United Newsreel selections from the year 1944, mainly concentrating on the effort of the United States in WWII, but also covering events on other fields of the War. Unfortunately, the newsreels are grouped alphabetically by subject and not by date, so there is no particular chronological order to them. Nonetheless, very interesting material.
Title: Four Fronts, 1944
Notes: Part 1, British and U.S. troops advance in northern France. Part 2, French troops take Sienna, Italy. Part 3, allied planes attack a German convoy in the English Channel. Part 4, Russian and captured German films show battle scenes along the Russian front.
Title: French Honor American Heroes [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, members of the 5th Inf. Div., including Gen. Stafford LeRoy Irwin, receive the Croix de Guerre at Metz. Part 2, U.S. soldiers help clear London rubble and rebuild homes. Part 3, Gen. Eisenhower wishes Merry Christmas to representatives of allied troops. Part 4, 17 Congressmen inspect battle lines near the German border and are greeted at Metz by Gen. Patton. Part 5, artillery bombards Kiel and German troops surrender. Other personages: Congressmen Matthew J. Merritt, Clare Boothe Luce, John Martin Costello, John Parnell Thomas.
Title: Gateway To Victory [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1 shows the aerial and amphibious assault on the beaches of Normandy. Part 2, U.S. troops enter Rome under the supervision of Gen. Clark. A mob attacks collaborationists. Pope Pius XII addresses the populace. Part 3 shows allied convoys landing on the Normandy beaches. Shows Gens. Eisenhower and Montgomery and Adm. Sir Bertram Ramsey.
Title: Gen. MacArthur Leads Attack On Admiralty Islands [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, shows an amphibious assault on the islands and troops fighting on Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. Part 2, Generalissimo and Madame Chiang Kai-shek inspect an airbase in China. Part 3, 10 dirigibles are used to train pilots in California. Part 4, service men on leave visit the Taj Mahal and the ruins of Pompeii. Part 5, fighters of the 8th Air Force down German planes.
Title: Global War Finds United Nations On Many Fronts [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, allied troops fight in New Guinea, in the Italian Alps, and at Anzio. German prisoners of war receive medical care. Nurses arrive, tend the wounded, eat, and draw equipment. Part 2, in a practice rescue, a doctor reaches a soldier by parachute and dog sled. Part 3, Italian naval cadets train on a sailing vessel. Part 4, rockets are used as practice targets for antiaircraft gunners. Part 5, U.S. and British sailors on leave play winter games. Part 6, Mrs. Doolittle christens the aircraft carrier Shangri-La. Flashbacks show B-25's taking off from the Hornet to bomb Japan. President Roosevelt decorates Gen. Doolittle.
Title: Grasshopper Planes On Bougainville [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, a light plane conducts reconnaissance on Bou-gainville, flying slowly at tree-top level. Artillery blasts Japanese positions, thus revealed, and infantry units advance. Part 2, Gov. Dewey, speaking from the New York State Capitol, welcomes the liberation of Paris. Part 3, allied troops invade southern France near Toulon in a combined amphibious and airborne assault. A coastal village is occupied after a raging battle between coastal batteries and naval guns. French underground members welcome the allies. Shows Gen. Patch, James Forrestal, and Adm. Hewitt in a landing craft.
Title: Headlines From The Far East [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, U.S. Air Force nurses land in China and are met by Chinese nurses. Elephants move British artillery in Burma. Part 2, Robert Montgomery, Clark Gable, and Irene Dunne witness the launching of the victory ship Carol Lombard. Flashback shows Miss Lombard entertaining in a USO show. Part 3, carrier-based planes bomb and strafe Japanese positions on New Britain Island. Marines wade ashore behind an intense naval bombardment and advance through jungle terrain.
Title: Heavy Rains Slow Allied Advance On Italian Front [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, soldiers and equipment advance. Gen. Mark Clark and his troops eat doughnuts. An army chaplain holds mass and wounded soldiers are treated. Part 2, aerial and amphibious assaults are made against Makin Island, in the Gilbert group, and New Britain. Troop reinforcements land on Bougainville, in the Solomons. A carrier task force battles Japanese kamikaze planes off the Marshall Islands.
Title: Huge Air Fleets Bomb Nazi War Plants IN Europe [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, R.A.F. Boston bombers strike war plants in occupied Europe in low-level attacks. Part 2, delegates from 40 nations meet at Temple University for a labor conference. Part 3, Sec. of the Navy Frank Knox is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Va. Part 4, airplane propellers are tested in a wind tunnel. Part 5, the carrier Bon Homme Richard is launched at an Atlantic coast shipyard. Part 6, 37th Division troops move inland on Bougainville supported by airplanes and tanks. Shows Gen. MacArthur and Adm. Nimitz.
Title: Last Liberty Ship Launched [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, Henry Kaiser witnesses the launching of a liberty ship at the Richmond, California, shipyard. Part 2, Henry Wallace meets Chiang Kai-shek in Chungking, plays volley ball with U.S. soldiers, and inspects a Chinese orphanage with Madame Chiang. Part 3, Sec. of the Treasury Morgenthau opens the U.N. Monetary Conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. Part 4, Gen. de Gaulle is met at the Washington, D.C., airport by Gens. Marshall and Arnold. Pres. Roosevelt, Cordell Hull, Harold Ickes, James Forrestal greet de Gaulle at the White House. Gen. de Gaulle speaks to the American people from New York City.
Title: MacArthur Returns To The Philippines [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, naval guns bombard the beaches of Leyte and carrier-based planes bomb the island defenses. The amphibious assault begins. Shows Gens. MacArthur and Wainwright and Adm. Halsey. Part 2, Red Cross personnel pack food parcels for Americans imprisoned in Germany. Part 3, cadets parade at Uruguay's military academy in Montevideo. Part 4, a MARK I calculator at Harvard University solves math problems. Part 5, Marines capture pillboxes and dugouts on Peleliu Island. Part 6, the 5th Army breaks through the Gothic line in Italy behind artillery and tanks.
Title: Medals For Heroes [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, 2,600 airmen who participated in the Normandy landing are decorated by Gen. Paul Williams. Other decorations are presented to civilians and soldiers in London. Part 2 shows how the Belgian underground complicated the German withdrawal from Antwerp. British and Canadian troops enter the city. Citizens beat collaborationists and wreck their homes. Part 3, Gen. Marshall and Justice Byrnes arrive in Paris and are met by Gen. Eisenhower. Part 4, U.S. troops advance on Aachen, Germany. Part 5, English soldiers are welcomed in Greece. Combined units advance to fight and build an airstrip.
Title: Navy Flying Boat, World's Largest, Makes Record Hop [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1 shows the "Mars" and its crew en route to Hawaii from California. Part 2, shows test firings of a 240 mm howitzer. Part 3, women manufacture gun cotton. Part 4, Canadian motorcycle dispatch riders take their final cross-country riding tests. Part 5, SPARS go ice boating near Boston. Part 6, 1,000 families near Naples leave the caves where they had lived for safety from bombs. They receive food from the U.S. army. Ship-to-shore oil pipe lines are laid. Allied troops attack Ortona, Italy.
Title: Navy Launches World's Mightiest Battleship [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, Margaret Truman christens the Missouri. Part 2, shows a bond rally in New York's Chinatown. Part 3, copper is mined and smelted in Chile. Part 4, shows tests of an Air Forces fire truck which uses carbon dioxide. Part 5, Canadian sailors take physical training in snow. Part 6, allied troops fight in Italy. Includes scenes of the all-Negro 99th Fighter Squadron.
Title: Navy Planes Down Japanese IN Pacific Battle [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, a U.S. carrier task force in Japanese waters repulses a Japanese aerial assault. Part 2, Gen. Somervell speaks at a West Point graduation. Cadets pass in review. Shows Mrs. Eisenhower and her son John. Part 3, Chinese air cadets see an Indian dance festival in New Mexico. Part 4, shows a military parade in New York City launching the 5th War Bond drive. Part 5, Gen. Clark reviews allied service women in Italy. Part 6, airborne troops jump from transports and troops land in gliders in a practice assault.
Title: Nazi Exodus From Rome [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, German troops retreat through the streets of Rome as U.S. troops enter and clear out snipers. Germans are captured. Part 2 shows newly opened air raid shelters in London. Part 3, German positions near Cherbourg are bombed. U.S. troops liberate French villages. Part 4, Pope Pius XII blesses U.S. troops in the Vatican.
Title: New Allied Army Lands IN Italy South of Rome [etc.], 1944
Notes: Part 1, the invasion fleet assembles and troops land between Nettuno and Anzio. German planes attack the force. Part 2, Chinese troops rout the Japanese at Changteh, China. Civilians return to their ruined city and are given money for food. Part 3, U.S. troops fight on Makin Island in the Pacific. Planes bomb and strafe Japanese positions. Shows Lt. Col. James Roosevelt.
Title: New Films of U.S. Victory IN The Marshall Islands, 1944
Notes: Kwajalein is bombarded from the air, from naval guns off shore, and from artillery batteries on a nearby atoll. U.S. troops land and advance inland under a constant artillery barrage. Flamethrowers and pack charges are used against pillboxes. Japanese prisoners are deloused and given medical treatment. Adm. Nimitz witnesses the raising of the American flag.
DVD-R IS IN ENGLISH WITH NO SUBTITLES. VARIABLE QUALITY, BUT OVERALL VERY GOOD.
APPROXIMATELY 147 MINS.
