Up until about 1940, American sentiment was that we should stay out of WWII...which had broken out in 1939. Most folks in this country simply didn't care who won the war and many saw it as just a continuation of WWI. However, by 1940, this neutrality was being chipped away at....and the public's sympathy began to favor the Allies. At the same time, President Roosevelt wanted to intervene but didn't have the public's support to enter the war directly, so the Lend-Lease program was started...to lease American ships to the Brits. And, Congress approved a peacetime draft because it appeared likely the US would eventually get involved in the war.
So how did Hollywood respond to all this? They began making pro-war films--or at least pro-US military films. In addition to this film, "Service With The Colors", they also began featuring Nazis as evil characters in a few films as well as made a string of comedies featuring the funniest men of the day in bootcamp...such as Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello and Bob Hope...among others.
"Service With The Colors" is a color short featuring a group of Hollywood actors playing bootcamp inductees and their drill sergeants (Robert Armstrong and William Lundigan). It follows them during the time they spend at the Presidio army base in San Francisco. Among the recruits is a brash (and unrealistic) recruit (William Orr) who has a rotten attitude who seems destined to spend his time in the service in the brig.
The transformation in this rotten soldier really isn't convincing....and it's also pretty vague. Too bad. Otherwise, an effective and well made short.