The Negro Soldier
Frank Capra, 1944 (40 min. 23.sec)
WWII-recruteringsfilm gericht op 'African Americans'. De film opent met een Afro-Amerikaanse dominee die in de kerk aan de toehoorders vertelt waarom ze het leger in moeten en tegen de nazi's moeten vechten. Verder beelden van nagespeelde veldslagen van de Amerikaanse Revolutie. De film gaat vooral over de deelname van zwarte Amerikanen en hun bijdrage aan de oorlog, hun leefomstandigheden en hun training.
Engelse beschrijving:
During World War II, the Office of War Information (OWI), recognizing the significance of the African American soldier, authorized the making of a documentary film about African Americans in the military. Under the guidance of Frank Capra, the noted Hollywood film director, who OWI had selected to oversee its production of military films, OWI authorized the making of a documentary film on the African American soldier. Capra chose Carlton Moss, a noted Black filmmaker, to make the film The Negro Soldier (111 OF 51) which would document the service of the African American soldier to his country. However, Moss agreed to make the film only if OWI allowed him to make a second film that would specifically document the virtues of an integrated military. OWI, which had a number of social scientists in its employ who saw the benefit of an integrated military, agreed and allowed Moss to make Teamwork (111 OF 14), a film that advocated an integrated military. Other important films on the African American soldier made during World War II include The Negro Sailor (80 MN 4360) and Wings for This Man (342 SFP 141), a film, that a young and liberal Ronald Reagan narrates, documenting the exploits of the Tuskegee Airmen.