DVD
Let there be light : John Huston's wartime documentaries
Edition
Archive edition.
Performers
James Stewart, Walter Huston.
Publication Information
Chicago, IL : Olive Films, [2016]
Physical Description
2 videodiscs (281 minutes) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in.
Audience
Not rated.
Series
Summary
"Presented in cooperation with the National Archives and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, this collection features four documentaries directed by John Huston as part of his service as an officer in the Army Signal Corps. The documentaries are not simple propaganda, but reflect Huston's own changing attitudes toward war. Winning Your Wings is a recruitment film for the U.S. Army Air Forces, hosted by Jimmy Stewart. Report from the Aleutians reveals the tedium of being stationed at a remote Army post in the islands of Alaska. With San Pietro, however, the tone of Huston's documentaries begin to take a dark turn, documenting an Italian military battle that cost an estimated 1,100 American lives, revealing, in unflinching detail, the retrieval and burial of casualties. The Army chose not to publicly screen the film. The final installment, the emotionally devastating Let There Be Light, narrated by Walter Huston, is considered to be one of the most important wartime documentaries ever made, depicting the treatment of 'psychoneurotics' (now known as post-traumatic stress disorder), through hypnosis, drugs, and psychotherapy"--Publisher's website.
Notes
Originally produced as documentary films from 1942-1946.
Contents
- Disc 1. John Huston's wartime documentaries: an introduction (26:11) / written and edited by Bret Wood
- Winning your wings (1942, 18:19) / United States Army Air Forces present ; produced in cooperation with Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. ; with Lieutenant James Stewart
- Report from the Aleutians (1943, 44:48) / The War Department presents ; produced by U. S. Army Signal Corps
- San Pietro (1945, 32:05) / The War Department presents ; produced by the Army Pictorial Service ;
- Bonus feature: San Pietro: raw camera footage (32:58). Disc 2: Let there be light (1946, 57:50) / The United States Army presents
- Bonus feature: Shades of gray (1:05:46) / The United States Army presents.