Winston Churchill

A British documentary about the Allied campaign to drive Germany and Italy from North Africa, centered on the Battle of El Alamein. Produced by the Army Film and Photographic Unit and the Royal Air Force Film Production Unit, it was shot by cameramen embedded with the Eighth Army during the advance across the desert, and four of them were killed, seven wounded, and six captured in the making of it. The film follows Montgomery's army from the defensive line at El Alamein through the pursuit of Rommel's forces across 1,400 miles to Tripoli. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. As a work of the United Kingdom government, the film is in the public domain.

War · Documentary

The third chapter of Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" series picks up after Britain and France declare war on Germany. It follows the Nazi capture of Denmark and Norway, the conquest of Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and the collapse of France in just over a month. The film pays blunt attention to Nazi atrocities, including the bombing of Rotterdam, and explains the German tactic of flooding roads with refugees to slow Allied armies. Made for the U.S. War Department, it won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the film is in the public domain.

War · Documentary

The second chapter of Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" series covers Adolf Hitler's plan for world conquest and Germany's march across Europe. From the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia through the invasion of Poland that triggered the British and French declarations of war, the film lays out the Nazi strategy of "softening up" future targets with political subversion before striking militarily. It uses captured German footage alongside Allied material. Made for the U.S. War Department, it was shown to troops heading overseas and then to the public. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the film is in the public domain.

War · Documentary

The official Anglo-American film of the European campaign, co-directed by Garson Kanin and Carol Reed from footage shot by hundreds of combat cameramen on both sides of the Atlantic. Its unusual device is the narration: instead of one authoritative voice, the film is told in the voices of ordinary soldiers, nurses, and liberated civilians, written by playwrights including Paddy Chayefsky. Eisenhower introduces it. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. As a co-production of the U.S. Office of War Information and the British Ministry of Information, it is in the public domain.

War · Documentary