1. A few ounces a day (06:39)

Date:
1941
Main contributors:
Alexander, Donald, 1913-1993
Summary:
This film uses diagrams to illustrate the importance of salvaging common everyday items in an effort to reuse important raw materials for building ships. The film asserts that one day's salvage by the whole British people counteracts the loss of one ship. An emphasis is put on "The importance of salvage to the flow of goods; [and] various examples of useful materials commonly thrown away."--War Films, Bulletin of the Extension Division, Indiana University, February, 1943.

2. Target Berlin (17:14)

Date:
1944
Main contributors:
Borneman, Ernest, 1915-
Summary:
"The story of the Lancaster airplane, the first large bomber built in Canada. Shown are the workers involved in its construction, and the crew who ferried it overseas, as well as the combat crew who took it on its first flight over Berlin."--National Film Board of Canada website.

3. View of the Soviet world. (11:59)

Date:
1942
Main contributors:
Caldwell, Erskine, 1903-1987
Summary:
Erskine Caldwell, American novelist and reporter, interviewed before leaving Moscow, briefly tells of the civilian defense work he witnessed. Scenes showing how the Russians are carrying out their pledge of "All for Victory!" including efforts in huge metallurgical plants, the oil industry, the rapid harvest, nurses drilling, and Red Cross work.

4. Watchtower over tomorrow (13:19)

Date:
1945
Main contributors:
Cromwell, John, 1888-1979
Summary:
"Beginning with a prologue by Secretary of State Stettinius, who points out that our Government under the leadership of President Roosevelt has been working to avoid future wars, the film proceeds to depict pictorially the incidents which culminated in the Dumbarton Oaks Conference and the San Francisco meeting and shows one way of avoiding a third World War."--Educational Screen, June, 1945, 248. Opens with footage from the 1936 film "Thing to Come" to warn against the destructive power of weapons in the near future. Presents a fictionalized account of the founding of the United Nations.

5. Right of way (07:35)

Date:
1943
Main contributors:
Eastman, Joseph B. (Joseph Bartlett), 1882-1944
Summary:
Follows a troop train, a freight train, and a truck rushing to deliver men and supplies to a ship convoy in 1943. Explains the reasons for transportation delays and the shortage of goods in wartime. This film was intended to promote understanding and support of the war effort despite inconveniences on the home front.

6. It's up to us (10:39)

Date:
1941
Main contributors:
General Motors Corporation
Summary:
Focuses on the conservation of important natural elements such as rubber, oil and metal needed to support the U.S. Victory Program. Viewers are shown various ways in which they can change daily habits to get the most out of these materials.

7. Survival of the fittest (16:41)

Date:
1944
Main contributors:
Grashin, Mauri
Summary:
Shows the function of the physical training program of the Army Air Forces during World War II. Starts by celebrating the exploits of Army Air Force war heroes. The main story is a fictional story about two American fighter pilots who are forced to parachute from disabled planes. The uninjured man brings his wounded comrade through water and knee-deep marshlands to safety. The excellent physical condition of both men is presented as largely responsible for their survival. Includes footage of Army Air Force soldiers engaging in physical exercise.

8. Our enemy-- the Japanese (20:08)

Date:
1943
Main contributors:
Grew, Joseph C. (Joseph Clark), 1880-1965
Summary:
"Stridently anti-Japanese film that attempts to convey an understanding of Japanese life and philosophy so that the U.S. may more readily defeat its enemy. Depicts the Japanese as "primitive, murderous and fanatical." With many images of 1930s and 1940s Japan, and a portentious [sic] and highly negative narration by Joseph C. Grew, former U.S. ambassador to Japan."--Internet Archive.

9. They also serve (07:48)

Date:
1940
Main contributors:
Grierson, Ruby, 1904-1940
Summary:
"Story of an average wartime housewife whose dawn to dusk activities provide support for the duties of soldiers and defence workers."--BFI website.

10. Suggestion box (09:04)

Date:
1943
Main contributors:
Indiana University, Bloomington. Audio-Visual Center
Summary:
Explains how seemingly minor ideas can improve wartime production. Encourages workers to provide resourceful suggestions that, if tested and approved, can be circulated to factories around the country.

11. The silent village : the story of the men of Lidice who lit in fascist darkness a lamp that shall... (33:00)

Date:
1943
Main contributors:
Jennings, Humphrey
Summary:
Made as a warning to the English people, this film re-enacts, in a Welsh mining town, the events that took place in the Czechoslovakian mining town of Lidice, which resisted the Nazis in subversive ways and was eventually wiped out. Jennings gives a romantic portrait of town life which is interrupted by the arrival of the Nazis who remain anonymous enemies.

12. The price of freedom (14:52)

Date:
1942
Main contributors:
Keech, Kelvin, 1895-1977
Summary:
This film "outlines the role that industry is playing in our war effort. Production of munitions and the operation of the payroll withdrawal plan for War Bonds are among the subjects treated." (Free Film Reviews, Movie Makers, January, 1943, 34.) Includes footage from a number of International Harvester factories and how the company's workers save money from their paycheck to help the war effort through a company-wide payroll savings plan.

13. Target invisible (08:32)

Date:
1945
Main contributors:
Kennedy, Arthur, 1914-1990
Summary:
Illustrates the use of radar on a bombing mission over Japan, and explains the work of the radar operator in the bomber's crew.

14. Know your enemy--Japan! (14:47)

Date:
1942
Main contributors:
Knox, Gordon, 1906-1992
Summary:
"Produced in cooperation with the Institute of Pacific Relations, this film answers such vital questions as: How large in the Japanese Empire? Is Japan self-sufficient in food? What is Japan's naval and military strength? What are the living standards of the Japanese people? What are Japan's vital weaknesses? How can Japan be defeated?"--War Films Bulletin of the Extension Division Indiana University, February, 1943.

15. Pincers on Japan (18:58)

Date:
1944
Main contributors:
National Film Board of Canada
Summary:
"Canada's place in the strategy of Pacific warfare is the subject of this wartime film. Convoys, carrying the sinews of war, steam out from her ports, while along her western coast lookouts and patrol boats keep constant vigil. The close cooperation between the United States and Canada in the Pacific is illustrated."--NFB website.

16. Words for battle (07:54)

Date:
1941
Main contributors:
Olivier, Laurence, 1907-1989
Summary:
Laurence Olivier's reading of passages from Milton, William Blake, Robert Browning, Rudyard Kipling and Abraham Lincoln accompany scenes of daily life in wartime Britain. The texts selected emphasize national identity and heritage, patriotism, and the justness of the Allied cause.

17. These are the men (12:16)

Date:
1943
Main contributors:
Osbiston, Alan
Summary:
Takes Leni Riefenstahl's footage from the Nüremberg speeches of the Nazi Leaders and superimposes English "translations" over a set of orations in English "in which Hitler, Goebbels, Göering, Streicher and Hess report their sins and mistakes as frankly as if they were victims of one of those notorious 'confession drugs'." (Documentary News Letter, March 1943, 195).

18. Our enemy-- the Japanese (20:53)

Date:
1943
Main contributors:
See Other Contributors
Summary:
"Stridently anti-Japanese film that attempts to convey an understanding of Japanese life and philosophy so that the U.S. may more readily defeat its enemy. Depicts the Japanese as "primitive, murderous and fanatical." With many images of 1930s and 1940s Japan, and a portentious [sic] and highly negative narration by Joseph C. Grew, former U.S. ambassador to Japan."--Internet Archive.

19. A letter from Bataan (14:21)

Date:
1942
Main contributors:
Shane, Maxwell, 1905-1983
Summary:
A Hollywood short aiding the war effort, emphasizing the need for preparedness and conservation of materials, i.e. rubber, metal, shellac. An American soldier writes home from Bataan, and while his family reads the letter, the soldier's ghostly apparition interjects statistics about food and equipment shortages.

20. Winning your wings (18:32)

Date:
1942
Main contributors:
Stewart, James, 1908-1997
Summary:
Starring Lt. James Stewart, this WWII recruitment film shows jobs, training and education provided to men between the ages of 18 and 26 who enlist in the U.S. Army Air Forces.