The Battle of China (1944)

The Official World War II US Government account of Chinese defense against Japanese aggression.

Directors:

Frank Capra (uncredited), Anatole Litvak (uncredited)

Writers:

Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein

Stars:

Claire Chennault, Kai-Shek Chiang, Madame Chiang

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
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	...	Self (archive footage)
Anthony Eden	...	Self (archive footage)
William F. Halsey	...	Self (looks up from desk) (archive footage)
Hirohito	...	Self (archive footage)
Walter Huston	...	Abraham Lincoln (voice)
Douglas MacArthur	...	Self (archive footage)
William Mayer	...	Self (as Col. William Mayer)
Louis Mountbatten	...	Self (archive footage)
Puyi	...	Self (archive footage) (as Henry Pu-yi)
Franklin D. Roosevelt	...	Self (archive footage) (as Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
Joseph W. Stilwell	...	Self (archive footage)

Storyline

In this installment of the "Why We Fight" propaganda series, we learn about the country of China and its people. With a brief history of the country, we also learn of why the Japanese wanted to conquer it and felt confident about succeeding. Finally, the history of the war in that theatre is illustrated and shows the stiff determination of the Chinese who use all their resources to oppose Japanese aggression to the end.

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Plot Keywords:

propaganda | battle of changsha | sino japanese war | chungking china | shanghai china | 

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Genres:

Documentary | History | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This documentary is the sixth film in Frank Capra's seven-film 'Why We Fight' documentary film series.

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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.

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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.

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Alternate Versions

A patriotic Australian version includes a brief epilogue exhorting Australians to resist the Japanese.

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Connections

Features The Battle of Russia (1943)

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Soundtracks

The Army Air Corps Song
(uncredited)
Written by Robert Crawford

User Reviews

WW2 Capra

Battle of China, The (1944)

*** (out of 4)

WW2 documentary from Frank Capra tells the history of China and their wars as well as how they got involved in WW2 and what they had to do to defend themselves. As with Capra's other WW2 docs, this one here contains some great battle footage, which is pretty remarkable to see. I also find it incredibly interesting at how Capra set these films up so that the viewer gets to know every little detail of how the war was fought. Sensitive viewers might want to stay clear because this is a pretty damn violent film that shows several people being executed by the Nazis and there's also some graphic footage of some babies that were executed.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 April 2005 (Czech Republic)

Also Known As:

The Battle of China: Assault on the Great Wall

Company Credits

Production Co:

Army Service Forces, Morale Services Division, U.S. Army Signal Corps

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1