Credited cast: | |||
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Claire Chennault | ... | Himself (archive footage) |
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Kai-Shek Chiang | ... | Himself (archive footage) |
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Madame Chiang | ... | Herself (archive footage) (as Madame Chiang Kai-shek) |
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Teh Chu | ... | Himself (archive footage) |
Winston Churchill | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
Anthony Eden | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
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William F. Halsey | ... | Himself (looks up from desk) (archive footage) |
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Hirohito | ... | Himself (archive footage) |
Walter Huston | ... | Abraham Lincoln (voice) | |
Douglas MacArthur | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
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William Mayer | ... | Himself (as Col. William Mayer) |
Louis Mountbatten | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
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Puyi | ... | Himself (archive footage) (as Henry Pu-yi) |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | ... | Himself (archive footage) (as Franklin Delano Roosevelt) | |
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Joseph W. Stilwell | ... | Himself (archive footage) |
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. Written by Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com>
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.