Bob Hudson Posted December 8, 2017 Share #1 Posted December 8, 2017 Elsewhere on the forum I reported on my luck in finding some rancid old 16mm films that turned to have some very interesting content: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/301800-16mm-movie-film-101st-airborne-wwii-medals-ceremony/ Not as cool, perhaps, as the 101st ceremony are two movies that I would consider domestic propaganda, aimed at Americans troops and civilians. One is about Illinois, not the usual subject of propaganda. The other film is THIS IS AMERICA VIVA MEXICO! (Mexico also not the usual subject.) Overall it's a pretty interesting overview of Mexico in the early 1940's and based on my personal experience as a political PR person I'd say the goal of the film was to assure Norte Americanos that Mexico was a loyal and capable ally in the war against Germany. In WWI Germany tried to recruit Mexico to fight against the US, even offering to return parts of the USA to Mexico if Germany won the war. Naturally there were still some with concerns about Mexico. Several years ago I had a grouping from a WWII intel officer who was doing long range recon flights over Mexico before Pearl Harbor, looking for Iron Crosses, I assume. The film was made by RKO RADIO PICTURES with the idea and money no doubt coming the government. I used a musical excerpt from the film to create a short opening title: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share #2 Posted December 8, 2017 REPORT FROM ILLINOIS is a 1945 16mm film targeted at the troops overseas. Films like this were spliced together with a couple other films - newsreels, sports, etc - and circulated among military units that had projectors. Movie night in the rear or aboard ships might have been one of these compilations plus a full-length Hollywood production. The woman announcer's voice is a little tough to understand, but gets better toward the end of the film (which appears to end too abruptly). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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