The Film Daily (1918)

Wednesday, July 31, 1918 jM^ DAILY American Activities in France : Interesting— Comprehensive Second Official War Film "AMERICA'S ANSWER" Bureau of Public Information (Division of Films) DIRECTOR Not credited CAMERAMAN Members of Photographic Division, U. S. S. C. AS A WHOLE Most interesting and informative material yet received from abroad; well photo= graphed and intelligently titled. STORY. . Of vital interest to every American; shows how war money is being spent and drives home magnitude of America's part in the conflict. DIRECTION Showed intelligence in composition of scenes and tied incidents together in inter= esting sequence. PHOTOGRAPHY Generally very fine; many duped flashes were in evidence in battle stuff but this was unavoidable on account of nega= tives being lost in shipping. LIGHTINGS Some effective moonlight shots on water. CAMERA WORK Very good STARS Our fighting men and the large forces behind the lines that make their ad= vances possible. EXTERIORS Tree felling scenes particularly beautiful and others photographed advant= ageously. INTERIORS Interiors of locomotive plant and salvage departments well photographed. DETAIL Well=worded titles explain everything clearly. CHARACTER OF PRODUCTION Will wake up Americans to what is actually being done "Over There" by our forces. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION. . . Ran sixty=five minutes — about seven reels. THIS is without a doubt the most interesting and informative material we have yet had from "Over There" since America's entrance in the great war. It is not only forceful as propaganda but it is interesting and will open the eyes of the stay-at-homes to the remarkable work that has already been accomplished by the American forces, who are now in France over a million and a quarter strong. Everybody knows that billions have been spent in war activities on the other side but on account of the necessity of censoring' Avar news, we have not had, prior to this film, a real comprehensive idea of how this money has been used. "America's Answer" shows accomplishments by our men and our money in France that are overwhelming in their magnitude. The film is presented in two parts, the first forty-five minutes of which is taken up entirely with activities behind the lines. The second shows some actual battle stuff, trench life, aeroplane maneuvers, etc. The film opens with some very good explanatory titles, followed by flashes of President Wilson and General Pershing, described as our representatives "Over Here" and "Over There". We are shown a seaport and a modern pier over three miles long, built entirely by American labor and with American materials; a triumph in engineering which must be seen to be appreciated. An American transport is shown landing with thousands of "Sammies" and then we are given some very effective scenes showing American huskies from Oregon and Washington felling big trees in France for lumber to be used in various war buildings, bridges, etc. A modern refrigerating plant covering several blocks, built by our engineers and with our materials is also shown in detail as well as a mammoth locomotive plant where skilled American mechanics are giving their valuable services for a soldier's pay and turning out modern engines with surprising speed, to be used in transporting war materials to the front. We get intimate glimpses into the work of the Red Cross. Y. M. C. A. and the Salvation Army, disclosing interesting features of their work that are not generally known. The battle stuff is unusually interesting in spite of the quantity of this material we have had in weeklies because in this film we see OUR boys going over the top and carrying on successful raids to the enemy trenches. We are given some remarkable aeroplane stuff in this, one particularly effective bit having been taken with the camera pointed down from the time the machine leaves the ground until it reaches a high altitude, giving you the effect of being in the plane. Has Wonderful Advertising Possibilities. Book It and Boost It The Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor I presume that this film will be made available to all exhibitors and you should certainly make an effort to get it and boost it. It will do a tremendous amount of good toward winning the war and it's unusually interesting because it gives you a better and more comprehensive idea of America's part in the war than anything we have had heretofore. They used some good effects in presenting this at the George M. Cohan theatre in New York: particularly the "Br-r-r" of an aeroplane motor, iren that warns of gas attacks and shot effects for the machine gun stuff. Th ill cued by titles or action so you know where to bring them in. There are many strong advertising points to be brought out in advertising this production, the chief of tli<".u being that this film shows in a comprehensive, Lncing way just how the billions have been spent; how waste is curtailed and how every dollar is made to count for something that is actually essential to the winning of the war. Another point that you should not overlook is the fact that we get many intimate glimpses of the "Sammies" in France and that it is not aj, all unlikely that some one in every community will be able to pick out someone they know. This is exclusively an American war picture; showing thousands of young Americans in khaki, from both the draft and regular army, as well as the naval forces and aviation units. Bring this out in your advertising. You'll be doing a patriotic service if you get this prior to the next Liberty Loan because if there is anybody in this country who didn't kick through on the previous loan drives, they're going to dig deep when this film opi us their eyes to what has been done and what is being done.