
    • (as Col. William Mayer)
    Louis Mountbatten
    Louis Mountbatten
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Puyi
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (as Henry Pu-yi)
    Franklin D. Roosevelt
    Franklin D. Roosevelt
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (as Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
    Joseph W. Stilwell
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Yat-sen Sun
    Yat-sen Sun
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (as Dr. Sun Yat Sen)
    Gi-ichi Tanaka
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (as Baron Tanaka)
    Anthony Veiller
    Anthony Veiller
    • Narrator
    • (voice)
    • Directors
      • Frank Capra(uncredited)
      • Anatole Litvak(uncredited)
    • Writers
      • Confucius(book "Analects") (uncredited)
      • Julius J. Epstein
      • Philip G. Epstein
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In the year 2000, the United States Library of Congress mandated that this film (and the other six documentaries in the Why We Fight series) were "culturally significant" and selected them for preservation in the National Film Registry.
    • Goofs
      Although the film lionizes the Nationalist Army of Chiang Kai-Shek, a frequent leitmotif in the film's soundtrack is "The Song of the Volunteers", a Communist marching song that would become the national anthem of the People's Republic of China after Mao Zedong won the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
    • Quotes

      Narrator: But what kind of people are the Chinese? Well, in four thousand years of continuous history, China has never fought a war of aggression. They're *that* kind of people.

    • Alternate versions
      A patriotic Australian version includes a brief epilogue exhorting Australians to resist the Japanese.
    • Connections
      Featured in Xie rou chang cheng (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      Isle of the Dead
      (uncredited)

      Music by Sergei Rachmaninoff

    User reviews11

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Textbook documentary (propoganda)
    This is direct text book documentary propaganda. You could base a documentary class around this.

    It is Capra's World War II documentary about China's turmoil with Japan.

    Obviously, we were at war with Japan, and allied with China.

    Even today, it could fool some people, but most people have seen just how horrific those "marches" were.

    Back to back with Russia, China is shown in the film to strategically move everything Westward, away from Japan. Back to back with Russia, they could use industry, relatively safe with their ally, against Japan, because Russia had to do the same with Germany.

    The mass migration, the mass deployments, the mass use of labor, all are shown in true propaganda form as being strategic and heroic. Incredibly, these same images are used today to show immense brutality and inhumanity, as we value human life much more today.

    In the forties, patriotism and Nationalism were prize feelings, for better or worse.
    helpful•8
    3
    • drystyx
    • Jul 14, 2011

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 6, 2005 (Czech Republic)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Battle of China: Assault on the Great Wall
    • Production companies
      • Army Service Forces
      • Morale Services Division
      • U.S. Army Signal Corps
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 5 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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