Torpedo Squadron: No one has seen the entire
film except the producers and a few families on the home front.
Ford was on the island of Midway during the battle in 1942 and personally
supervised, or himself filmed, the action there. Others of his crew
were at sea aboard carriers. A good deal of color footage was shot.
By happenstance, some of the footage focused on the pilots and crew
members of Torpedo Squadron 8. Some of the shots showed them as
a group, and others showed them as individuals, going about their
business, laughing and joking around their airplanes. The Navy men
flew obsolete torpedo planes, called Devestators. Because of what
Clausewitz called "the fog of war," they arrived at their
targets unescorted by fighters and all of the torpedo planes were
shot down. There was only one survivor. Of course Ford knew this
when he was assembling the film, so among the opening credits is
a plaque reading, "In Memoriam." Releasing a film like
this for general distribution was out of the question in wartime,
so, as I understand it, Ford saw to it, or tried to see to it, that
copies of the film went only to the families of Torpedo Squadron
8. Some few minutes of the film can be seen in a TV production,
"John Ford Goes to War."
The Battle of Midway: The Battle of Midway is
considered WW II propaganda ala John Ford. The first 9 minutes
of this documentary of the battle of Midway was devoted to the
fighting by the US ground troops on Midway. This was actually
a minor part of the battle, but provided great footage for the
film. The overall effect was very stirring, especially the byplay
between Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell. This must have been very
comforting to the folks at home when shown in the theaters. I
enjoyed it very much.
This incredible compilation of footage won an Academy Award. It
was shot by a crew of war cameramen that included John Ford, who
I understand actually took some of the footage himself! While
watching this, remember that you generally can effectively aim
either a camera or a weapon at any one time, but not both and,
as a cameraman has his eye to the lens while shooting, that means
that he's exposed to all of the nasty stuff flying all around
him with little or no cover! That's called "grace under pressure".
They got an Oscar and deserved a medal! Highly recommended.
Sex Hygiene: Every GI who has ever seen this
never forgets it. Even though it was made in 1941, it was shown
to new soldiers on a regular basis for at least 25 years. It could
well be showing now, for all we know. The film is interesting
because it is far better produced and acted than virtually any
other training film ever made. It was directed by John Ford, produced
by Darryl Zanuck, and featured professional Hollywood actors of
the caliber of Robert Lowery and George Reeves. If that wasn't
enough to set it apart from the run-of-the-mill training film,
then the footage of diseased faces, lips and other body parts
was. Even more horrifying than that, though (for a newly enlisted
18- or 19-year-old, at least) was the footage of what someone
who was suspected of having syphilis (which, by 1941 morality,
meant anyone who had sexual contact of any kind) had to go through.
Soldiers were required to report any sexual contact they may have
had, and had to be examined by a doctor and given preventive "treatment"
(which involved a procedure too graphic and, frankly, nauseating
to describe here). The film served its purpose, temporarily at
least--if Hedy Lamar and Betty Grable had shown up naked outside
the theater after this film was shown, no soldier would have gone
within 50 feet of them. Of course, that would have lasted for
all of 10 minutes.
Anyway, I don't recommend this for anybody with a weak stomach.
Or even a strong stomach. Or even a VERY strong stomach. The footage
of the effects of syphilis are extremely hard to take--which,
after all, was the whole point of showing them.
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