Documentary News Letter (1944-1945)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER No. 4 1944 51 Memphis Belle By S/Sgt. James F. Scanlan FTigh over Germany one fall morning in 1942, "-a squadron of Fortresses tightened their formation for the bombing run. In the lead ship, Major William Clothier slipped the filters on his ,;amera. The altitude was 28,000 ft. Flakes of >now and ice clouded the windows. The temperature was 65 degrees below zero. Cold had frozen every gun in the Fort. From the side, a Junkers 88 pursuit made a quick pass at the waist position. Clothier aimed his camera, caught a few seconds of the attack. Then his camera went dead : it was frozen. The Fort was committed to her bombing run. \s the seconds preceding the bomb dropping slipped by, Clothier, with the aid of the radio operator, moved his camera forward. The bombDay doors opened. Clothier fumbled with the ;amera, finally made -it work. The bombs dropped. Clothier shot several hundred feet. Then the camera went completely dead. When the Forts had cleared the target, Vege;ack, Germany, had been bombed for the first :ime. Of greater significances to Air Forces ;ameramen, however, was the fact that Clothier lad taken the first aerial motion pictures of a combing attack in this war. The meagre footage le obtained on that first mission was the beginling of over 16,000 feet shot during the succeedng months and later edited into the War Departnent film Memphis Belle. At the request of Lt.-Col. William Wyler, Zlothier had left R.K.O. Studios to make a photographic record of the fledgling Eighth Air Force. Departing for England with him was Lt. Harold Tannenbaum, R.K.O. sound-man. When the crew left for overseas, they were the first Army Air Forces combat camera unit to be sent into action. A veteran of the last war, Tannenbaum was 47 and above Selective Service age, but again volunteered for combat duty. When the crew arrived in England, they found that their equipment had been sunk on a merchant ship in the Atlantic. Clothier and Wyler finally succeeded in borrowing a complete set of equipment, except sound, from Lt.-Comdr. John Ford, of the Navy. Then they started work on Memphis Belle. Tannenbaum, having no sound equipment, volunteered for aerial combat duty. After receiving camera instructions from Clothier, he accompanied the Fortresses on their raids over France. On one of these missions, his Fortress was shot down over St. Nazaire. Tannenbaum was the first A.A.E. motion picture cameraman to be reported missing in this war. To obtain combat shots of fighter attacks and the colour sequences now contained in Memphis Belle, Clothier made three flights over enemy territory. Wyler also accompanied the bombers and was awarded the air medal. When he had secured enough combat footage, Clothier photographed activities at the air bases, including work of the ground crews, briefings, and each step in the preparing for the missions. He later photographed the decoration ceremonies for the crew of the Memphis Belle, and the visit of the King and Queen of England. At the completion of this mission, Wyler and Clothier returned to the 1st Motion Picture Unit in Culver City. Wyler started work on the editing, dubbing and narration of the film. Memphis Belle was completed at the 1st Motion Picture Unit and then released by Paramount Pictures Inc. under the auspices of the Office of War Information through the War Activities Committee, Motion Picture Industries. The cutting was completed by S./Sgt. Eric L. Harrison; narration was written by T. Sgt. Lester Koenig, and spoken by Eugene Kern an Cpl. John Beal. For this work, the 1st Mo' Picture Unit was later commended by the H ■ quarters Army Air Forces in a letter wh stated : "1. A motion picture now entitled Memphis Belle was recently completed for the Army Air Forces. The personnel of your command extended valuable co-operation in the writing of the narration, assembling and editing, musical scoring and recording, sound effects, cutting, animation and dubbing of the film. "2. It is believed that the tireless effort and devotion to duty on the part of members of your organisation is reflected in the outstanding merit of the film." After pioneering the field of aerial motion picture combat photography, Clothier trained a complete combat camera unit at the 1st Motion Picture Unit and then returned to England. Since his first flight over Vegesack, the 1st Motion Picture Unit has sent similar Combat Camera Units to every theatre of operations. They have covered targets in every theatre of the war, and completion of more pictures similar to Memphis Belle is now under way. THE SCREENWRITERS' ASSOCIATION (Affiliated with the Society of Authors, Playwrights and Composers) ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP Associate Membership in the Screenwriters' Association is now open to all persons interested in motion picture writing, but who do not yet possess the screen credits or other professional qualifications necessary for full membership. Associate Membership is in all cases subject to the decision of the Election committee. The work of the Association is devoted to the interests of all screen writers — feature, short and documentary. Associate Members have the benefit of the principal services and advantages provided for full members. Subscription for Associate Members is one guinea per annum. Entry Forms and full information may be obtained from : — THE SCREENWRITERS9 ASSOCIATION {ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP) BRIARLEA HOUSE, MORTIMER, BERKS.