"Battle of San Pietro" Documentary

[Holman]

Last night I was checking the new releases at my local independent video store, and I came across a WW2 documentary called "The Battle of San Pietro." It's from 1943 and, unless I'm mistaken, it was directed by John Huston.

The film was sponsored by the War Department and chronicles the course of one long valley battle in Italy (before the fall of Rome). According to a note on the box, though, the film was never shown because it was deemed demoralizing and therefore no good for consumption on the home front. Since the footage shows lots of American soldiers in body bags, and makes no attempt to glamorize a very long and costly battle, I can see why the War Department decided that it didn't make good propaganda. The soldiers look haggard, unshaven, and tired. The wounded are obviously in pain.

For these reasons alone, this documentary gives some real insight on history. It is also very well-directed, with consistently interesting footage and a relative lack of BS. It definitely gives you a sense of how difficult the hill country fighting was in central Italy. It also gives some attention to the civilians whose towns and livelihoods were totally destroyed by the war's passage.

I don't know if the VHS version has only recently been released or if my video store only just now acquired it, but it was listed as "new." I recommend looking for it.

Martyr

[gaffertape]

I'll definitely try to find that. Thanks for the post.

GAFF

[Chupacabra]

A number of well-known Hollywood directors filmed propaganda/documentary pieces during WW2 (the line between propaganda and documentary often gets fairly blurry.

John Huston also directed:

Report from the Aleutians (1943)

Tunisian Victory (1944, w. Frank Capra)

John Ford directed:

The Battle of Midway (1942)

Torpedo Squadron (1942)

Sex Hygiene (1942)

We Sail at Midnight (1943)

December 7th (1943)

They Were Expendable (1945) - Not a documentary, but excellent, and as far as I can tell, accurate.

Frank Capra

The 'Why We Fight' series, including

Prelude to War (1943)

Nazi Strike, Blitzkrieg! (1943)

Divide and Conquer (1943)

The Battle of Britain (1944)

The Battle of China (1944)

Two Down and One To Go (1945)

War Comes to America (1945)

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Grand Poobah of the fresh fire of Heh.

[Jeff Duquette]

I hardly think "The Battle of San Pietro" is Propaganda. The documentary was banned from being shown in the US during the war because it was overly realistic portrayal of the battle (i.e. excessive number of scenes depicting dead GI’s). It was still being used as a training tool by the US ARMY Infantry School back in the 70’s and early 80’s.