Stevens, who had joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1943, was put in charge of the Special Motion Pictures Unit and was assigned to follow the invasion of Normandy with the 6th Army for the purpose of recording their operations for the archives. His team included cameramen Joseph Biroc and William C. Mellor and writers William Saroyan and Irwin Shaw.
The documentary has been put together by the director's son, producer George Stevens, Jr., who also narrates and provides excerpts from audio interviews with surviving participants. Among the topics covered are the D-Day invasion of Normandy; the destruction of French villages; the liberation of Paris on August 25, 1944; the meeting of the American and Russian armies; the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945, as the furnaces still burned; liberated prisoners of war; and the ruins of Berlin. Originally produced for television, the 46-minute documentary brought Emmy awards to George Stevens, Jr. for writing and narrating, and to Catherine Shields for film editing.
Before the sobering experiences captured on film in George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin, Stevens (1904-1975) was the director of numerous enjoyable Hollywood movies. When he returned to filmmaking after the war, he embraced more mature themes in such films as A Place in the Sun (1951), Shane (1953), Giant (1956) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959).
Producer: George Stevens, Jr.
Editing: Catherine Shields
Cinematography: George Stevens (16mm segments)
Original Music: Carl Davis, Peter Howell
Cast: George Stevens, Jr. (Host and Narrator), George Stevens (Himself; archive footage). Voices: Dick Kent (Himself), Ken Marthey (Himself), Ivan Moffat (Himself), Hollingsworth Morse (Himself), Jack Muth (Himself), Irwin Shaw (Himself).
BW & C-47m.
by Roger Fristoe
