1940s Documentary Movies

Prelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Pentagon and George C. Marshall. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the Axis Powers during World War II. This film examines the differences between democratic and fascist states.

Documentary-filmed events in the Carpatho-Ukraine (aka Ruthenia) during 1939 drive this history of the Ukraine's struggle for independence as a nation.

Short documentary about the town of Famalicão, in the North of Portugal.

Wartime documentary by Dovzhenko and Solntseva.

A whimsical blend of live action and animation, "Saludos Amigos" is a colorful kaleidoscope of art, adventure and music set to a toe-tapping samba beat. From high Andes peaks and Argentina's pampas to the sights and sounds of Rio de Janeiro, your international traveling companions are none other than those famous funny friends, Donald Duck and Goofy. They keep things lively as Donald encounters a stubborn llama and "El Gaucho" Goofy tries on the cowboy way of life....South American-style.

During the colorful ceremonies of the Nuremberg rallies, Hitler Youth parade before their Fuehrer and are addressed by Nazi youth leader Baldur von Schirach, Rudolf Hess, and Hitler himself.

The unusual talents of Johnny Price, a minor league baseball pitcher and trick artist, are showcased in this Pete Smith Specialty. Among other talents, Mr. Price can throw two (and, in certain situations three) baseballs simultaneously to different people. The catchers can be side by side, with one high and one low, or standing on the pitcher's mound and second base while Price throws the ball from the catcher's position. He can even perform these feats while suspended upside-down.

This documentary follows a group of adventurers into the Amazon jungle as they attempt to catch animals to be shipped to zoos in the USA.

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Short documentary film about Spanish castles, with a fiction part performed by two uncredited actors.

Commemorative procession celebrating the eighth centenary of the inbreak of Lisbon from the Moors in 1147 by the forces of D. Afonso Henriques with the help of the Crusaders en route to the Holy Land.

A nature documentary about the predators in the Swedish winter mountains: the owl, the bear and man.

A surprising film about the large number of inadequately addressed letters that the postal service receives every day. The film is an invitation to the audience to address letters correctly.

A film about life on the small island of Likiep in the Marshall Islands in Micronesia.

Documentary compilation of Finnish Defence Forces Newsreels keeping the people up-to-date with the latest about the war.

A documentary about the first Belgian king, Leopold I.

A gaucho flees from justice for murdering a man with whom his girlfriend was betraying him. He settles in a place where he falls in love with a woman, also desired by the local commissioner.

Originally made with a German soundtrack for screening in occupied Germany and Austria, this was the first documentary to show what the Allies found when they liberated the Nazi extermination camps: the survivors, the conditions, and the evidence of mass murder.

A docudrama about baroque art in Croatia.

A 1940 Columbia Picture feature film, "I Married Adventure" stars Osa Johnson and closely follows her 1940 best-selling book of the same name. Osa portrays herself in studio-produced scenes which bridge the transition between actual documentary footage segments as the film recounts the Johnson's nine world expeditions to Africa, Borneo, and the South Seas. Jim Bannon, a Hollywod stuntman who lent his voice to many western's including Red Ryder, Don Clark, and Albert Duffy narrate this adventure classic that compiles the very best images from the Johnsons' original feature films.

Sharply critical film about rural water pollution in the Jutland countryside district of medical officer Jens Jensen. Situations of everyday water use are illustrated by graphic representations of a well and surrounding soil layers. A new well is correctly constructed in the farmyard.

The elegant allegories of Botticelli are our guides as we explore a universe in which mysticism and paganism meet.

Conquer by the Clock was a short dramatic propaganda film produced by the RKO Pathé in 1942 to encourage wartime industrial production. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1943.

A look at Canada's first national Ballet Festival.

Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) provides trained agents, arms and other assistance to the European resistance groups fighting against Hitler. British agents, Captain Harry Rée DSO, OBE, Croix De Guerre, Médaille de la Résistance, aka "Felix", and Jacqueline Nearne, MBE, aka "Cat", recreate some of their adventures in France.

In 1938 Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler sponsored an expedition to Tibet lead by several Nazi SS scientists to study the regions flora and fauna, and to take scientific measurements of the Earths magnetic fields. The expedition was also sent to find traces of the orgins of the "Aryan" race in Tibet which was where Himmler thought evidence of could be found. This film is a Nazi era documentary of that expedition.

Stones from the sky - tangible pieces of other worlds. After millions of years of wandering in the darkness and the cold expanses of space, meteorites find shelter in the windows of museums. By studying meteorites, scientists know their origins, how they get to the Earth, and from which substances they are comprised. This film also explores the attitude towards this phenomenon in different nations through different times in history.

Nazi propaganda film about the Czech "Theresienstadt ghetto" in Terezín. The film was supposed to show the world that Jews didn't suffer in concentration camps. Upon completion, most Jews shown in the film (including director Kurt Gerron) were brought to Auschwitz, where they were killed.

Documentary about 100 boys on a voyage with the school ship "Christian Radich" to Lisbon, Casablanca, Madeira and the Azores in the summer of 1947.

An early example of ultra-realism, this movie contrasts the quiet, bucolic life in the outskirts of Paris with the harsh, gory conditions inside the nearby slaughterhouses. Describes the fate of the animals and that of the workers in graphic detail.

The story of how newspapers were distributed during the Blitz, stressing the importance of an accurate and objective press on the home front.

Produced in 1943 under the guidance of Army Air Force Lieutenant Clark Gable, this film follows a single 8th Air Force B-17 crew from training through a series of missions over Europe.

A Nazi propaganda film made to promote anti-Semitism among the German people. Newly-shot footage of Jewish neighborhoods in recently-conquered Poland is combined with preexisting film clips and stills to defame the religion and advance Hitler's slurs that its adherents were plotting to undermine European civilization.

The Japanese attack on Midway in June 1942, filmed as it happened. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, in 2006.

A program consisting of individual musical numbers.

The film deals with the Winter War of 1939-40 between Finland and the USSR. It begins with military exercises in the Autumn of 1939 and moves on to the Soviet invasion; the battle for Karelia; the bombing of Helsinki and other Finnish cities; as well as the activities of the foreign press corps in Finland and the heroic efforts of Finnish women and the Red Cross in their treatment of the wounded.

Film about the efforts of Norway and Norwegians outside Norway in the years 1940-45. Crown Prince Olav's introduction. The invasion of Norway. The merchant fleet on all seas. The Norwegian brigade is set up in Scottland. The first Norwegian aircraft squadron in action, and much more.

Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1941.

This film details how drug traffic operates, how the drug addict is made, and how this grim social reality may be curbed.

Atomic Power! is an American short documentary film produced by The March of Time and released to theaters August 9, 1946, one year after the end of World War II. It is a recreation of the making of the atomic bomb leading up to the Trinity test. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.