Movies: U S War Department

Prelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Pentagon and George C. Marshall. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the Axis Powers during World War II. Th...

The fifth film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, revealing the nature and process of the fight between the Soviet Union and Germany in the Second World War....

The second film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series. It introduces Germany as a nation whose aggressive ambitions began in 1863 with Otto von Bismarck and the Nazis as its latest incarnation....

Frank Capra-directed propaganda film produced during World War II depicting the United States' new enemy: Japan....

"Docudrama" about the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 and its results, the recovering of the ships, the improving of defense in Hawaii and the US efforts to beat back the Japanese reinforcements....

The third film of Frank Capra's 'Why We Fight" propaganda film series, dealing with the Nazi conquest of Western Europe in 1940....

Childhood friends Mary Lee and Vera receive two different versions of the 'birds and the bees' from their mothers. Mary Lee gets the facts, while Vera gets a prudish fairytale version. Their lives separate after graduation, Mary Lee becomes a nurse w...

The fourth of Frank Capra's Why We Fight series of seven propaganda films, which made the case for fighting and winning the Second World War. It was released in 1943 and concentrated on the German bombardment of the United Kingdom in anticipation of ...

The sixth film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series illustrates Japan's occupation of China, including Madame Chiang Kai-Shek's stirring address before congress, the rape of Nanking, the great 2,000 mile migration, and Claire Chennaul...

Oscar winning postwar propaganda film in support of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. Strident but poignant, focusing on children. The film surveys the Nazi/Japanese atrocities, post-war devastation and the early relief eff...

Documentary short film detailing the history of the American Women's Army Corps, the WACS. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, Academy War Film Collection, in 2009....

An official U.S. War Department film restricted in nature and produced by the US Army Pictorial Service, “The Japanese Army and Navy” is a black-and-white creation that “has been assembled from Japanese films and is designed for use in the Civil Affa...

A short documentary on German mines and their deployment in the campaign for North Africa during WWII....

This War Department bulletin from 1947 shows captured German V-2 Rockets being tested at White Sands, New Mexico. German scientist Wernher von Braun designed and helped develop this "vengeance" weapon at Peenemunde during WWII. This was the first lon...

Government documentary short explaining the usage and distribution of feature films donated by the motion picture industry for viewing by American troops....

Operation Titanic (code name Frantic - 1944) in WWII. Western Allies planes on bombing missions (raids) over Germany shuttle between their bases in England resp. Italy and bases in Russia....

Action at Angaur is a 1945 short documentary film created by the United States War Department during World War II. The film was created for the 7th War Loan drive[1] and documents the untried 81st Infantry "Wildcat" Division in the Battle of Angaur i...