Prelude to War

original title:
Prelude to War
other titles:
Why We Fight 1 - Prelude to War, (Warum wir kämpfen 1 - Vorspiel zum Krieg)
country / year of production:
USA / 1943
original length:
53 min. , black/white
premiere:
13 May 1943, New York City
genre:
Propaganda film
based on:
director:
Frank Capra , Anatole Litvak
film script:
Julius J. Epstein , Philip G. Epstein
producer:
Frank Capra , Anatole Litvak
cinematographer:
Robert Joseph Flaherty
editor:
William Hornbeck
composer:
Alfred Newman , Hugo W. Friedhofer , Leigh Harline , Arthur Lange , Cyril J. Mockridge , David Raksin
cast (role):
more:
plot synopsis:
This first of a series of seven "Why We Fight"-films describes the diplomatic and political mistakes that has inevitably paved the way to World War II. At the same time it critizes the American isolationists, who had thought they disasociate the US from the rest of the world. While America slept through the inter-war periode, Germany and Japan prepared themselves to conquer the world.
keywords:
propaganda , post-war era , Pacific ocean , invasion
war:
Second World War (1939-1945)
literature:
Thomas Bohn. An Historical and Descriptive Analysis of the `Why we fight´-series. New York: Arno Press, 1977.

David Culbert. „`Why We Fight´. Social Engineering for a Democratic Society at War“. In: K.R.M. Short (ed.). Film and Radio Propaganda in World War II. London/ Canberra, 1983.

William Thomas Murphy. „The Method of `Why We Fight´. In: Journal of Popular Film 1 (1972), 3, 185-196.
remarks:
In contrast to other film produced by the War Department this one was presented to civilian and military audiences.
availability:
VHS NTSC, DVD