The Battle of China
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Army Air Forces Orchestra
Lucien Cailliet
Col. Frank Capra
Sgt. Edward Comfort
Sgt. Dean
Sgt. Lloyd Fromm
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Using maps, cartoons and film footage, this Army orientation film documents the history of the Chinese people and the invasion of China by the Japanese. The cultures of China and Japan are compared, and aspects of China's pacifist history, and the buildup of the military in Japan are highlighted. Japan is determined to fulfill the tenets of the Tanaka Memorial: world conquest. Phase one of Japan's plan for world conquest starts with the invasion of China. Various invasions are shown, including the conquests of Manchuria in 1931, Shanghai in 1931 and 1937, and Jehol. Graphic scenes of bombing, death and mutiliation accompany the footage of the Japanese invasion of Nanking, during which 40,000 men, women and children died. China finally unites its disparate states in a desire to resist the Japanese, and develops a plan to yield territory slowly to create time in which to build up their forces. Thirty million people dismantle the cities and travel by boat, train and on foot two thousand miles to Chungking, where a new capital is established. Factories are built underground to protect them from bombs, and a trucking route known as the Burma Road over which the Chinese receive invaluable supplies, is built by manual labor into the mountains. A people's army is formed, and their troops are fortified with troops from the United States, Great Britain and Holland. With the rest of the world also busy at war, Japan decides to immobilize U.S. power in the Pacific, and without warning launches an attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941. This brings the U.S. into the war, and the country joins forces with China to defeat Japan. Even with many countries involved, China suffers more defeats by Japan, but at the outset of 1944, the Chinese are stronger than ever, and with them, the U.S. forces are fighting for freedom all over the world.
Crew
Army Air Forces Orchestra
Lucien Cailliet
Col. Frank Capra
Sgt. Edward Comfort
Sgt. Dean
Sgt. Lloyd Fromm
John Gunther
Sgt. Hageny
Tec 3 Edward D. Haire
Sgt. Ray Harryhausen
James Hilton
Cpl. Lewis
T. Y. Lo
Paul Marquardt
Charles Maxwell
Tec 3 Tom Mcadoo
Joseph Nussbaum
Edgar Peterson
Allen Rivkin
Sgt. Roberts
Joseph Sistrom
Joseph Sistrom
Chester E. Sticht
Tec 5 David N. Tamkin
Dimitri Tiomkin
Maj. Anthony D. Veiller
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of the film was War in the East, the same as the working title of The Battle of Russia. This film was subtitled "Project 6005; Information Film #6." Included in the film is footage of the following people: Dr. Sun Yat Sen, Chiang Kai-Shek and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, Col. William Mayer and Col. Claire Chennault. According to government documents at NARS, the first scenario was dated January 30, 1943, and the film was completed by April 20, 1944. Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. provided services and materials for scoring and dubbing. Some shooting was done at Twentieth Century-Fox and at Paramount studios for this production. Film footage came from American newsreels, captured newsreels from Japan and Germany, stock footage belonging to Hollywood studios, footage shot by Consolidated Film Industries and from features including The Adventures of Marco Polo, the U.S.D.A. film The River, Kukan, The 400 Million, and from stock library material shot for The Good Earth.
Footage of the massacre in Nanking was reportedly provided by a missionary who smuggled the film out of the city. The musical score included passages from Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Isle of the Dead," and a number of Chinese songs, including "Little Cabbage," "Chee Lai," "Chinese National Anthem," "Song of the Great Wall," "Sword Blade March," "Riding the Dragon" and "Work As One." Lt. Col. Anatole Litvak was involved in the production. N. K. Wang, a Colonel in the Chinese Army, wrote Chinese characters for the film.
Although a Chinese-language version was produced, in June 1945, orders were given to suspend production of the French, Spanish and Portuguese versions. According to modern sources, the picture was beset by political problems and was quickly withdrawn from distribution to the armed forces. It was never released to the general public.
