| "The Battle of Britain" was the fourth part of Frank Capra's celebrated "Why We Fight" series. Made during World War II when Capra was a major in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, these documentaries are the supreme example of American propaganda during World War II (the term "propaganda" being used in the neutral sense that existed at the time, not the pejorative it received because of Josef Goebbels Ministry of Propaganda in Nazi Germany). Originally the films were used to explain the government's policy to the troops that were hastily assembled after Pearl Harbor to be trained and sent overseas to fight. You have to remember that American had been an isolationist nation in the period between the two world wars and what Capra does that is so masterful is convince viewers that Americans were leaning towards supporting the English and entering the war before the Japanese attack made the matter moot. Eventually the "Why We Fight" series was shown to the public in theaters and today they remain a prime source of archival footage for the period. "The Battle of Britain" was released in 1943 and is one of the transitional volume in the series with regards to the war in Europe as the British make a desperate last stand against the Nazi Luftwaffe. This 54-minute black & white documentary is narrated by Walter Huston and starts with Hitler entering Paris and then looking across the English Channel at his next victim. Inspired by the speeches of Winston Churchill, the presence of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and the fighter pilots of the Royal Air Force, the British simply refused to quit in the face of an onslaught of air attacks of the Blitz. Writer Anthony Veiller ("Stage Door," "The Killers") worked as an uncredited director on "The Battle of Britain" along with Capra. "The Battle of Britain" is followed by "The Battle of Russia," which Hitler betrays his Soviet allies and forces his army to fight a two front war. In 2000 the "Why We Fight" series was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry. |