All This and World War II
(1976)
PG | 88 mins | Documentary | 1976
Director:
Susan WinslowProducers:
Sandy Lieberson, Martin J. MachatEditor:
Colin J. BerwickProduction Company:
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
According to a 24 Jan 1977 Box news item, twenty-four-year-old director Susan Winslow was originally a researcher for the production, but her selection of footage showed her unique understanding of the film’s concept and she was asked to direct.
The film highlights newsreel footage related to WWII, including images of actor James Stewart being sworn into the U.S. Army, former U.K. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, Sir Winston Churchill, Charles Lindbergh, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Adolph Hitler, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and General Douglas MacArthur.
As noted in a 27 Oct 1976 LAT news item and a 15 Nov 1976 DV article, the film premiered 11 Nov 1976 at the Cinerama Dome theater in Los Angeles, CA, to commemorate Armistice Day. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. and local radio station K-WEST sponsored a block party with live bands and a “come as your favorite WWII character” costume contest. According to DV, drummer Keith Moon made an appearance at the event in a “topless World War II Nazi touring sedan” dressed as a “storm trooper” and Hollywood luminaries including Red Buttons, Joan Collins, Alan Ladd Jr. and Tina Turner were in attendance. Actress Martha Raye was honored by the USO for her efforts to entertain servicemen during the war. WWII fighter Ace, Maj. Gregory “Pappy” Boyington presented a "Mae West life preserver" to his wife; he was initially scheduled to present it to Mae West, but she was not in attendance.
LAT stated that the film’s compilation of wartime footage was collected from Fox Movietone News and the 15 Nov 1976 DV ...
According to a 24 Jan 1977 Box news item, twenty-four-year-old director Susan Winslow was originally a researcher for the production, but her selection of footage showed her unique understanding of the film’s concept and she was asked to direct.
The film highlights newsreel footage related to WWII, including images of actor James Stewart being sworn into the U.S. Army, former U.K. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, Sir Winston Churchill, Charles Lindbergh, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Adolph Hitler, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and General Douglas MacArthur.
As noted in a 27 Oct 1976 LAT news item and a 15 Nov 1976 DV article, the film premiered 11 Nov 1976 at the Cinerama Dome theater in Los Angeles, CA, to commemorate Armistice Day. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. and local radio station K-WEST sponsored a block party with live bands and a “come as your favorite WWII character” costume contest. According to DV, drummer Keith Moon made an appearance at the event in a “topless World War II Nazi touring sedan” dressed as a “storm trooper” and Hollywood luminaries including Red Buttons, Joan Collins, Alan Ladd Jr. and Tina Turner were in attendance. Actress Martha Raye was honored by the USO for her efforts to entertain servicemen during the war. WWII fighter Ace, Maj. Gregory “Pappy” Boyington presented a "Mae West life preserver" to his wife; he was initially scheduled to present it to Mae West, but she was not in attendance.
LAT stated that the film’s compilation of wartime footage was collected from Fox Movietone News and the 15 Nov 1976 DV news item reported that the film was made for $650,000.
Although the premiere attracted crowds of young people who were enticed by the juxtaposition of The Beatles’ songs with documentary WWII footage, a news photographer disparaged the event in the 15 Nov 1976 DV article, stating that it was not appropriate to make light of war. Similarly, the 12 Nov 1976 DV review complained that there was “little obvious punch or satire in the selection of tunes” and the film looked “more clever-cute than pungent.”
The end credits include the following written statement: “The Producers would like to acknowledge and thank the following: National Archives, Washington D.C.; Fox Movietonews; U.C.L.A Film Archives; U.S. Marine Corps Motion Pictures Archives; U.S. Army Motion Picture Depository; U.S. Naval Photographic Center; Lee International Studios, London; Ray VanSteen; Sally Look; L. A. Johnson; Norman Swindell; Carol Rothstein; Celia Bogan.”
Newsreel footage, films and newspaper headlines are juxtaposed with songs by the rock group The Beatles as performed by Helen Reddy, Elton John and other various artists. Featured scenes include: Milton Berle and Hollywood celebrities attend a film premiere, an English pilot shoots down German planes, Nazi troops march in formation as crowds cheer, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gives his “Peace in Our Times” speech, U.S. Ambassador Joseph Kennedy demands a negotiation between England and Germany, Adolph Hitler stares at the Alps; young men play basketball while wearing gas masks, partygoers dance a goose step, children are evacuated from London, British soldiers evacuate Dunkirk, civilians sleep in the underground; fighting takes place in the desert, Rommel gives orders to his Afrika Korps, German tanks attack; U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his “Lend Lease” speech, Americans play football, teenagers spend time at a soda fountain, a beauty pageant takes place, Japanese soldiers practice sword fighting; bombs drop on Pearl Harbor, U.S. sailors fight fires, battleships burn; Americans enlist, Hollywood celebrities are sworn into service, WAVES and WAC ‘s ship out; spies are rounded up, Japanese-Americans are shipped to holding camps; U.S. troops slog through swamps, soldiers fight in the jungle, the Philippines surrenders, civilians listen to news of defeat on the radio; ships and planes battle for Midway Island; newspaper headlines announce victories in Midway, El Alamein and French Africa; Bob Hope entertains the troops, Boy Scouts organize a scrap metal drive, tanks come off an assembly line, pretty girls roll down their silk stockings to donate; Russian tanks roll over snow-covered fields, Soviet troops fight to ...
Newsreel footage, films and newspaper headlines are juxtaposed with songs by the rock group The Beatles as performed by Helen Reddy, Elton John and other various artists. Featured scenes include: Milton Berle and Hollywood celebrities attend a film premiere, an English pilot shoots down German planes, Nazi troops march in formation as crowds cheer, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gives his “Peace in Our Times” speech, U.S. Ambassador Joseph Kennedy demands a negotiation between England and Germany, Adolph Hitler stares at the Alps; young men play basketball while wearing gas masks, partygoers dance a goose step, children are evacuated from London, British soldiers evacuate Dunkirk, civilians sleep in the underground; fighting takes place in the desert, Rommel gives orders to his Afrika Korps, German tanks attack; U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his “Lend Lease” speech, Americans play football, teenagers spend time at a soda fountain, a beauty pageant takes place, Japanese soldiers practice sword fighting; bombs drop on Pearl Harbor, U.S. sailors fight fires, battleships burn; Americans enlist, Hollywood celebrities are sworn into service, WAVES and WAC ‘s ship out; spies are rounded up, Japanese-Americans are shipped to holding camps; U.S. troops slog through swamps, soldiers fight in the jungle, the Philippines surrenders, civilians listen to news of defeat on the radio; ships and planes battle for Midway Island; newspaper headlines announce victories in Midway, El Alamein and French Africa; Bob Hope entertains the troops, Boy Scouts organize a scrap metal drive, tanks come off an assembly line, pretty girls roll down their silk stockings to donate; Russian tanks roll over snow-covered fields, Soviet troops fight to recapture Stalingrad, U.S. troops march through a jungle, headlines chronicle the slow U.S. advance in the Pacific, wounded Marines are carried on stretchers, Eleanor Roosevelt asks American women to write to the troops; international troops name their nationality and home town, U.S. troops take an Italian village, Indian troops march to the front, Scottish Highlanders march in front of the coliseum, Italian women peek under their kilts; Americans push a cannon onto a glider, British commandos clean their weapons, German coastal installations are readied, Americans hit beaches at Normandy, soldiers fight through French countryside; Hitler and Mussolini review troops, German crowds cheer, footage of Nazi storm troopers played forward and backward makes them look like they are dancing, Hitler and Mussolini are also made to look like they are dancing; maps show Allies sweeping through Belgium and Holland, French resistance fighters battle in the streets, Americans march into Paris, General de Gaulle lays a wreath at Napoleon’s tomb, women hug and kiss U.S. soldiers; Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt meet a Yalta, headline announces Roosevelt’s death, Roosevelt’s flag draped coffin is paraded in Washington, crowds celebrate Germany’s surrender; U.S. Marines use a flame thrower on a cave, U.S. artillerymen fire their cannon, the flag is raised over Iwo Jima, American planes bomb Tokyo; a New York ticker tape parade celebrates a victory, soldiers and sailors run off the ships, military men embrace wives and sweethearts, a man dances in the street as another man holds up a newspaper with the headline “PEACE!”, an atomic bomb explodes sending a mushroom cloud into the sky.
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