Directed by John Ford (Uncredited)

November 17, 2021 3:24 PM

The War Department Presents At The Front In North Africa With The U.S. Army (In Technicolor)*

Seventy-nine years ago today, following the Allied invasion of French North Africa, the Tunisia Campaign began. This film follows a company of M3 "General Grant" tanks from the harbor of Bône in French Algeria to the Tunsian Front.

Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck (seen shooting a Tommy Gun at an airplane) for the US Army's Signal Corps from footage largely shot by John Ford (seen riding an undersized burro) the film was not well received critically (or by the Army.) Frank Capra called it dismayingly weak compared to the Academy Award winning Desert Victory. However, unlike with Victory, Zanuck didn't supplement the footage with staged 'back lot' action. Instead we get the "true and varied reactions" of people to an air raid and a seemingly distant view of an actual tank battle.

John Ford previously

* There are other versions of this public domain (as work of the US Gov't) film without the Periscope Film counter, but this one is in the best condition otherwise.

posted by ChurchHatesTucker (13 comments total)

As mentioned in the 'largely shot' wikipedia link:

The director John Ford, a longtime adversary of Zanuck's despite Zanuck's having shepherded Ford's The Grapes of Wrath (1940) past the censorious Hays office into production, had been making films as a commander in the U.S. Navy even before the U.S. entered the war, and he was horrified to discover himself drafted into Zanuck's Africa unit. "Can't I ever get away from you?" he growled. "I bet if I die and go to heaven, you'll be waiting for me under a sign reading 'Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck'."
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 3:26 PM on November 17, 2021 [12 favorites]

"Seemingly distant view of an actual tank battle."

As someone who worked with tanks in my youth, that is uncomfortably close. That cameraperson was quite bold.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 4:59 PM on November 17, 2021 [8 favorites]

Oh hey, thanks for linking my old FPP about the Battle of Midway. Still blows my mind that the military sent in top-tier Hollywood folks like Zanuck and Ford to film actual combat.
posted by TrialByMedia at 5:32 PM on November 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

My French Algerian grandmother and US GI grandfather met because of this phase of the war, so this footage is amazing for me to see. Thanks for posting!
posted by vorpal bunny at 7:20 PM on November 17, 2021 [7 favorites]

I skimmed through it, and noticed a bit at 12:11 with the narrator saying "V stands for victory everywhere", over some kids flashing Vs... with the palm turned toward them, which I understand means something rather different, at least in England.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:36 PM on November 17, 2021

with the palm turned toward them, which I understand means something rather different, at least in England

Even Churchill got that wrong early on.

I also remember reading that the palm-out version was offensive in some cultures and it was reversed for them, but I'm not finding anything after a brief google.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:10 PM on November 17, 2021

People often complain really loudly whenever reconstituted soundtracks are added to very early film footage. The sound effects on this are very flat and repetitive but I doubt that many viewers find them jarring or think of them as ”fake”.
posted by brachiopod at 4:44 AM on November 18, 2021

Even Churchill got that wrong early on.

Interestng. I've read elsewhere that he knew damn well, and would do the palm forward version for the cameras then flip his hand for the lads, to show that he wasn't just some blue blooded toff. Difficult to know, the best reference I could find says the history is murky at best. Anyone?
posted by BWA at 6:08 AM on November 18, 2021

The sound effects on this are very flat and repetitive but I doubt that many viewers find them jarring or think of them as ”fake”.

The thing I noticed was that the sound was synched up to the action in the tank battle, although in reality the sound should have been reaching the camera after a delay because of the distance.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:16 AM on November 18, 2021

My grandfather was probably in one of those battles in North Africa in 1942. He was a tank commander because he was able to read and drive, which were rarities then in the southwest, and the core was ramping up really quickly after being caught extremely flatfooted. His group suffered poor leadership and was outmanned, and outgunned, and didn't last long and was captured and held in Germany until he was liberated by the Russians in 1945.

This is not too bad of a recap.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:58 AM on November 18, 2021 [1 favorite]

My dad was a 22-year-old 2nd Lieutenant in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. He was an engineer, building landing fields for warplanes with perforated steel plates. I kept an eye out for him, but, no dice. His photos from that time look pretty much like this film.
posted by Bee'sWing at 12:16 PM on November 18, 2021 [1 favorite]

Polite accessibility-related request that instead of doing the every-other-letter-linked-to-a-different-previous-post thing (or anything similar), we actually link to the previous posts with text indicating their titles or what they were about.

p: The Battle of Midway
e: It is love, not reason, that is stronger than death.”
i: Mike Grost's Auteurist Checklists
u: "Serge Daney was the end of criticism as I understood it."
s: My Book, The Movie
posted by Lexica at 1:08 PM on November 18, 2021

LOL at "seen riding an undersized burro." (Also, who the hell kills chickens like that? Were you not raised in a barn?) These are really interesting.
posted by eotvos at 8:19 PM on November 18, 2021