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Concept
December 7th (film)
Summary
December 7th is a 1943 propaganda documentary film produced by the US Navy and directed by John Ford and Gregg Toland, about the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the event which sparked the Pacific War and American involvement in World War II. Toland was also the film's cinematographer. The original version of this film, with a running time of 82 minutes, was not released but was retained by the National Archives. An edited version of 32 minutes length, which removed a long introductory segment and a shorter epilogue, was given limited release to specific audiences but won the Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) in 1944. This is the only film Toland ever worked on for which he received a director credit.
Opening shots show the wreck of USS Arizona and a destroyed B17 bomber, followed by a shot of a damaged aircraft hangar. Two metal beams cast a V (for "Victory")-shaped shadow over what appears to be a large blood stain, as well as an American seaman's cap. These shots are followed by excerpts of memos from Secretary of War Henry Stimson and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, each endorsing the project of making a film about the attack. The "V" shadow is still superimposed over each memo.
The narrative begins with shots of Oahu while a narrator announces that it is "early Sunday [December 7, 1941] on the island of Oahu" where a figure of Uncle Sam is shown sleeping on a lounge chair in a Hawaiian house. The city of Honolulu is also described as "unsuspecting" and asleep. Soldiers and sailors are shown on guard against sabotage or domestic threats but not against invasion from abroad. Airplanes at Hickham Field and ships at Pearl Harbor are shown at rest, while other soldiers and sailors are shown at work, playing ball, and at a Sunday field mass. A Private Joseph Lockhart, at the aircraft warning system, detects a fleet of airplanes approaching, but he is assured by an officer that they are probably American planes returning from a training mission.
Official source
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