The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 262 The Educational Screen 16 mm. SOUND FILMS on the UNITED NATIONS AT WAR The College Film Center wishes to announce the addition to its library of four new feature length films released by the British Ministry of Information. The World of Plenty 45 min. Service charge $1.50 The Silent Village 35 min. Service charge $1.50 I Was a Fireman 48 min. Service charge $1.50 Before the Raid 45 min. Service charge $1.50 We also have all the releases of the U. S. Office of War Information, National Film Board of Canada, and the British Ministry of Informa- tion and hundreds of films designed for class- room use. Tor further information and catalogs write THE COLLEGE FILM CENTER 84 EAST RANDOLPH ST. CHICAGO. ILLINOIS THEIR LOVE IS A PEOPLE'S SAGAI COLUMBIA FiaURi * Washington * Jefferson * Patrick Henry * Lafayette *Von Steuben in AMERICA'S FIRST BATTLE FOR FREEDOM A GREAT HISTORICAL DRAMA EDUCATIONAL — ENTERTAINING For Schools and Colleges Ererywhere OUTSTANDING 16MM SOUND FILMS WHOLESOME FAMILY FILMS SEND FOR BIG 1944 CATALOGUE ^ Grand HUMAN ADVENTURE in the NATION'S CAPITAL 0 «sSfe AdvBniurBin yifnshmgtan -ERBERT """'"''VIRGINIA MARSHALL BRUCE A COLUMN! A PICTURE-,' wheat must be converted to meet the need for vegetables, dairy products, fruit, and eggs. Both Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy are shown stressing to their people the importance of food and urging them to greater production. Germany's recognition of the importance of food as a weapon is revealed by her factories' converting foods into explosives and oils, the citizenry's depriving itself of foods needed for soldiers and war ma- terial, the introduction of soybeans as a substitute for fatty foods, and Hitler's personal concern for the palatability of ersatz rations. An animated map shows how Germany plans to be a great industrial center with the rest of Europe as her gigantic farm. Not only in Germany but also in occupied countries do the Germans treat food as a weapon. The French are offered jobs and foods for work in Germany. For those who are loathe to leave France a system of priori- ties, depending upon usefulness to the Reich, is set up. Similar conditions prevail in Greece. The closing scenes show grain elevators, trains, and ships on the Great Lakes of North America; activities of farms and industrial areas of England; a submarine attack on a British ship; and a British canteen truck providing food and relief after a raid. A note of optimism is sounded in the flashes of the two North .'\mcrican capitals—Washington and Ottawa—and of prosperous farm scenes and a loaded cargo vessel. Committee Appraisal: This politico-economic treatment of the importance of food to the war effort is recommended for use in classes in economic geography, social studies, home economics, and general science and in assembly programs, adult groups, and forums. Some important generalizations which may be derived from the film are that we of the Western Hemisphere cannot waste food while Europeans are starving, that Germany has for years been safeguarding herself against a food shortage, that the Nazis have been using food as a powerful weapon to win over the conquered peoples, that many of the Allied Nations have never been able to produce their entire food supply, and that upon the United States rests a major responsibility for providing food. Many facets of the problem are pre- sented at the expense of an adequate development of rela- tionship between sequences. Wings Up (Office of War Information, Washington, D. C.) 11 min- utes, 16mm. sound. Produced by the U. S. Army Air Forces. Apply to distributor for a list of depositories and terms governing purchase. The film opens showing a lost bomber flying through the skies and the members of the crew looking anxiously and accusingly at the navigator who has cracked under the strain and is unable to chart the course home. To minimize the possibility of human failure, the narrator, Clark Gable, asserts that a human X-ray—the Officers' Candidate School of the Army Air Forces—ferrets out only the best of the best to act as leaders of men. By diagrams and quick se- quences, the film explains that of 1,000 enlisted men, only twenty-three pass the rigid qualifiying tests. Basing their actions on the theory that only those who can obey are fit to lead, the officers subject the underclass- men to seemingly embarrassing and unreasonable treatment. In this and other ways, any emotional instability is dis- covered here rather than in a critical situation—the film flashes back to the harried navigator who failed. During the twelve-weeks' course, thirty-three subjects are covered—eight of them military and the rest academic. Many of the subjects requiring a full year at West Point in peace times are completed in twelve weeks at OCS. The film depicts a typical day: up at 5:30, breakfast at 6:10, classes all morning and most of the afternoon, self- directed calisthenics at 2:25, a mile and a half run three days a week, and the obstacle course the other three days. The evening meal is over at 6:20 and the men attend classes or study until 11:00. Full military retreat lasting two hours is held four times each week. At these ceremonies, the un- derclassmen must stand at rigid attention for thirty minutes. The final sequence presents the graduating class on pa-