Cinema: Training Films

To train its Army for World War II the U.S. is going to use about 300 motion picture films. Because the Army’s Signal Corps Laboratories at Fort Monmouth, N.J. and Wright Field, Ohio, now working on some 250 reels, cannot turn them out fast enough, the Army gave Hollywood a 140-reel assignment. Having received all but 40 of the Hollywood consignment, the Army recently showed five of them to a lay audience. They were full of surprises. The five:

Sex Hygiene (20th Century-Fox). Honest, down-to-earth Director John Ford (The Informer, Grapes of Wrath) fortunately made this one. Simple, firm, effective and adult, it is a superior sample of the art of documentary filmmaking.

The Basic Principles of Skiing (20th Century-Fox), like all skiing pictures, is a photographic natural. Made with veteran ski troops (see cut) it could be exhibited to any cinemaudience with profit. Despite its necessarily lengthy explanations, the film builds its own suspense right up to the end: some first-rate mountain shots of a ski patrol on reconnaissance. Nothing ever happens, but it seems about to. Well-scored is the musical accompaniment for the cross-country and downhill sequences.

Pioneer Equipment (Samuel Goldwyn) is a simple explanation of how to tie various hitches (mooring, rolling, cats-paw, half, etc.) for building pontoon bridges, moving materiel, securing tents. Best feature is the clarity of its explanations and the crafty way the camera has of keeping clearly focused on the role played by the rope.

The 60-MM. Mortar (Republic) is a succinct and interesting treatment of the mortar’s origins (500 years ago as a rock thrower), its uses, and its assembly. The picture is rather technical for a layman, but undoubtedly effective for training mortar crews.

Military Courtesy and Customs of the Service (20th Century-Fox) has everything: a plot, Hollywood actors, props and plenty of action. It is a Grade-A Production. Opening with shots of crowds milling through a subway, it moves on to the lyrical rhythm of a symphony orchestra’s string section. Purpose: to show what can be done by people who are willing to work together.

One sequence on saluting is repeated to emphasize its technique. Instructions are given with an air of firm informality. There is a forgivable touch of propaganda: Crows a rookie: “If they treated me any better, I’d be suspicious.” There is also a touch of ironic humor: A sergeant stands outside the post cinemansion with a rookie, pointing out the customers’ identifying insignia. When he has worked up to the rank of general, he suggests that they step over to the library. For, says he: “We probably won’t be seeing any generals here.”

Hollywood’s work for the Army is practically a perfect job. It has assured the quality of its product by putting its best directors (John Ford, Frank Capra, George Stevens, etc.) on it. And it has probably learned something itself about making documentary films.

The Signal Corps’ one contribution to the Army-Hollywood preview was not a picture, but a sound track writhing with the noise of a modern battlefield. This training film was made for use in Army maneuvers. Its purpose is to simulate the noises made by combat weapons and teach the troops to take it.

The battle sounds which issued from the Signal Corps’ film were a combination of the detonation of all types of cannon, the whine of shells, scream of ricochets, rumble of tanks and other mechanized vehicles, the roar of dive-bombers, bomb bursts, the rattle of anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns, etc. No individual weapon sound was distinguishable; the whole blended together in a shrieking nightmare which sounded like a dynamo bursting apart while some unearthly, creature stood by patiently ripping sheets of steel.

This sort of sound man’s field day has been used in combat by the Nazis to scare their opponents. The Army reports that its effect on some troops in Europe has been paralytic—men have fallen to the ground, hands over their ears, unable to move.

Handicapped by its lack of equipment and personnel, the Signal Corps has also been hampered by rules & regulations from turning out enough training films to supply the Army. Although it has won many a Hollywood technician via the draft, it is desperately short of trained directors. At Fort Monmouth it has one (drafted) of the best in the business: hawk-faced Garson Kanin (Tom, Dick and Harry}. But Army protocol says he can’t direct pictures because he is a private.