Part VII of the "Why We Fight" series of wartime documentaries. This entry attempts to describe the factors leading up to America's entry into the Second World War.Part VII of the "Why We Fight" series of wartime documentaries. This entry attempts to describe the factors leading up to America's entry into the Second World War.Part VII of the "Why We Fight" series of wartime documentaries. This entry attempts to describe the factors leading up to America's entry into the Second World War.
- Awards
- 1 win
Photos
- Self
- (archive footage)
- Self
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- Self
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- (as A.A. Berle)
- Self
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- Self
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- (as Galleazzo Ciano)
- Self
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- Self
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- Self
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- Self
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- (as Josef Goebbels)
- Self
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- Self
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- Self
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- Self
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- Directors
- Frank Capra(uncredited)
- Anatole Litvak(uncredited)
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the year 2000, the United States Library of Congress mandated that this film (and the other six documentaries in the 'Why We Fight' series)were "culturally significant" and selected them for preservation in the National Film Registry.
- GoofsTwice there appears an animated clip showing about a dozen fully-equipped US troops in gray silhouette marching briskly left to right over a background graphic; however, a close look shows the "soldiers" actually wearing narrow-brimmed office-worker-style civilian hats rather than army helmets.
- Quotes
[the film explains the dire consequences for the United States of an Axis victory in Eurasia]
Narrator: German conquest of Europe and Africa would bring all their raw materials, plus their entire industrial development, under one control. Of the two billion people in the world, the Nazis would rule roughly one quarter, the 500 million people of Europe and Africa, forced into slavery to labor for Germany. German conquest of Russia would add the vast raw materials and the production facilities of another of the world's industrial areas, and of the world's people, another 200 million would be added to the Nazi labor pile. Japanese conquest of the Orient would pour into their factory the almost unlimited resources of that area, and of the peoples of the earth, a thousand million would come under their rule, slaves for their industrial machine. We in North and South America would be left with the raw materials of three-tenths of the earth's surface, against the Axis with the resources of seven-tenths. We would have one industrial region against their three industrial regions. We would have one-eighth of the world's population against their seven-eighths. If we, together with the other nations of North and South America, could mobilize 30 million fully equipped men, the Axis could mobilize 200 million. Thus, an Axis victory in Europe and Asia would leave us alone and virtually surrounded, facing enemies ten times stronger than ourselves.
- ConnectionsEdited from The Negro Soldier (1944)
Walter Huston's grandfatherly voice is used effectively to narrate most of the film with a deftly written script. In the hands of a lesser film maker, the materials presented here would be nothing but propaganda on the level used by Hitler. But Capra stirs the spirit at the same time that he is making his point -- namely, freedom is not something that can be taken for granted. Capra skillfully makes his point that if free people don't stand up for themselves, they will likely be crushed by all the darker elements in human nature -- greed, lust for power, and tyranny.
The imagery, the music, and the narration are completely effective and have stood the test of time. Even though the events which this film and the whole series cover have passed, Capra's point about the American Dream and how fragile it is remains relevant and powerful.
- mermatt
- Jul 22, 1999
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Why We Fight, 7
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 10 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1