Saturday, August 31, 2013

Films from DuArt Find Their New Home

On August 16th, 194 boxes of film arrived from DuArt to the Film Archive. Most of them contain original picture and track negatives. As I mentioned in a previous post, this includes many docs, but also shorts, independent features, and student films. About a week later, I began processing the materials into the collection. So far, I've worked on:

1) Sharon Sopher's 1986 Doc Feature Nominee, WITNESS TO APARTHEID
2) Several of Robert Richter's films, including his 1982 Doc Short Nominee, GODS OF METAL, as well as ASBESTOS ALERT; BEN SPOCK, BABY DOCTOR; and FOR EXPORT ONLY: PESTICIDES AND PILLS - http://richtervideos.com Mr. Richter has also placed more of his films at the Film Archive that he had held in private storage.
3) Three of James Rutenbeck's docs, LOSING GROUND, RAISE THE DEAD, and COMPANY TOWN. http://www.jamesrutenbeck.com/jr_portfolio.html
4) Amy Talkington's student short films, SECOND SKIN and NUMBER ONE FAN - http://www.amytalkington.com/
5) The Doc Short Nominee CITY OUT OF WILDERNESS (1974)
6) Chris Columbus' NYU student film, I THINK I'M GONNA LIKE IT HERE. 

This is, of course, just the tip of the iceberg, and there's a long, long way to go (and before I finish with these boxes, we'll be getting another shipment from DuArt, with perhaps another 100 boxes.) But I know what I'll be doing the next 6 months or so, and will be giving periodic updates on my progress.

By the way, you might be interested to know what we do with the films when we process them into the collection. We remove them from their original cans or boxes, and make note of any significant information from these containers, including technical information, when the elements were made, etc. We separate any paper materials enclosed, such as lab notes, timing tapes and so on. These are stored separately in acid free envelopes, and a note of this is made in the database record for the item. All important bibliographic data is entered in the title record for the film, and the physical information put into the individual "item" record - film gauge, film stock information, length, type of element, and condition (scratches, dirt, warping, color fading, etc.) Of particular importance is notation of any acetate deterioration (aka "vinegar syndrome"). Thankfully, all the materials I've looked at so far have been in very good to excellent condition. The films are then wound off their cores or reels, onto "archival" cores made of inert plastic, and inspected for any other physical defects. The items are then placed into "archival" cans, and a barcode, printed out from the database record, is placed on each can. Before the cans are put into the vault, the barcode is scanned, so the location information goes into the item record (so we can find it later!)



Tuesday, August 27, 2013

THE BEGINNING OF THE DOCUMENTARY CATEGORIES OF ACADEMY AWARDS®


The Academy Award® Documentary Categories did not begin until the 14th Awards in 1941. But the Academy did recognize non-fiction films (many by notable filmmakers) prior to that, in the Short Subject categories. A 1935 winner, Ivor Montagu’s WINGS OVER MT. EVEREST, showed the first airplane flight over the world’s tallest peak. Fred Zinnemann’s THAT MOTHERS MIGHT LIVE, a winner in 1938, dramatized the medical advances made by a noted Hungarian physician. But these films were not deemed by many to be “documentaries,” a term which then connoted more serious accounts of contemporary issues and events. For the first time in 1940, the Academy considered easing the entry rules for Shorts, to include such “true” documentary films, but only if they had had commercial runs in regular theaters. 
Though some filmmakers were happy to have their films accepted due to this decision, many were not so thrilled, and confusion and controversy ensued. Many fine films, including Willard Van Dyke’s VILLAGE TOWN and CHILDREN MUST LEARN; and John Ferno’s SO THEY LIVE, were not eligible under these rules, as they had not been exhibited in commercial houses, and U.S. government productions played for no charge. But two fine documentaries, Julien Bryan’s SIEGE, which captured on film Germany’s invasion of Poland, and LONDON CAN TAKE IT, by Harry Watt and Humphrey Jennings, that showed British resilience during the Blitz, received nominations in the One-Reel category. Both films are now considered classics.
It became clear to the Shorts Committee, and to the Academy at large, that documentaries could no longer be shoehorned into this category, and that these films had become significant enough to merit their own awards. The Committee considered the topic in their meeting of January 20th, 1941. Discussion on the issue continued throughout the year.
For most of 1941, the United States was still officially neutral in World War II, but being drawn closer into the conflict every day. Certainly the Academy’s recognition of SIEGE and LONDON CAN TAKE IT - films made the previous year about the war in Europe - demonstrated a keen interest in films depicting the foreign war that a majority of Americans still thought should remain foreign. The documentary had been gaining stature during the 1930’s, but the advent of the war signaled the real turning point for non-fiction filmmaking.
So, three days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Academy Board of Governors adopted a resolution to consider the possibility of granting Special Awards to documentary productions.  The general Awards Committee met two weeks later on the 17th of December. This Committee consisted of six members from the Screen Actors Guild, four from the Screen Directors Guild, nine producer members from various studios, five Science Branch members, and seven Academy officers ex officio. It noted that,
“United States, British, Canadian, and Russian Government films, [the]‘March of Time,’ a number of other newsreel releases of documentary type, and some other films privately sponsored but shown in regular theatres have been a significant development in the motion picture medium, particularly during the past year, and should achieve Awards® recognition.”

The Awards Committee voted a recommendation that Special Awards be given for the Best Documentary Feature and the Best Documentary Short Subject. At a subsequent meeting of the Board of Governors, this recommendation was approved. Thus, by early January 1942, the Documentary Awards were born!
In a letter to Academy Librarian Margaret Gledhill [Herrick] and Academy Executive Secretary Donald Gledhill dated January 18, 1942, the Dutch born documentarian Joris Ivens wrote, “I am so very glad that at last we are recognized by the Academy and that the documentary film has become one of the ‘decent’ branches of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.” Unfortunately for Ivens, his landmark film about electrification of rural areas in the United States, POWER AND THE LAND, was declared ineligible two years in a row. In 1940, it could not compete in the Shorts category because it was a few hundred feet longer than the stipulated length. And since it had been exhibited during 1940, it was not accepted for the 14th Awards, for which only films released in calendar year 1941 were eligible.
It is worth noting that some other worthy films submitted in 1941 were declared ineligible, as they had not played theatrically during. Among them were A CHILD WENT FORTH, by Joseph Losey, concerning a haven for children evacuated from London during the Blitz; and THE FORGOTTEN VILLAGE, directed by Herbert Kline and Alexander Hammid, and written by John Steinbeck, examining the conflicts between modernization and traditional culture in a small Mexican village.
Next, the Academy formed a Documentary Awards Committee, consisting of Richard Macaulay (the chair), Henry Fonda, David O. Selznick, Joseph Valentine and Henry Hathaway.  Macaulay had recently written THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT and would soon pen ACROSS THE PACIFIC [a side note – I have not been able to find an photo of Macaulay anywhere. Very strange]. Fonda had been nominated in 1940 for THE GRAPES OF WRATH, and would narrate several wartime documentaries, including the Oscar® nominated IT’S EVERYBODY’S WAR, and the winner THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY. He also narrated the 1951 doc short winner BENJY, and the doc nominees THE REALLY BIG FAMILY (1966), A SPACE TO GROW (1968) and AN IMPRESSION OF JOHN STEINBECK: WRITER (1969).  SPRING PARADE, WINGS OVER HONOLULU and MAD ABOUT MUSIC were all recent nominations for cinematographer Valentine. Hathaway had been nominated for directing LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER.
Selznick was coming off his twin triumphs of GONE WITH THE WIND and REBECCA, which won consecutive Best Picture awards. For the 15th Awards, Academy President Walter Wanger asked him to chair the Documentary Committee, and Selznick initially refused, as he wanted to devote all his energies to his next production. A flurry of correspondence from Wanger and his fellow Committee members eventually persuaded Selznick to reluctantly accept the post.
The Documentary Committee first met on February 4th, at 7PM in the Academy Board Room (in the offices in the Taft Building in Hollywood), with Donald Gledhill and Academy Publicity Counsel Hal Hall in attendance (Hathaway couldn’t make the first meeting). They reviewed the list of films to be screened for consideration; Fonda and Hall conducted a drawing by lot to determine the order of presentation. In the early years, the Academy actively sought out documentary entries, with members of the Committee and the Academy at large suggesting appropriate films. In subsequent years, the Academy sent invitation letters to studios, individuals, and the film commissions of many countries. The new category proved to be somewhat ill defined, so the Committee stated,
“It was agreed that the definition of documentary and the eligibility rules were far from clear and comprehensive, and that definite action should be taken during the year to remedy the situation and propose improvements for next year’s Awards Committee.”
And in a move designed to showcase documentaries and increase general awareness of non-fiction films, the Committee
“strongly endorsed a proposal to recommend to the Academy Board that monthly showings whenever feasible be held for the Academy Membership at which outstanding documentary films be featured. It was also recommended that in connection with such showings that the Academy Library should prepare and distribute to the Academy membership small pamphlets describing the new releases and serving to keep the membership up-to-date with developments in the ‘documentary,’‘actuality’ and ‘war reporting’ fields of film use.”
In the feature category, two films stood out: TARGET FOR TO-NIGHT and KUKAN.  Harry Watt’s TARGET FOR TO-NIGHT, the story of a British bomber raid on Germany, had an incalculable morale boosting effect in the United Kingdom, and was eventually shown to an estimated 50 million people in 12,000 theaters in the Western Hemisphere. KUKAN (subtitled THE UNCONQUERABLE SPIRIT OF CHINA) detailed St. Louis journalist Rey Scott’s epic travels through China, documenting both the wide range of cultures as well as the horrific events of the Japanese invasion and the staunch Chinese defense.  Both were then currently in release, but the Committee suggested holding a double bill screening for members who hadn’t yet seen them. The Committee then made an interesting decision:
“We find that during the past year two particularly outstanding documentary features have been shown, KUKAN and TARGET FOR TO-NIGHT. These are each of high quality and production origin as to make competitive voting difficult inasmuch as the field is still too new for standards of comparison to be generally agreed upon, without a competitive vote, a recommendation be made by the Awards Committee that an Awards Certificate of Merit be given to the producers of KUKAN and a similar certificate to the producers of TARGET FOR TO-NIGHT in recognition of their production of these films.”
Thus, there was no official Documentary Feature winner that year. At an Academy Board meeting at the Brown Derby on February 20th, Selznick, Howard Estabrook, John Aalberg, and James Hilton formed a committee to write the text of the citations for KUKAN and TARGET FOR TONIGHT.
The first voting screening for documentaries was held at the Filmarte Theatre at 1228 Vine Street (a block from the current location of the Academy’s Pickford Center and Film Archive), on Tuesday, February 10th. Some of those in attendance (in addition to the Documentary Committee) were Olivia DeHavilland, Farciot Edouart, Howard Estabrook, John Garfield, Norman Reilly Raine, Frank Partos, Sol Lesser, Lesley Selander, Pete Smith, Dorothy Tree and Walter Wanger. The ballots were collected by Price, Waterhouse & Company.
 
A look at the films in competition for the first Documentary Short Subject award:
ADVENTURES IN THE BRONX, produced by Film Associates, with commentary by John Kiernan. This was the first in a series of shorts sponsored by the New York Zoological Society. It shows the experiences of a boy who sneaks into the Bronx Zoo with his toy elephant before the gates are opened.
BOMBER, produced by the Office of Emergency Management, was written and narrated by poet Carl Sandburg. It shows the construction of the B-26 Martin bomber at the Glenn L. Martin plant in Baltimore, from the first production of its 25,000 parts to its first test flight.
CHRISTMAS UNDER FIRE, produced by the British Ministry of Information, and directed by Harry Watt. American journalist Quentin Reynolds narrates this look at the tenacity of British during the bombing by the German Luftwaffe.
CHURCHILL’S ISLAND, produced by the National Film Board of Canada, directed by Stuart Legg, and narrated by Lorne Greene. It describes the Battle of Britain, and shows that Britain could win the war because of the moral strength of its people.
LETTER FROM HOME, produced by the British Ministry of Information, and directed by Carol Reed. Another film salute to the courage of Londoners under the Nazi Blitz juxtaposes a letter from an English mother (Celia Johnson, in her first screen appearance) to her children, who have been evacuated to the US, with the details of her life. Reed later co-directed, with Garson Kanin, the 1945 Documentary Feature Winner THE TRUE GLORY.
LIFE OF A THOROUGHBRED, produced by Truman Talley. Shows how a champion horse is trained, and how he finally becomes a winner. The Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky is depicted, as well as a real champion, Whirlaway. One of the two nominees not examining events of the war.
NORWAY IN REVOLT, produced by the March of Time. A dramatization of the formation of a Norwegian military force in exile, and of Norwegian resistance activities.
A PLACE TO LIVE, produced by the Philadelphia Housing Authority. In the tradition of the great progressive films of the late 1930’s and early 1940’s such as THE RIVER, VALLEY TOWN and THE LAND, director Irving Lerner shows the deleterious effects of slum housing. This lyrical work features a rousing, Coplandesque score.
RUSSIAN SOIL, produced by Amkino. This film, concerning the Russians’ defense of their homeland against the invading Germans, was a last minute replacement for another short subject from the Soviet Union.
SOLDIERS OF THE SKY, produced by Truman Talley. The second nominee produced by Talley, it depicts paratrooper training in Fort Benning, Georgia.
WAR CLOUDS IN THE PACIFIC, produced by the National Film Board of Canada, produced by Stuart Legg and narrated by Lorne Greene. The second NFBC/Legg/Greene film nominated this year, it examines the new and dangerous Japan, and the reaction of the democracies, which erected a vast defense system across the Pacific.
At the 14th Academy Awards ceremony at the Biltmore Hotel on February 26th, CHURCHILL’S ISLAND became the first film to win an Academy Award® in a Documentary category. John Grierson, Film Commissioner of Canada’s National Film Board and the man who coined the term “documentary,” presented the Award to CHURCHILL’S ISLAND, as well as the two Special Awards to TARGET FOR TO-NIGHT and KUKAN. Since all three were considered “special” awards (and because this was an “experimental” category), Grierson handed out Certificate of Merit scrolls, not Oscar statuettes. He began his presentation with a funny and trenchant speech, which brilliantly captured the state of the documentary film at that time:
“Long ago the documentary film set itself the not very popular task of talking about the facts when people were more interested in illusions; of describing social problems which were embarrassing to some and ugly to many; of keeping men’s consciences just a little closer to the dreadful grindstone of actuality. We are all tied today to the grindstone of actuality, and I am glad to be here if only as a symbol that all of us - whatever branch of film making we pursue - are all for one and one for all in a common effort.”


Monday, August 26, 2013

Willkie in China - the Intersection of Film and Politics


One of the joys of working at the Academy Film Archive is coming across an obscure, possibly unique film in the collection which turns out not only to be historically significant, but reveals all sorts of connections going in many directions. I'm a big fan of historical connections, threads and parallels, and find them endlessly fascinating - sometimes these threads seem to go on forever.  I'm not sure exactly when I came across WILLKIE IN CHINA, an unfinished silent newsreel in the Academy's War Film Collection, but it probably coincided with preparations for one of my two Academy-sponsored trips to China, the first in 2007, the second in 2009.

Willkie shakes hands with General Chiang Kai-Shek

I didn't know much about Wendell Willkie (1892-1944), but learned a lot more when I began to research this unique piece of film.  Though it's "only" an unedited newsreel, it's terrifically shot and composed, as these frame grabs demonstrate. And full of historical information. In the Academy War Film files in Special Collections at the Margaret Herrick Library, a folder contains a full "dope sheet" rundown of the film's content.

In 1942, FDR sent Willkie, whom he had defeated in the 1940 Presidential election, on a 49 day goodwill and fact finding mission around the world, with stops in South America, Egypt, England, Iraq, the Soviet Union, and China.  He flew in a converted B-24 Liberator aircraft, and left New York on August 26th, 71 years ago to the day as I write this. In the course of his journey, he discussed the problems of the war with King Farouk of Egypt, British General Bernard ("Monty") Montgomery, General Charles de Gaulle, Joseph Stalin and General Chiang Kai-shek.

A pilot in the clearly antiquated Chinese air force.

At the time, there was still doubt in parts of the world as to the sincerity of the American people in the support of  FDR's prosecution of the war. Who would be better prepared to dissipate doubts regarding the unity of the American people in carrying the war to an Allied victory than the leader of the loyal opposition in the United States? 

Willkie (on the left) at a United China Relief dinner, with Madame Chiang Kai-Shek (to the right of Willkie)

In China, he traveled to Chungking (now Chongqing) Lanchow (now Lanzhou) Sian (now Xi’an), and Chengtu (now Chengdu). At a time when the Chinese people were exhausted after their  resistance to the Japanese invasion for over ten years and their belief that the United States did not fully understand their plight, the visit was timely, to say the least.



Crowds at a Willkie speech

One of the members of the Willkie party in China, Hollington K. Tong (Vice-Minister of Information; graduate of Columbia University, 1913), has an Academy connection. In 1943, the Academy’s Board of Governors invited Tong to become a member of the Documentary Awards Nomination Committee. Mr. Tong declined the invitation, but suggested another person, Dr. H. L. Shia of the Chinese News Service, headquartered in New York City (at 30 Rockefeller Center). which provided the Academy with this Willkie in China newsreel.

Folk performances


When he returned to the US, he wrote of his travels in “One World,” which became a huge best seller. He sold the films rights to Darryl Zanuck and 20th Century-Fox (Willkie had become chairman of the board of Fox in 1942), and there was talk of Spencer Tracy portraying Willkie. In September of 1943 Zanuck asked the Academy if they had any Willkie footage, and a copy of a letter in the Academy files from Margaret Herrick (signed "Mrs. Donald Gledhill") to Zanuck informs him of this newsreel. A handwritten note of the letter notes that Zanuck's secretary called the next day to express his great interest in looking at it.


Six months before his "One World" trip, Willkie spoke for 20 minutes as a special invited guest at the 14th Academy Awards on February 26, 1942. He came on after the Documentary Awards presentation and before the Short Subject Awards. He talked generally about the state of the country and the world, as well as the role of the film industry in the war (remember this was less than three months after Pearl Harbor). Dr. Hu Shih, China's ambassador to United States, spoke at the Show as well.

Willkie with Madame Chiang and the General

It's interesting to note another China connection with the 14th Awards. As you'll know if you read my earlier posts, KUKAN received an honorary Academy Award at this ceremony. Too bad KUKAN's filmmaker, Rey Scott, couldn't attend the Awards Show, because he and Willkie would have had a lot to discuss concerning China.


Chinese officer meets with General Joseph Stillwell


Sunday, August 18, 2013

The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez

I first met the great independent film director Robert M. Young about three years ago, introduced by our mutual friend Sandra Schulberg. She thought I might be interesting in bringing Bob's films into the Film Archive, and she was right! Bob and I communicated off and on for awhile, and he eventually introduced me and my wife Monica to his family, inviting us to dine with them periodically. Bob has had an amazing, long career, making both documentaries and features, and there is no question that his films belong at the Archive. My friendship with Bob coincided with the growing relationship between the Archive and DuArt, owned by Bob's brother Irwin.

Back in December of 2012, the Film Archive received many boxes of original elements from Bob's films, including SHORT EYES and THE BALLAD OF GREGORIO CORTEZ.




As I learned more about GREGORIO CORTEZ, the more interested I became, and thought it a perfect candidate for preservation. It was only available on home video in the US on VHS, and has not been widely seen theatrically since its release in 1982. However, its significance and influence is wide, with probably the first Chicano hero in modern American film, with Edward James Olmos in his breakout role as Cortez. It was one of the earliest, if not the first, feature shot on Super 16mm. A sort of informal team has developed to investigate the preservation of CORTEZ, including Bob Young, Eddie Olmos, Irwin Young, David Leitner, Dave Terman and Bill Baldwin. During a recent dinner with much of the group, Bob and Eddie regaled us with terrific stories about the production and distribution story of the film - it was like a live version of a DVD commentary track.



There are problems, however, both technical and legal. CORTEZ was shot on 16mm, but conformed in 35mm. The Film Archive received the original 16mm camera negative, but this is "flash to flash," with all the selected takes printed end to end. The "original" conformed 35mm negative is believed to be held by Canal Plus in Paris. They own much of the foreign rights to the film, and Sony and MGM split the US domestic rights.


So far, we've been unable to confirm that Canal has the 35mm negative or other pre-print, or the condition of these materials, as they've been less than forthcoming. Even if Canal has these materials, they may not give us access to them. It would be easier and cheaper to create new preservation materials from the 35mm materials, but if they're unavailable, our team may have to resort to plan B, which would involve scanning the original 16mm negative. This would be more complicated and expensive, because of the length of the negative - over 35,000 feet, and the need to basically re-edit the film from scratch (this is a very condensed version of the process, giving you the general idea of what we may have to do).


The search and planning continues. Hopefully soon I'll be able to update with good news on the project.






 

Film History on an Index Card

During World War II, the Academy created the War Film Library, an extensive collection of documentaries, propaganda shorts and newsreels, for use by the studios. The Film Archive has preserved many films from this collection - for more info, see: http://www.oscars.org/events-exhibitions/features/war-films/index.html) The Academy staff at the time thankfully kept very detailed records of this collection, as well as how they worked with it. In my research in Special Collections at the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library, I came across files containing step by step instructions on how to loan a film, including samples of every single form to be filled out and sticker to be affixed. If you studied all this, and were then transported back to 1942, you'd be able to do the job just fine.

In addition, several different card catalogs, documenting both the contents of the Library as well as the movements of the prints survived, and these are held at the Film Archive. I came across the following card while preparing the "Oscar's Docs" retrospective back in 2004.



This card is for a (nitrate!) print of CHURCHILL'S ISLAND, the first film to win an Academy Award in the newly created documentary category, for films made in 1941 (a caveat - two other Oscars were presented to films that year, for KUKAN and TARGET FOR TO-NIGHT, but they were officially "Special Awards."). This print had been submitted for consideration for those first documentary Oscars.

The first "out" is to the Filmarte Theatre, for the "nomination screening" evening. In the infancy of this category, the procedures for how to judge these films was still being worked out, so the sole showing of the submitted films took place in a commercial theater. In attendance were the five members of the Documentary Awards Committee, as well as many Academy members, including several Hollywood stars. Incidentally, the Filmarte Theatre, which was demolished in 1990, was located at 1226 N. Vine Street, just across from where the Film Archive is today.

The film is signed back in by "Sam" - Sam Brown, then assistant to Margaret Gledhill Herrick. Brown later became Herrick's successor, alas only for a short time, as poor health forced his retirement.

The next "out" is to Joris Ivens, the legendary Dutch documentary filmmaker, at USC. Ivens' connection to the new documentary awards is an unfortunate one. He'd submitted his film POWER AND THE LAND for awards consideration in 1940, the year before the doc category was created, for Live Action Short. Quite a few documentary films were nominated or won awards in this category before docs were officially recognized by the Academy. But at 38 minutes, it was 8 minutes too long to be considered a short. Undaunted, Ivens submitted the film in 1941, but was again rebuffed, since the film was ineligible because it had been released the year before!  The "D.G." who personally took the print to Ivens, is Donald Gledhill, Executive Secretary of the Academy, and husband of Margaret Herrick. He left the Academy for military service soon after, in 1943. The film is then sent by messenger to the Taft Building in Hollywood, the home of Academy offices.

Next, the film went to Murray Seldeen, a supervising film editor at Republic, and was signed back in by Grace - Grace Gaunt (my favorite Academy staff name from the period, who sounds like a Gothic novel heroine).

This popular title then went out again a few days later, to Hal Wallis, producer at Warner Bros. (who no doubt was working on CASABLANCA at the time). His papers are at the Herrick Library.

Finally, CHURCHILL'S ISLAND went out to Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West, his winter home, studio and architectural campus (One shudders at the thought of a nitrate print out there in the desert, in the days before air conditioning). The first phase of construction of this landmark had been completed just two years before. One wonders about Wright's interest in the film. And though Hal Wallis and Joris Ivens had kept the film only a couple of days each, Wright was allowed to have the print "for an indefinite period." Thankfully, CHURCHILL'S ISLAND was returned to the Library. And good thing, too, because it became the basis of the Film Archive's preservation of the film in 2004, as it was the best known surviving source.









Friday, August 9, 2013

The Battle of San Pietro, Part 3 (for Super Film Geeks Only)

Here's a comparison between the earlier 38 minute version of SAN PIETRO, and the "standard" 32 minute version:


Long Version, 38 minutes
Corresponds closely to script of November 3, 1944
LS = Long Shot
MS = Medium Shot
CU = Close Up
LR = Left to right
RL = Right to left

Text

Official Historical Film / H.R. 2 / War Department

The War Department Presents

SAN PIETRO

Produced by the Army Pictorial Service / Music: The Army Air Force Orchestra / The Mormon Tabernacle Choir / St. Brendan’s Boys Choir


Lira Valley lies in the Italian midland,

some sixty miles northwest of Naples, to some forty miles southeast of Rome –

a wide flat corridor, enclosed between four walls of mountains.  

In winter, the highest peaks of the Liri range ascend into the snows,

but the valley floor, with its olive groves and ancient vines, its crops of wheat and corn, is green the year around.

That is, in normal times.

Last year was a bad year for grapes and olives

and the fall planting was late.

Many fields

lay fallow

There are two ways from the south into the valley: one a narrow pass

the other a high scenic road over the mountains

They converge before the site of the ancient village of San Pietro

which for seven hundred years has stood at the threshold of Liri Valley, welcoming the traveler.

The stones of its walls were quarried out of the parent hill from whose slopes it rises. Population, fourteen hundred and twelve at the last census.

A farming community.

Patron saint: Peter

Point of interest:  Saint Peter’s, 1438

Note interesting treatment of chancel


As Saint Peter’s was erected by those who were to worship there,

so each original dwelling was built by the ones who were to live there.

And this practice had endured down through the centuries.

The Italian peasant is a born mason.

He cuts and lays and mortars in the stone with great skill and patience, building not for himself alone,

but for future generations.

From the end of October, 1943, until the middle of December, San Pietro and the surrounding ground was the scene of some of the bitterest fighting on our Fifth Army Front.

The Italian Campaign had entered its second phase, the push forward again after a static period brought on by heavy seasonal rains.

Our battle lines were haphazard as the terrain itself, with its flood swollen rivers

that twisted back and forth across our line of march

so that each river

seemed like five. And where there was no river to cross,

a mountain blocked our going – each peak ahead being a few meters higher than the last we had won

so that each new peak had to be fought for the hard, uphill way

with the enemy looking down our throats.

They had had time to fortify and camouflage their positions

No amount of artillery fire or aerial bombardment could force them to withdraw…

that was for infantry to do,


employing those weapons that can find and destroy life in narrow trenches,

caves and fighting holes.  It was up to the man with the rifle, the man under fire from all weapons

The man whose way all our weapons -  land, air and sea  - serve only to prepare

It was up to the foot soldier – to attack a hidden enemy

over ground that was sown with mines…the anti-personnel “S”

mines that fly up at a footfall to explode beneath the groin.

Nowhere along the entire front were enemy preparations more elaborate than in the San Pietro area.

For San Pietro stands at the threshold of Liri Valley

 and through Liri Valley wide and level runs the most highly prized length of road, south of Rome.


By early December, we had taken and were holding high ground to the northeast, east and south of San Pietro…the Camino-Maggiore hill mass being last to fall. Italian troops under Allied command had made a vain attempt to capture Mt. Lungo.

Possession of which would have acted greatly to our benefit in the impending action.

But so excessive were the losses incurred


that further operations against Mt. Lungo’s strategic heights were deemed

unwarranted.

No narration.

It was thereon determined to make a direct frontal assault on enemy positions, around and within San Pietro

Battalions of the 36th Texas Infantry division were rotated from position to position overlooking the valley

so the troops might study the terrain ahead from various viewpoints

No narration








Patrol activity was continuous

No narration

Day and night, units went out to reconnoiter the ground, draw fire,

take prisoners,

thus adding to the sum of our information about the enemy.

High points – Mt. Lungo’s 351 and Mt. Sammucro’s 1205 and 950, were all manned in force.  The town itself was strongly garrisoned with numerous mortar, machine gun and heavy weapon emplacements.  Four enemy battalions were dug into a line of connecting trenches and mutually supporting pill boxes in depth that extended from the base of Mt. Lungo northeast across the valley floor to the base of Mt. Sammucro. Another battalion was organized to defend the high ground northwest of San Pietro. Areas before these positions were heavily mined and held a confusion of barbed wire and booby traps.

 On the afternoon before, D-Day and H-Hour were communicated

to battalion commanders

No narration



December 8th at 0620 hours, the 1st Battalion of the 143rd Infantry Regiment to attack the summit of 1205, having moved up the mountain under cover of darkness. And upon achieving its objective to attack along the ridge to a point northwest of San Pietro.  The 3rd Ranger Battalion likewise to attack 950 – another feature of the Mt. Sammucro Hill Mass.  The 2nd Battalion of the 143rd to attack over the terraced olive orchards northeast of San Pietro. The 3rd Battalion, acting in support to follow the 2nd at four hundred yards.

Of the original

force to establish the beachhead at Salerno,

the 143rd had since

spent all but a fortnight in action under

extremely bitter weather conditions.

At Salerno --

at the Volturno crossing

it had taken mortal punishment.

The task ahead promised no less


bloodshed, yet it was undertaken in good spirits


and high confidence.

The 1st Battalion began the long, rugged climb up Mt. Sammucro.

No narration







As night fell our artillery opened up and throughout the night hours intense fire was laid down on the enemy’s main line of resistance.

No narration

It had rained most of the night and it was raining at “H” hour when the 2nd and

3rd battalions crossed the line of departure 

No narration








Some 200 yards forward they encountered mines and automatic fire from pill boxes

No narration






Mortar and artillery fire were deadly accurate by reason of excellent enemy observation from

Mt. Lungo overlooking our advance.  Which continued

another 200 to 400 yards.

No narration




































Many men gave their lives in attempts to jump the wire,

reach pill boxes and throw hand grenades through the narrow gun openings.

The 3rd Battalion was committed.

No narration

















The advance never got more than

600 yards past the line

of departure.

Our initial assault on San Pietro had

been repulsed with heavy casualties.

No narration.









The attack on Hill 1205, however, was a brilliant success.

Leading elements of the 1st Battalion had gained the summit of the objective before a strongly entrenched enemy knew

that an assault was in progress.

No narration








To the right of Hill 1205 the 3rd Ranger Battalion

had also captured its objective, but only after successive attacks

and costly casualties – for on Hill 950

the enemy was not taken unaware.

Counterattacks were to be expected on both 1205

and 950. They were not long developing.

No narration






















The first was launched during the early daylight hours

and even as it was beaten off, another took form.

No narration





Day and night they followed in unremitting violence.

No narration




The toll of enemy dead

mounted with each new attempt…

no narration






But German prisoners captured on 1205 and 950 said that they had been

ordered to retake those positions at all costs.

No narration











Acting in excellent

cooperation,


the artillery’s


supporting


power disrupted numerous enemy counterattacks while they were in the

process of being formed.

No narration

In addition to defending Hill 1205, the 1st Battalion obedient to the field order, undertook the reduction of enemy defenses which were organized along the ridge running west.

No narration

























On the 12th of December the 1st Battalion

was reinforced by the 504th Parachute Battalion,

which took over and maintained the


defenses of 1205 and 950,

No narration


thereby enabling the 1st Battalion to

throw its entire remaining strength into the assault along the ridge.

But the 1st’s strength had dwindled and shrunk in the five days past

and there was now a question as to whether its existing numbers

were sufficient to prevail.

Reports during the night of the 14th of December


stated that the enemy was offering bitter resistance and that the issue was in grave doubt.

Meanwhile, on the olive terraces below, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions had twice again attempted to reach their objective.

No narration

Both

times they had come up a

wall of automatic weapon, mortar and artillery fire.

No narration





Volunteer patrols made desperate attempts to reach enemy positions and reduce strong points.

 No narration





Not a single member of any


such patrol ever came back alive


No narration




Our attacking forces were furnished excellent aerial cover by Allied fighter patrols,

but now and then enemy planes were able to slip through

and to bomb and strafe our positions.

Which to all purposes, had remained unchanged since the first day.

To break the deadlock, orders were given for a coordinated divisional attack.

The 2nd and 3rd Batttalions of the 143rd to proceed in the execution of the original orders.  Acting in conjunction, Company A of the 753rd Tank Battalion to attack San Pietro from the east over the high road. One battalion of the 141st to attack over the flat valley floor. After nightfall on D-Day the 142nd Infantry Regiment to attack the heights of Mt. Lungo.

In preparations

for the attack, all

Fifth Army artillery

within range


including tanks and

all-tracks was

directed against San Pietro

and the surrounding area.

No narration














































































[midway through shot] “H” hour, 1200 hours

“D” day, the 15th of December

[midway through shot] The 141st  Infantry advanced

some 400 yards from its line of departure

no narration





to be born down and held

powerless under the weight of enemy fire. 

No narration


The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 143rd advanced some one hundred yards

beyond their former positions

to a point

almost directly before

forward enemy

defenses…



and for the third time

they were forced to take

such cover

as the quaking earth could offer.

And the tanks…Orders were for them to enter the town and to locate and destroy the heavy weapons

there, which were leveled against our attacking foot soldiers.

No narration

The high road into San Pietro is a narrow mountain road

 and from the beginning of its winding descent into Lira Valley it was under direct enemy observation.

No narration






Sixteen tanks started down that road.

Three reached the outskirts of the town.






Of these, two were destroyed

 and one was missing.

Five tanks were immobilized behind

enemy lines, their crews having to abandon them.

Five tanks hit enemy mines within our lines and were thereupon destroyed by enemy gunfire.

Four tanks returned to the bivouac area.

After dark two companies, one from the 2nd Battalion and one from the 3rd Battalion finally succeeded in penetrating enemy positions before San Pietro.

But receiving both frontal and flanking fire, they were forced to retire,

Company “E” having been reduced in strength to

eight rifleman and Company “L” faring little better.

No narration





On the Mt. Sammucro ridge the 1st Battalion fought its way to within a few hundred yards of the objective,

but it had paid for ground gained

at the rate of a man a yard,

and they did not have strength to

carry the fight any further forward.

On Mt. Lungo, however, despite bitter resistance, battalions

of the 142nd – in successive waves, kept pushing upwards

 No narration
















Until in the early



daylight hours of the 16th of December


 its foot soldiers had gained the summit

and were wiping up what remained of a stubborn enemy.

No narration



And that height proved to be a key position in the enemy plan of defense.

For even as Mt. Lungo fell, the enemy


throughout the San Pietro area made preparations to withdraw.

Almost invariably the enemy will counterattack

to cover a withdraw. The first violent thrust was delivered within a few hours.

No narration

(midway through shot) And thereafter, counterattacks came in waves, the roar of the last mingling with the rush and fury of the next to break.

Many companies lost all their officers. Enlisted men

came forward as inspirational leaders to rally their battered companies

 into resisting yet one more onslaught.

No narration







Our own artillery was brought to fall within a hundred yards of our front line elements.

No narration



























After five hours during which


the earth never ceased to tremble,

counterattacks

ended,

indicating that the

withdrawal of the enemy’s main body


had commenced.

No narration


















In an effort to maintain contact, our patrols immediately pushed ahead.

No narration























(begins halfway through shot) Entering the town they discovered that San Pietro was ours for the taking.

No narration


The 2nd and 3rd Battalions, less than a rifle company in strength,

weary to death, who were alive, stumbled forward past San Pietro to consolidate gains and re-establish contact with the enemy,

now taking up new positions some five kilometers beyond.

That is the broad shape of the battle of San Pietro, which was but the first of many battles

 in Lira Valley.  It was a very costly battle.

After the battle the 143rd Infantry Regiment alone required eleven hundred replacements.

No narration

(starts halfway through shot) The lives lost were precious lives,

to their country, to their loved ones

…and the men themselves.

For the living of the 143rd Infantry Regiment more than one hundred decorations for acts of valor above and beyond

 the call of duty. Many among these you see alive here have since joined the ranks of their brothers in arms who fell at San Pietro. For ahead lay San Vittori and the Rapido River

 and Cassino and beyond Cassino

more rivers and more mountains and more towns…

more San Pietros…greater or lesser…

a thousand more.

As the battle passed over and beyond San Pietro, westward, townspeople began to appear, coming out of their caves in the mountains where they had staying in hiding during the enemy occupation.

No narration







They were mostly old people…And children.

No narration











































































Living was resumed in San Pietro.



Children are able to forget quickly. Yesterday they wept

Today there are smiles and even laughter…

tomorrow it will be as though the bad things had never happened.

No narration
























Our prime military aim

being to engage and defeat the enemy, the capture of the town itself

and the liberation of its people is of an incidental nature.  But the people,

in their military innocence, look upon us solely as their deliverers.

It was to free them, and their farmlands, that we came.  Behind our lines, southwest, to the sea

the fields are green with growing crops planted after our coming…

by other people, of other towns,
who believe likewise.




The new won earth of San Pietro was plowed and sown. It should yield a good harvest this year.

(starts midway through shot) And the people


prayed to their patron saint to intercede with god on behalf of those

who came, delivered them, and passed on to the north, with the passing battle.

No narration



Image

Text title

Text

Main Title

Credits




LS valley with sun streaming

Second LS of valley


Third LS of valley


Closer shot of valley with buildings


Dead trees (track right)



Dead tree

CU of dead tree and wooden frame

Fallen dead tree

LS of field with shell holes

LS of blasted field with water filled hole

LS through pass to valley


LS of valley with box or truck(?) in right foreground

Shot of map, zoom in to San Pietro


LS of valley with shadows


Low angle uphill of bombed out town (pan left)



LS of fields

Blasted statue of St. Peter

LS, blasted church

Looking up through bombed out dome, the rest of church (pan down)

LS of church with dead tree in foreground


Low angle of part of bombed out church


Lowish angle, outlined piece of wreckage in upper middle of frame.

High angle looking down on peasants with shovels.

MS of peasants moving stones.



LS of dead body in rubble. MS of dead body

LS of valley with smoke (pan right)




Trucks travelling through foggy street



Map with pointer at line of squares


LS of floodwaters


Floodwaters, with dead trees in foreground

Trucks crossing flooded river.


Aerial shot of valley, moving left.



MS, camouflaged artillery post


CU, troops raising artillery piece

LS of mountainside with smoke


LS hillside with smoke, through trees


CU of soldier affixing bayonet to rifle, pointing right

CU prone soldier reaches for bayonet in belt (pan left) and affixes to rifle

CU soldier attaching grenades to belt.


MS field with barbed wire, soldier advances LR
(LH)

CU,  head of soldier moves RL


CU head and shoulders of soldier with rifle (RH) moves RL

CU head of soldier moves RL


LS of hillsides and valley, pan LR



LS of San Pietro half in shadow

Trucks on road. LR



Map of area. Pointer shows troop locations






LS of smoke and explosions in valley


MS Soldiers carrying stretcher with corpse down hillside, RL

Longer shot, carrying stretcher down hillside, LR


Loading corpses into truck

CU of bodybags.

LS line of troops walking RL



CU of line of troops, toward camera, but RL



MS three soldiers looking into the valley


CU, two soldiers with maps

LS of valley with smoke

Two soldiers with maps (one pulls out binoculars) they look left.

CU, soldier on phone

Soldier going up bush hill, LR (gun in right hand )

CU soldier sliding on stomach through bushes, LR

MS. Two soldiers talking, they salute and walk away

MS, interviewing Germany prisoners

CU, two German prisoners (helmeted one on left)


Map with pointer













CU of soldier on phone in left hand


MS overhead of soldiers on phone

MS of two soldiers on phones, leaning diagonally. CU low angle of soldier on phone
MS, soldiers with rifles waiting around

Map











LS soldiers in foxholes

CU, soldier in foxhole

MS, soldier sitting with elbows on knees

CU, smiling soldier (curled lapel on coat)

CU, smiling soldier, chewing gum

CU, soldier chewing gum (turns head screen right)

CU, soldier with mustache, left half of screen

CU, smiling soldier with netting on helmet

CU, different smiling soldier with mustache, right half of screen

CU, soldier looking up, left half of screen; turns head screen left.

MS, soldier with mustache and rifle

MS, soldier with tommy gun, back to camera


MS, Line of soldiers walking uphill, diagonally RL

Closer shot of same soldiers

LS Soldiers advancing uphill away from camera, LR

MS, line of soldiers going uphill, crossing RL

Dissolve to night shots of artillery flashes of light (several different shots)


LS daytime of valley

LS, walking troops in orchards RL


LS, troops in orchard, RL (some on hill in back)

LS, troops walking fast, RL (one disappears behind large tree for a second)

LS, one soldier walking slowly through orchard, seen through branches. RL

LS, low angle, through branches, troops in orchard. RL

LS, troops mid frame, moving away from camera, smoke in distance. Soldier is shot at end of shot.

LS, troops running RL

LS, very low angle, out of focus, two soldiers move RL

LS, two soldiers run RL

MS, soldiers move toward camera, and towards screen right, (very windy)

LS, troops advance RL, lots of wind and smoke.


MS, out of focus. Troops move RL

MS. Out of focus. Troops move RL

MS. Bright explosion

Camera “pans” from straight ahead, and “falls” forward down.

CU. Soldier pulls another into foxhole, toward camera, LR.

LS, explosion at base of hill.

MS. Closer explosion, lots of smoke

MS. Soldier slides into foxhole of another, RL.

MS. Explosion behind fallen dead tree

MS. Soldier in foxhole looks at rock formations. Smokey.

CU. Soldier pulls another into foxhole, left side of frame.

MS, bright explosion

Longer shot, bright explosion.

Cut, same type of shot
MS, two soldiers in foxhole in foreground, explosion in background.

MS. Soldiers on ground, camera moves around wildly.

Camera swerves around violently

MS of corpse, half in shadow.


MS, corpse with crossed legs, gun faces left.


MS, troops through orchard, moving diagonally RL

CU, out of focus, soldier moves RL

MS, shaky camera pointed at ground, then pans up. (very short shot)

LS, soldiers move RL

LS, soldier moves RL

MS, bright explosion near camera

MS, soldier slides into foxhole with another, from screen left.

MS, explosion behind fallen dead tree (same as shot above)

LS, explosion in open field.
MS, explosion closer to camera.

MS, explosion in distance (same as one above)

MS, explosion closer to camera

MS. Putting corpses in white body bags.

CU, putting a corpse in body bag.

CU, putting corpse in body bag.

CU, putting corpse in body bag.

CU, putting corpse in body bag.

CU, putting corpse in body bag.

CU, crossing arms of corpse,

Map


MS, troops on ridge advance RL.



CU, machine gun crew prepares.

CU, machine gunner aims gun. LR

CU, soldier with tommy gun puts rock in front of him.  LR

CU, soldier behind rocks. LR

MS, low angle, soldier prone on a rock. RL

MS, line of soldiers walking uphill, LR.

MS, line of soldiers walking diagonally (flat ground), LR. Smoke in background

MS. Carrying stretcher downhill, LR.

Closer shot, carrying stretcher downhill, LR.

LS, soldiers at base of rocky hill.

CU, prone soldier in Left foreground, looking uphill

MS. Soldiers on ridge in left foreground, explosion downhill on the right

High angle, soldiers on ridge in left foreground, explosion downhill to the right.

LS, explosion behind some tall bushes

MS. Soldiers hiding behind rocks, explosion behind rocks

MS. Soldiers looking down into valley, explosion in front of them.  (very short)

MS, helmet in close foreground, rocks and explosion in background (very short shot)

LS, explosion in left background, soldiers barely visible in right middle distance.  (very short shot)

LS, prone soldiers in foreground on rocky hill, explosion in middle distance.

Shaky camera explosion in distance.


CU, machine gun crew fires, RL

LS, tracer bullets toward hillside in distance

CU. Machine gunner in left foreground shooting.

LS, tracer bullets hit far hillside

LS, explosions on hillside


CU. Mortar loaded and fired

LS, explosions on hillside


CU Dead enemy soldier, RL

CU. German corpse, head in upper left.

CU. German corpse. Head in lower left.

CU. Germany corpse. Head in upper right. Mask pulled off face.

CU. German corpse. Upsidedown in frame

MS. Prisoners being lead downhill on zigzag trail


CU. Three POWs, looking left .

CU, POW.

LS, artillery fires at town (emplacement in bottom of frame in foreground

LS, artillery fires, gun is facing R

LS, explosions in far distance, dead tree trunks in foreground.

LS, artillery fires at town (same as above)

MS. Canon fires RL, camouflage netting above.

MS. Canon fires, lower left of screen, disappears from frame.

MS. Tank fires, RL


LS, artillery piece fires (three soldiers in foreground)

LS, explosions on top of mountain


 LS, explosions on hillside

LS, explosions in valley.

Map




MS. Soldier in left side of frame throws hand grenade,  [from NFPF cover] right handed.  Pan right.

MS. Explosion. Left of frame

MS. Soldiers advance, away from camera.

MS. Soldier runs uphill right to left, camera pans left.  Lays down on rocks

Closer shot. Soldier on left side of frame throws hand grenade right handed.  He and another soldier pick up their rifles and advance.

MS. Another soldier, in left side of frame, throws hand grenade, right handed. Pan right

Cut. LS. Explosion in right side of frame.

LS. Soldier in distance throws grenade right handed.

Cut. LS. Explosion on hillside above two prone soldiers.

MS. Line of soldiers walking LR.

MS. Line of soldiers on hillside trail, walking LR

LS, Prone soldiers behind rocks on hill shooting down into valley

MS. Prone soldier behind rocks firing LR

MS. Soldier from behind rock firing LR.


LS, explosion on left of screen

LS. Soldiers advancing uphill away from camera. Out of focus rock in foreground.

Soldiers on hillside in middle distance. One dead?


MS. Bringing down wounded in stretcher, toward camera

Closer. Bringing down stretcher, LR

MS. Soldier on telephone, soldier on rifle behind him.

CU. Soldier in profile, facing screen right, in and out of shadow.

LS, soldiers moving through very smoky orchard. RL


LS, solider moving through orchard, diagonally RL

MS, bright explosion

MS, soldiers in foxhole in foreground

LS, explosion in valley


MS, explosion

LS, explosions in valley

LS, soldiers move into the open and go prone

MS, soldiers run RL, one drops his gun, pan RL


LS. Explosion in orchard

CU. Soldier leaving foxhole away from camera, to the Left


CU. Another soldier leaving foxhole away from camera to the left . Out of focus

MS. Soldiers advancing away from camera, to the left.

LS. Soldiers advancing through orchard away from camera, drop to prone.

LS. Explosion

LS. P-38 planes in sky.


LS. Dive bomber attacking. Barbed wire in foreground

LS. Explosions in valley

MS. Officers in helmets looking at map, facing right.

MS. Officers in caps looking at map. Facing left


Map








LS. Artillery piece raised

CU of cannon breech.

MS. Sherman tank moving RL

MS. Artillery piece with camouflage netting above it.

MS. Tank turret rotating clockwise

MS. Artillery piece with breech open

MS. Soldier with mustache on phone.

LS. Cannon being raised

MS. Soldier with glasses on phone. Faces right

MS. Cannon next to tree is raised

CU. Artillery soldiers working, overhead shot

MS. Two soldiers carry shell in a carrier. Shell is loaded into breech. RL

CU. Explosive loaded into breech, breech is closed

MS. Soldier with glasses gives order to fire.

CU. Soldier looks through binoculars. RL

MS. Soldier fires cannon.

MS. Soldier looks through binoculars. RL

LS. Cannon fires.

MS. Artillery fires at town (shot used previously)

LS. Cannon fires

LS. Sherman tank fires. Seen from rear.

MS. High angle of artillery crew firing cannon.

MS. Self propelled gun fires. Seen from behind. Soldier on top looking through binoculars.

LS. Several tanks dug in firing. RL

MS. Barrel of cannon seen firing.

LS. Explosions on hillside

LS. High angle. Explosions in town.

LS. Low angle. Explosions in town.

MS. Self propelled gun firing, being loaded.

LS. Large cannon firing. LR

MS. Small cannon firing. LR

MS. Large cannon firing. Very short. LR

MS. Cannon firing. Camouflage netting above.

CU. Low angle of soldier looking through binoculars. Camouflage netting above.

LS. High angle. Explosions in valley.

MS. Crew fires cannon.

LS. Sherman tank fires. Seen from behind

LS. M-10 Tank Destroyers firing. RL

CU. Cannon fires, seen from behind

MS. Cannon fires, RL

MS. Cannon fires, moves out of frame. LR

MS. Tank fires, RL

MS. High angle. Artillery crew fires cannon.

CU. Soldier fires large cannon

LS. Explosions in town

CU. Soldier holding binoculars

CU. Soldiers synchronizing watches

CU. One soldier’s watch

LS. Soldiers advance through field toward town, seen from behind.

MS. Soldiers move RL.

LS. Soldiers reach trees, continuation of the one just before previous. They fall prone when explosion hits.

MS. Closer shot of same

LS. Soldiers in foxholes

LS. Prone soldiers in field.

LS. Soldiers in foxhole. Blast shakes camera


LS. High angle, troops advance through large bushes downhill

MS. Low angle of barbed wire.

MS. Prone soldiers behind barbed wire.

MS. Closer of same RL

LS. Soldiers and barbed wire

MS. Soldier with rifle behind barbed wire

LS. Soldiers behind barbed wire

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire.

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire.

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire. Post

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire.

LS. Sherman tank moves out from behind building. LR. Pan right


LS. Tank moving LR.


LS. Tank moving LR in far distance.  Pan right

LS-MS. Tank advancing on road straight at camera.


LS. Switchback mountain road


MS. Tank on road, moving LR toward camera. Pan right

MS. Tank moving toward camera. LR

MS Tank moving toward camera, RL. Pan left

LS. Road into town

CU. Tank moves past camera. LR, then away from camera.

MS. Artillery fires

LS. Valley and town.

MS. Wrecked tank, turret blown off.

LS. Turretless tank on hillside

MS. Upside down tank

MS. Upside down tank with tree branches behind

MS. Carrying stretchers, LR


MS. Low angle of tank moving in shadow

LS. Night scene. Flares




LS. Night gunfire and flares


CU. Soldier with beard on stretcher. LR

CU. Clean shaven soldier on stretcher. LR

CU. Bearded soldier on stretcher. LR

CU. Mustached soldier on stretcher. LR.

CU. Another mustached soldier on stretcher. LR.

LS. Soldiers among rocks. Pan left. Shaky camera. Camera swerves around.


CU. Dead soldier head toward camera

MS. Dead soldier.

LS. Dead soldier. Feet toward camera

MS. Dead soldier. Valley in background

LS. Soldiers running in open. RL


LS. Soldiers running across rocks, RL


MS. Soldiers firing, partly obscured by bushes. RL

CU. Soldier firing rifle. Seen from behind.

CU. Soldier firing rifle. Seen from behind. No helmet.

CU. Soldier firing automatic rifle. LR

LS. Two soldiers throw hand grenades, right handed.

MS. One soldier gets up from prone, throws grenade right handed

LS. Soldiers advance LR. Pan right

LS. Soldier on left screen moves down toward valley.


MS. Soldier with tommy gun moves RL


CU. Soldiers move uphill toward camera. RL

MS. Low angle soldiers going uphill, past smoking hole.

MS. Soldiers zigzag past smoking hold

MS. Closer. Soldiers look into hole

MS. Soldiers look down into valley. LR


LS. Soldiers looking down into valley. RL


LS. Explosions in valley


LS. Explosions on hillside

LS. Explosions in bushy area


LS. Explosions in valley

CU. Explosion close to camera, camera shakes wildly



LS. Soldiers moving LR


LS. Soldiers firing from foxholes. LR


LS. Prone soldiers firing LR

LS. Prone soldier firing bazooka

LS. Mortars fired from valley

MS. Mortar team loading and firing mortars. High angle. RL


MS. Soldier with binoculars looking into valley


LS. Smoke in valley

LS. Explosion in middle distance

LS. Explosions

MS. Explosion behind dead fallen tree (used twice before)

LS. Explosion in valley (extremely short shot)

MS. High angle. Soldier behind rocks (extremely short shot)
LS. Explosion. (extremely short)

LS. Explosion closer (extremely short)

LS. Explosion (extremely short)

LS. Dead soldier’s backpack (es)

LS. Explosion. Dead? Soldier in foreground

LS. Explosion fills screen

LS. Explosion. Dead soldier in foreground (continuation of former shot)

LS. Explosion behind dead fallen tree. Continuation of previously used shot. Soldier gets up at end.

CU. Soldier raises up, looking left.

LS. Prone soldiers get up a bit

MS. Soldiers in foxhole in the foreground

CU. Soldiers get up to advance. RL

Cu. Soldiers advance uphill. LR


CU. Soldier falls to ground, RL

CU. Soldier crawls, RL

CU. Soldier getting up, toward camera, LR

LS. Soldiers running through blasted buildings, RL. Pan left. Camera stops, blast. Continues pan

LS. Soldiers advance through open field, away from camera, toward right

MS. Soldiers walking RL. Pan left. Shaky camera. Explosion
LS. Soldiers coming out of foxholes

LS. Soldiers walk past camera and away.

LS. Soldiers advance toward camera. Head of dead soldier in foreground, on right side of frame.

LS. Soldiers walking away from camera, RL


LS. Soldiers on ridge moving toward blasted building on left.


LS. Blasted town seen through dead trees. Soldiers walk past camera screen left.

MS. Soldiers crouching, stand up.

MS. Crouching soldiers move forward, RL. Pan left

MS. Soldiers coming toward camera, LR. Camera drops down when soldier does.

MS. Soldiers walking toward camera, guns pointed toward right.

MS. Soldiers walking toward camera. Guns pointed right

LS soldier bends to look in basement.  RL

CU. Soldier looking up. Low angle. RL. Pan Left

LS. High angle. Soldiers moving RL



MS. Soldier coming out of hole.  Gun in right hand, moves right

MS. Soldiers moving LR. One without helmet


MS. Guy walking toward camera, looks at camera.  Other guys walk up.


LS. Explosion in valley.


LS. Line of soldiers with stretcher. LR. Pan right


LS. Soldiers with stretcher move toward camera.

LS. Graveyard. Digging graves in foreground. Carrying US flag LR. Pan right to gravediggers

MS. Shoveling dirt from grave.

CU/MS. Very young gravedigger looks at camera, body lowered into grave

MS. Nailing dog tags to headstones

CU. Same

MS. Guys lounging and talking



CU. Guy with tommy gun.  Pan right to guy with tobacco in cheek. Camera stops, then continues



CU. Guy smiling looking right

CU. Line of guys, middle one is medic.


CU. Two guys looking left.

CU. Guy with cigar, tree behind.

MS. Soldiers and peasants walking down rubble.  Toward left



LS. Wounded peasants, one on a crutch and face bandage.

MS.  Peasants running out of cave.

MS. Peasant on crutches in field

LS. Covered woman walking down incline.

LS.  Old guy with cane, kid. RL

MS. Old guy with cane coming toward camera

LS. Soldiers and peasants walk through town. Woman looks back at camera

High angle, digging out bombed out building

MS. Finding buried body

MS. Grieving husband

MS. Pulling out dead body.

MS. Woman wipes away tears

MS. Pulling out body

CU. Grieving man

CU. Grieving breastfeeding woman

LS. Line of women holding babies.

MS. Line of women with baskets on heads.

MS. Woman with baskets on head

LS. Woman with casket on head

LS. Woman with casket, low angle

MS. Woman with baggage on head

MS. Woman with lace tablecloth. Beam across top of frame.

LS. Woman raking dirt in shadow

LS. Low angle. Women talking across ruined building.

MS. Woman with basket on head, passes kids

LS. Woman with dresser on head.

MS. Woman with dresser on head

MS. Man holding boy getting ration card

MS. Man leading cows. RL. Stops to look at camera

MS. Cut. Shot continues

MS. Soldier on truck hands sack of flower to peasant. Pan right

MS. High angle. Distributing flour

MS. Distributing flour

CU. Guy checking scales

MS. High angle. Group gets flour

CU. Women getting flour

CU. Group getting flour. Woman puts sack on her head

CU. Profile of man. Pans down to tattered clothes

LS. Woman washing clothes in foreground, American truck crosses bridge in background.

MS. Woman with kids. Pushes kid away

MS. Over the shoulder of cobbler

MS. Young woman and kids come out of cave.

CU. Kids with spoon in his mouth. Pan left


CU. Girl with strand of hair in face.

MS. Kids.  One points at camera


LS. Kid with long coat walks LR

MS. Two small kids hand in hand walk LR

MS. Kid smiles at camera pan down right to his feet in big shoes walking through mud.  Pan right

CU. Girl holds baby. Pan left

CU. Two girls next to mother

CU. Baby girl held by mother, holds cookie

MS. Small boy in hat walks up street

MS. Three kids walk downhill street

CU. Smiling girl

MS. Barefoot kid in hat walks toward camera

CU. Girl paws through grain barrel

MS. Kids laughing, with woman

CU. Small kids nest to mother looks scared

CU. Small kid against wall chewing


CU. Girl with clothes in mouth. Pan left to boy


CU. Girl with headscarf.


LS. Kids pushing toy, cross in background.


LS. Field with orchard in distance.


LS. Woman and child in field
LS. Man and oxen plowing field

MS. Man and oxen plowing field
CU. Man and oxen, move RL

CU. Plow going through earth. Pan left


LS. Procession of altar boys


MS. Statue of St. Peter


MS. Procession of altar boys


CU. Of head of St. Peter

Liberty bell - V


































 
SAN PIETRO
Short Version, 32 minutes
Close to script dated January 5, 1945. But still not exactly the same. Final release version approved March 16, 1945
Text or pictures highlighted in red are different from 38 minute version
XX – different shot order, or text or shot(s) missing from 38 minute version
In 1943, it was one of our strategic aims, to draw as many German armed forces as possible away from the Russian front, and French coastal areas, and to contain them on the Italian peninsula, while liberating as much of Italy as might be possible with the means at our disposal.  As the bulk of our supplies was directed to England for the forthcoming invasion, operations in Italy had to be conducted on an extremely limited scale. Thus it came about, that during the winter months, the number of Allied divisions in Italy was greatly reduced. Yet so determined was their effort, that they succeeded in holding Italy, a very large number of German divisions during the pre-invasion period. San Pietro, in the 5th Army sector, was the key to the Lira Valley. We knew it, and the enemy knew it. We had to take it, even though the immediate cost would be high. We took it, and the cost in relation to the later advance, was not excessive. By its very nature, this success worked bitter hardships upon each individual soldier, calling for the full measure of his courage and devotion. The response of our 5th Army troops provides an inspiring page, in our military history. To these individuals, living and dead, and to those who now continue in their tradition, this picture is dedicated.
Mark Clark intro




Text

XXThe War Department Presents

SAN PIETRO

Produced by the Army Pictorial Service / Music: The Army Air Force Orchestra / The Mormon Tabernacle Choir / St. Brendan’s Boys Choir


Lira Valley lies in the Italian midland,

some sixty miles northwest of Naples, to some forty miles southeast of Rome –

a wide flat corridor, enclosed between four walls of mountains.  

In winter, the highest peaks of the Liri range ascend into the snows,

but the valley floor, with its olive groves and ancient vines, its crops of wheat and corn, is green the year around.

That is, in normal times.

Last year was a bad year for grapes and olives

and the fall planting was late.

Many fields

lay fallow

There are two ways from the south into the valley: one a narrow pass

the other a high scenic road over the mountains

They converge before the site of the ancient village of San Pietro

which for seven hundred years has stood at the threshold of Liri Valley, welcoming the traveler.

The stones of its walls were quarried out of the parent hill from whose slopes it rises. Population, fourteen hundred and twelve at the last census.

A farming community.

Patron saint: Peter

Point of interest:  Saint Peter’s, 1438

Note interesting treatment of chancel


From the end of October, 1943, until the middle of December, San Pietro and the surrounding ground was the scene of some of the bitterest fighting on our Fifth Army Front.

The Italian Campaign had entered its second phase, the push forward again after a static period brought on by heavy seasonal rains.

Our battle lines were haphazard as the terrain itself,

with its flood swollen rivers that

twisted back and forth across our line of march

so that each river seemed like five.

No narration

And where there was no river to cross, a mountain blocked our going – each peak ahead being a few meters higher than the last we had won

so that each new peak had to be fought for

the hard, uphill way

with the enemy looking down our throats.


They had had time to fortify and camouflage their positions

No amount of artillery fire or aerial bombardment could force them to withdraw…
that was for infantry to do,

employing those weapons that can find and destroy life

 in narrow trenches, caves and fighting holes. 

It was up to the man with the rifle, the man under fire from all weapons.

The man whose way all our weapons - land, air and sea  - serve only to prepare.

It was up to the foot soldier – to attack a hidden enemy

over ground that was sown with mines…the anti-personnel “S” mines

that fly up at a footfall to explode beneath the groin.

Nowhere along the entire front were enemy preparations more elaborate than in the San Pietro area.

For San Pietro stands at the threshold of Liri Valley

 and through Liri Valley wide and level runs the most highly prized length of road, south of Rome.

By early December, we had taken and were holding high ground to the northeast, east and south of San Pietro…the Camino-Maggiore hill mass being last to fall. An Italian brigade under Allied command had made a vain attempt to capture Mt. Lungo,

possession of which would have acted greatly to our benefit in the impending action.

The Italians were all but annihilated.

In view of their excessive loses, further operations against Mt.

Lungo’s strategic heights were abandoned
And it was decided to make a direct frontal assault on enemy positions, in and around San Pietro

Elements of the 36th Texas Infantry division were rotated from position to position

overlooking the valley

so the troops might study the terrain ahead from

various viewpoints

No narration

Patrol activity was continuous

No narration

Day and night, units went out to reconnoiter the ground, draw fire,

take prisoners,

thus adding to the sum of our information about the enemy.

High points – Mt. Lungo’s 351 and Mt. Sammucro’s 1205 and 950, were all manned in force.  The town itself was strongly garrisoned with numerous mortar, machine gun and heavy weapon emplacements.  Four enemy battalions were dug into a line of connecting trenches and mutually supporting pill boxes in depth that extended from the base of Mt. Lungo northeast across the valley floor to the base of Mt. Sammucro. Another battalion was organized to defend the high ground northwest of San Pietro. Areas before these positions were heavily mined and held a confusion of barbed wire and booby traps.

 On the afternoon before, D-Day and H-Hour were communicated

to battalion commanders

No narration





December 8th at 0620 hours, the 1st Battalion of the 143rd Infantry Regiment to attack the summit of 1205, having moved up the mountain under cover of darkness. And upon achieving its objective to attack along the ridge to a point northwest of San Pietro.  The 3rd Ranger Battalion likewise to attack 950 – another feature of the Mt. Sammucro Hill Mass.  The 2nd Battalion of the 143rd to attack over the terraced olive orchards northeast of San Pietro. The 3rd Battalion, acting in support to follow the 2nd at four hundred yards.

Of the original

force to establish the beachhead at Salerno,

the 143rd had since

spent all but a fortnight in action

under extremely bitter weather

conditions.  At Salerno --

at the Volturno crossing

it had taken mortal punishment.


The task ahead promised no less


bloodshed, yet it was undertaken in good spirits and high confidence.

The 1st Battalion began the long, rugged climb up Mt. Sammucro.

No narration

As night fell our artillery opened up and throughout the night hours, intense fire was laid down on the enemy’s main line of resistance.
No narration

It had rained most of the night and it was raining at “H” hour when the 2nd and

3rd battalions crossed the line of departure 

No narration


XXSome 200 yards forward they encountered mines and automatic fire from pill boxes


No narration


XXMortar and artillery fire were deadly accurate by reason of excellent enemy observation from Mt. Lungo

overlooking our advance.  

XXWhich continued

another 200 to 400 yards.

No narration





















XXMany men gave their lives in attempts to XXreach pill boxes and throw hand grenades

through the narrow gun openings.

The 3rd Battalion was committed.

No narration















But the advance never got more than

600 yards past

the line of departure.

Our initial assault on San Pietro

had been repulsed with heavy casualties.

No narration.



The attack on Hill 1205, however, was a brilliant success.

Leading elements of the 1st Battalion had gained the summit of the objective

before a strongly entrenched enemy knew

that an assault was in progress.

No narration






To the right of Hill 1205 the 3rd Ranger Battalion
had also captured

its objective, but only after successive attacks


and costly casualties – for on XX 950

the enemy was not taken unaware.

Counterattacks were to be expected on both 1205

and 950. They were not long developing.


No narration









The first was launched during the early daylight hours

and even as it was beaten off, another took form.

No narration





Day and night they followed with unremitting violence.
No narration




The toll of enemy dead mounted with each new

attempt…

no narration






But German prisoners captured on 1205 and 950

said that they had been ordered to retake those positions

at all costs.


XX In addition to defending


Hill 1205,

the 1st Battalion obedient to the field order,

undertook the reduction of enemy defenses which were organized along the ridge running west.

No narration

















XXOn the 12th of December the 1st Battalion

was reinforced by the 504th Parachute Battalion,

which took over and maintained the


defenses of 1205 and

950,

thereby enabling the 1st Battalion to throw its entire remaining strength

into the assault along the ridge. But the 1st’s strength had dwindled and shrunk in the five days past

and there was now a question as to whether its existing numbers

were sufficient to prevail.

Reports during the night of the 14th of December


stated that the enemy was offering bitter resistance and that the issue was in grave doubt.

Meanwhile, on the olive terraces below, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions had twice again

attempted to reach their objective.

No narration

Both XXtimes they had come up a

wall of automatic weapon, mortar and artillery fire.

No narration
XXVolunteer patrols made desperate attempts to reach enemy positions and reduce strong points.

 No narration




Not a single member of any


such patrol ever came back alive


No narration




Our attacking forces were furnished excellent aerial cover by Allied fighter patrols,

No narration

but now and then enemy planes were able to slip through

and to bomb and strafe our positions.

Which to all purposes, had remained unchanged since the first day.

To break the deadlock, orders were given for a coordinated divisional attack.

The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 143rd to proceed in the execution of the original orders.  Acting in conjunction, Company A of the 753rd Tank Battalion to attack San Pietro from the east over the high road. One battalion of the 141st to attack over the flat valley floor. After nightfall on D-Day the 142nd Infantry Regiment to attack XX Mt. Lungo.

The earlier decision not to attack those strategic heights having been reversed in view of the present critical situation.

In preparation XX

for the attack, all

Fifth Army artillery

within range


including tanks and

all-tracks was

directed against San Pietro

and the surrounding area.

No narration














































































[midway through shot] “H” hour, 1200 hours

“D” day, the 15th of December

[midway through shot] The 141st  Infantry advanced

some 400 yards from its line of departure

no narration





to be born down and held

powerless under the weight of enemy fire. 

No narration

The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 143rd advanced some one hundred yards

beyond their former positions

to a point

almost directly before

forward enemy

defenses…

and for the third time

they were forced to take

such cover

as the quaking earth could offer.

And the tanks…


Orders were for them to enter the town XXto locate and destroy the heavy weapons there, which were

leveled against our attacking foot soldiers.

XX The high road into San Pietro is a narrow mountain road

 and from the beginning of its winding descent into Lira Valley it was under direct enemy observation.

No narration






Sixteen tanks started down that road.

Three reached the outskirts of the town.






Of these, two were destroyed

 and one was missing.

Five tanks were immobilized behind

enemy lines, their crews having to abandon them.

Five tanks hit enemy mines within our lines and were thereupon destroyed by enemy gunfire.

Four tanks returned to the bivouac area.

After dark two companies, one from the 2nd Battalion and one from the 3rd Battalion finally succeeded in penetrating enemy positions before San Pietro.

But receiving both frontal and flanking fire, they were forced to retire,

Company “E” having been reduced in strength to a handful of rifleman

XX and Company “L” faring little better.

No narration




On the Mt. Sammucro ridge the 1st Battalion fought its way to within a few hundred yards of the objective,

but it had paid for ground gained

at the rate of a man a yard,

and it did not have strength to

carry the fight any further forward.

On Mt. Lungo, however, despite bitter resistance,

XX battalions of the


XX 142nd – in successive waves,

kept pushing upwards

 No narration

XX Until


in the early daylight hours of the 16th of December

 its foot soldiers had gained the summit

and were wiping up what remained of a stubborn enemy.

XX And that height proved to be a key position in the enemy plan of defense.
For even as Mt. Lungo fell,

XX the enemy throughout the San Pietro area made preparations

XX to withdraw.  XX Almost invariably the enemy

XX will counterattack XXto cover a withdraw. The first violent thrust was

XX delivered within a few hours.

XX (midway through shot) And thereafter, counterattacks came in waves, the roar of the last mingling with the rush and fury of the next to break.

Many companies lost all their officers. Enlisted men

came forward as inspirational leaders to rally their battered companies

 into resisting yet one more onslaught.

No narration



XXOur own artillery was brought to fall within a hundred yards of our front line elements.

No narration



XXAfter five hours during which


the earth never ceased to tremble,


counterattacks

ended,

indicating that the withdrawal
of the enemy’s main body


had commenced.


No narration










XXIn an effort to maintain contact with the enemy, our patrols immediately pushed ahead.

No narration















XXEntering the town they discovered that San Pietro was ours for the taking.

No narration


The 2nd and 3rd Battalions, less than a rifle company in strength,

weary to death, who were alive, stumbled forward past San Pietro to consolidate gains and re-establish contact with the enemy,

now taking up new positions some five kilometers beyond.

That is the broad shape of the battle of San Pietro,

XX which was but the first of many battles XX in Lira Valley.  It was a very costly battle.

XX After the battle the 143rd Infantry Regiment alone required eleven hundred replacements.

No narration

(starts halfway through shot) The lives lost were precious lives,

to their country, to their loved ones

…and the men themselves.

For the living of the 143rd Infantry Regiment more than one hundred decorations for acts of valor above and beyond

 the call of duty. Many among these you see alive here have since joined the ranks of their brothers in arms who fell at San Pietro. For ahead lay San Vittori and the Rapido River

 and Cassino and beyond Cassino  more rivers

and more mountains and more towns…more

San Pietros…greater or lesser…

a thousand more.

As the battle passed over and beyond San Pietro, westward, townspeople began to appear,

XX coming out of their caves in the mountains where they had staying in hiding during the enemy occupation.

XX They were mostly old people…And children.
No narration





















The townspeople were warned against enemy mines and booby traps

Which were in the process of being cleared

No narration































XX Children are able to forget quickly.

XX Yesterday they wept…Today there are smiles and

 XX even laughter…

No narration

Tomorrow it will be as though the bad things had never happened.

No narration
























Living was resumed in San Pietro.

XX (begins midshot) Our prime military aim


XX being to engage and defeat the enemy, the capture of the town itself and the liberation of

XX its people is of an incidental nature. 

XX But the people, in their military innocence,

XX look upon us solely as their

XX  deliverers.

It was to free them, and their farmlands, that we

 came. 


No narration

XX Behind our lines, southwest, to the sea, the fields are green with growing crops

XX planted after our coming…by other people, of other towns,

who believe likewise.





The new won earth at San Pietro was plowed and sown. It should yield a good harvest this year.

(starts midway through shot) And the people
prayed

XX to their patron saint to intercede with god on behalf of those who came, delivered them,

XX and passed on to the north, with the passing battle.

No narration



Image

Text

Main Title

Credits




LS valley with sun streaming

Second LS of valley


Third LS of valley


Closer shot of valley with buildings


Dead trees (track right)



Dead tree

CU of dead tree and wooden frame

Fallen dead tree

LS of field with shell holes

LS of blasted field with water filled hole

LS through pass to valley


LS of valley with box or truck(?) in right foreground

Shot of map, zoom in to San Pietro


LS of valley with shadows


Low angle uphill of bombed out town (pan left)



LS of fields

Blasted statue of St. Peter

LS, blasted church

Looking up through bombed out dome, the rest of church (pan down)

LS of valley with smoke (pan right)




Trucks on muddy road



Map with pointer at line of squares


LS of floodwaters

Floodwaters, with dead trees in foreground

Trucks crossing flooded river.

LS. floodwaters

Aerial shot of valley, moving left.



CU, troops raising artillery piece

CU, soldier looking through binoculars

MS. Self propelled gun firing. Guy with binoculars on top

LS of mountainside with smoke


LS hillside with smoke, through trees

CU of soldier affixing bayonet to rifle. Facing left.

CU prone soldier reaches for bayonet in belt (pan left) and affixes to rifle

CU soldier attaching grenades to belt. High angle

MS field with barbed wire, soldier advances RL


CU,  head of soldier moves RL


CU head and shoulders of soldier with rifle (RH) moves RL

CU head of soldier moves RL


CU head of second soldier moves RL


LS of hillsides and valley, pan LR



LS of San Pietro half in shadow

Trucks on road. LR


Map of area. Pointer shows troop locations






LS of smoke and explosions in valley


MS. Italian troops carrying stretcher.

LS Soldiers carrying stretcher with corpse down hillside, LR

Loading corpses into truck
LS line of troops walking RL


CU of line of troops, toward camera, but RL


MS three soldiers looking into the valley

CU, two soldiers with maps

LS of valley with smoke

CU, soldier on phone

Soldier going up bushy hill, RL (gun in left hand )

CU soldier sliding on stomach through bushes, LR

MS. Two soldiers talking, they salute and walk away

MS, interviewing Germany prisoners

CU, two German prisoners (helmeted one on left)


Map with pointer













CU of soldier on phone in left hand


MS overhead of soldiers on phone

MS of two soldiers on phones, leaning diagonally.

CU low angle of soldier on phone

MS, soldiers with rifles waiting around

Map











LS soldiers in foxholes

XX MS, soldier sitting with elbows on knees

CU, smiling soldier (curled lapel on coat)

CU, smiling soldier, chewing gum

CU, soldier chewing gum (turns head screen right)

CU, soldier with mustache, left half of screen

CU, smiling soldier with netting on helmet

CU, different smiling soldier with mustache, right half of screen

CU, soldier looking up, left half of screen; turns head screen left.

MS, soldier with tommy gun, back to camera


XXMS, Line of soldiers walking uphill, diagonally RL


XXMS, line of soldiers going uphill, crossing RL

XXDissolve to night shots of artillery flashes of light (several different shots)

LS daytime of valley

LS, walking troops in orchards RL


LS, troops in orchard, RL (some on hill in back)

XXLS, one soldier walking slowly through orchard, seen through branches. RL

XXLS, troops mid frame, moving away from camera, smoke in distance. Soldier is shot at end of shot.

XXLS, very low angle, out of focus, two soldiers move RL

LS, two soldiers run RL



XXMS, out of focus. Troops move RL

XXMS. Out of focus. Troops move RL

MS. Bright explosion

Camera “pans” from straight ahead, and “falls” forward down.

CU. Soldier pulls another into foxhole, toward camera, RL.

XXMS. Explosion behind fallen dead tree

MS. Soldier in foxhole looks at rock formations. Smokey.

CU. Soldier pulls another into foxhole, left side of frame.

XXMS, two soldiers in foxhole in foreground, explosion in background.

MS. Soldiers on ground, camera moves around wildly.

Camera swerves around violently

MS of corpse, half in shadow.


MS, corpse with crossed legs, gun faces left.

MS, troops through orchard, moving diagonally RL

CU, out of focus, soldier moves RL

XXLS, soldiers move RL

LS, soldier moves RL

MS, bright explosion near camera

MS, soldier slides into foxhole with another, from screen left.

MS, explosion behind fallen dead tree (same as shot above)

LS, explosion in open field.

MS, explosion closer to camera.

MS, explosion with dead body in foreground

MS, explosion closer to camera

MS. Putting corpses in white body bags.

CU, putting a corpse in body bag.

CU, putting corpse in body bag.

XX CU, crossing arms of corpse.

Map


MS, troops on ridge advance RL.


XX CU, machine gun crew prepares.

CU, machine gunner aims gun. RL

CU, soldier with tommy gun puts rock in front of him.  RL (left handed)

CU, soldier behind rocks. RL. (left handed)

MS, low angle, soldier prone on a rock. RL

XX MS, line of soldiers walking uphill, RL.


MS, line of soldiers walking diagonally (flat ground), RL. Smoke in background

MS. Carrying stretcher downhill, LR.

Closer shot, carrying stretcher downhill, LR.

LS, soldiers at base of rocky hill.

CU, prone soldier in Right foreground, looking uphill

MS. Soldiers on ridge in left foreground, explosion downhill on the right

High angle, soldiers on ridge in left foreground, explosion downhill to the right.
LS, explosion behind some tall bushes

MS. Soldiers hiding behind rocks, explosion behind rocks

XX Shaky camera explosion in distance.


CU, machine gun crew fires, RL

LS, tracer bullets toward hillside in distance

CU. Machine gunner in right foreground shooting.

LS, tracer bullets hit far hillside

LS, explosions on hillside

CU. Mortar loaded and fired

LS, explosions on hillside


CU Dead enemy soldier, RL

CU. German corpse, head in upper left.

CU. German corpse. Head in lower left.

CU. Germany corpse. Head in upper right. Mask pulled off face.

CU. German corpse. Upside down in frame

MS. Prisoners being lead downhill on zigzag trail

XX CU, POW.


XX MS. Three German prisoners looking left (this shot switched with one above)

XX MS. Soldier in right side of frame throws hand grenade, [from NFPF cover] left handed.  Pan left.

XX MS. Explosion. Left of frame

MS. Soldiers advance, away from camera.

Map


MS. Soldier runs uphill right to left, camera pans left.  Lays down on rocks

Closer shot. Soldier on right side of frame throws hand grenade left handed.  He and another soldier pick up their rifles and advance.

MS. Another soldier, in right side of frame, throws hand grenade, left handed. Pan left

Cut. LS. Explosion in right side of frame.

LS. Soldier in distance throws grenade right handed.

Cut. LS. Explosion on hillside above two prone soldiers.

MS. Line of soldiers walking RL.

MS. Line of soldiers on hillside trail, walking RL

LS, Prone soldiers behind rocks on hill shooting down into valley

MS. Prone soldier behind rocks firing RL

XX LS, explosion on left of screen

LS. Soldiers advancing uphill away from camera. Out of focus rock in foreground.

Soldiers on hillside in middle distance. One dead?



MS. Bringing down wounded in stretcher, toward camera

Closer. Bringing down stretcher, LR

MS. Soldier on telephone, soldier on rifle behind him. Flipped to face screen left

CU. Soldier in profile, facing screen left, in and out of shadow.

LS, soldiers moving through very smoky orchard. RL

LS, solider moving through orchard, diagonally RL

MS, bright explosion

MS, soldiers in foxhole in foreground

LS, explosion in valley


XX LS, soldiers move into the open and go prone
MS, soldiers run RL, one drops his gun, pan RL


LS. Explosion in orchard

CU. Soldier leaving foxhole away from camera, to the Left

CU. Another soldier leaving foxhole away from camera to the left . Out of focus

MS. Soldiers advancing away from camera, to the left.

LS. Soldiers advancing through orchard away from camera, drop to prone.

LS. Explosion

LS. P-38 planes in sky.


CU. Soldier in left frame looks up

LS. Dive bomber attacking. Barbed wire in foreground

LS. Explosions in valley

MS. Officers in helmets looking at map, facing right.

MS. Officers in caps looking at map. Facing left


Map








CU. One guy on phone another behind. They look at map


LS. Artillery piece raised

CU of cannon breech.

MS. Sherman tank moving RL

MS. Artillery piece with camouflage netting above it.

MS. Tank turret rotating clockwise

MS. Artillery piece with breech open

MS. Soldier with mustache on phone.

LS. Cannon being raised

MS. Soldier with glasses on phone. Faces left.

MS. Cannon next to tree is raised

CU. Artillery soldiers working, overhead shot

MS. Two soldiers carry shell in a carrier. Shell is loaded into breech. RL

CU. Explosive loaded into breech, breech is closed

MS. Soldier with glasses gives order to fire.

CU. Soldier looks through binoculars. RL

MS. Soldier fires cannon.

MS. Soldier looks through binoculars. RL

LS. Cannon fires.

MS. Artillery fires at town (shot used previously)

LS. Cannon fires

LS. Artillery shells town

LS. Sherman tank fires. Seen from rear.

MS. High angle of artillery crew firing cannon.
MS. Self propelled gun fires. Seen from behind. Soldier on top looking through binoculars.

LS. Several tanks dug in firing. RL

XX LS. Explosions on hillside

LS. High angle. Explosions in town.

LS. Low angle. Explosions in town.

MS. Self propelled gun firing, being loaded.

LS. Large cannon firing. RL

MS. Small cannon firing. RL

MS. Large cannon firing. Very short. RL

MS. Cannon firing. Camouflage netting above.  Flipped (writing on side is backward)

CU. Low angle of soldier looking through binoculars. Camouflage netting above. flipped

LS. High angle. Explosions in valley.

MS. Crew fires cannon.

LS. Sherman tank fires. Seen from behind

LS. M-10 Tank Destroyers firing. RL

CU. Cannon fires, seen from behind

MS. Cannon fires, RL

MS. Cannon fires, moves out of frame. RL

MS. Tank fires, RL

MS. High angle. Artillery crew fires cannon.

CU. Soldier fires large cannon

LS. Explosions in town

CU. Soldier holding binoculars (dissolve to)

CU. Soldiers synchronizing watches

CU. One soldier’s watch

LS. Soldiers advance through field toward town, seen from behind.

MS. Soldiers move RL.

LS. Soldiers reach trees, continuation of the one just before previous. They fall prone when explosion hits.

MS. Closer shot of same

LS. Soldiers in foxholes

LS. Prone soldiers in field.

LS. Soldiers in foxhole. Blast shakes camera

LS. High angle, troops advance through large bushes downhill

MS. Low angle of barbed wire.

MS. Prone soldiers behind barbed wire.

MS. Closer of same RL

LS. Soldiers and barbed wire

MS. Soldier with rifle behind barbed wire

XX MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire.

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire.

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire. Post

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire.

LS. Sherman tank moves out from behind building. RL. Pan left  (shortened)

LS. Tank moving RL.



LS. Tank moving RL in far distance.  Pan left

LS-MS. Tank advancing on road straight at camera.
Flipped

LS. Switchback mountain road


MS. Tank on road, moving RL toward camera. Pan left

MS. Tank moving toward camera. LR

MS Tank moving toward camera, RL. Pan left

LS. Road into town

CU. Tank moves past camera. LR, then away from camera.

MS. Artillery fires

LS. Valley and town.

MS. Wrecked tank, turret blown off.

LS. Turret less tank on hillside

MS. Upside down tank

MS. Upside down tank with tree branches behind

MS. Carrying stretchers, LR


MS. Low angle of tank moving in shadow flipped?

LS. Night scene. Flares




LS. Night gunfire and flares


CU. Soldier with beard on stretcher. LR


CU. Clean shaven soldier on stretcher. LR

XX CU. Mustached soldier on stretcher. LR.

CU. Another mustached soldier on stretcher. LR. (reel change)

LS. Soldiers among rocks.flipped XX Shaky camera. Camera swerves around.


CU. Dead soldier head toward camera

MS. Dead soldier.

LS. Dead soldier. Feet toward camera

MS. Dead soldier. Valley in background

XX Map

XX MS. Soldiers firing, partly obscured by bushes. RL

CU. Soldier firing rifle. Seen from behind.

XX CU. Soldier firing automatic rifle. RL

LS. Two soldiers throw hand grenades, left handed.

MS. One soldier gets up from prone, throws grenade left handed

XX MS. Soldiers zigzag past smoking hole

XX MS. Closer. Soldiers look into hole




MS. Soldiers look down into valley. LR

LS. Soldiers looking down into valley. RL

LS. Explosions in valley


LS. Explosions on hillside

LS. Explosions in bushy area


LS. Explosions in valley

CU. Explosion close to camera, camera shakes wildly



LS. Soldiers moving RL


LS. Soldiers firing from foxholes. RL


LS. Prone soldiers firing RL

LS. Prone soldier firing bazooka

LS. Mortars fired from valley

XX MS. Soldier with binoculars looking into valley


XX LS. Explosion in middle distance

LS. Explosions

MS. Explosion behind dead fallen tree (used twice before)

XX (about ten shots) CU. Soldiers get up to advance. RL

MS. Soldiers in foxhole in the foreground

Cu. Soldiers advance uphill. RL

Repeat previous shot
XXCU. Soldier getting up out of foxhole, RL (used twice)

CU. Soldier getting out of foxhole.  Slightly further away than last shot.

LS. Soldiers running through blasted buildings, RL. Pan left. Camera stops, blast. Continues pan

LS. Soldiers advance through open field, away from camera, toward left

XX LS. Soldiers coming out of foxholes

XX LS. Soldiers advance toward camera. Head of dead soldier in foreground, on right side of frame.

XXLS. Soldiers on ridge moving toward blasted building on left.

LS. Blasted town seen through dead trees. Soldiers walk past camera screen left.

XX MS. Crouching soldiers move forward, RL. Pan left

MS. Soldiers coming toward camera, RL. Camera drops down when soldier does.

MS. Soldiers walking toward camera, guns pointed toward left.

XX LS soldier bends to look in basement.  RL

CU. Soldier looking up. Low angle. RL. Pan Left

LS. High angle. Soldiers moving RL


MS. Soldier coming out of hole.  Gun in left hand, moves left

MS. Soldiers moving RL One without helmet


MS. Guy walking toward camera, looks at camera.  Other guys walk up. Flipped – move left


LS. Explosion in valley.


LS. Line of soldiers with stretcher. LR. Pan right

LS. Soldiers with stretcher move toward camera.


LS. Graveyard. Digging graves in foreground. Carrying US flag LR. Pan right to gravediggers

MS. Shoveling dirt from grave.

CU/MS. Very young gravedigger looks at camera, body lowered into grave

MS. Nailing dog tags to headstones

CU. Same

MS. Guys lounging and talking



CU. Guy with tommy gun.  Pan right to guy with tobacco in cheek. Camera stops, then continues



CU. Guy smiling looking right

CU. Line of guys, middle one is medic.

CU. Two guys looking left.

CU. Guy with cigar, tree behind.

MS. Soldiers and peasants walking down rubble.  Toward left

XX MS.  Peasants running out of cave.



XX LS.  Old guy with cane, kid. RL
XX LS. Soldiers and peasants walk through town. Shortened

XX MS. Old guy with cane coming toward camera

XX MS. Woman with baskets on head

XX MS. Line of women with baskets on heads.

XX MS. Woman with baggage on head

XX LS. Woman with dresser on head.

XX MS. Man leading cows. RL. Stops to look at camera

MS. Cut. Shot continues

XX LS. Woman with casket on head

LS. Woman with casket, low angle

XX MS. Man holding boy getting ration card


MS. Soldier check boobytrap

XX LS. Low angle. Women talking across ruined building.

XX MS. Woman with lace tablecloth. Beam across top of frame

LS. Woman raking dirt in shadow

LS. Explosion – building demolition (boobytrap?)

XX High angle, digging out bombed out building

MS. Finding buried body

MS. Grieving husband

MS. Pulling out dead body.

MS. Woman wipes away tears

MS. Pulling out body

CU. Grieving man

CU. Grieving breastfeeding woman

LS. Line of women holding babies.

XX MS. Young woman and kids come out of cave.

CU. Kids with spoon in his mouth. XX (no pan)

MS. Woman with kids. Pushes kid away

CU. Girl with strand of hair in face.


MS. Three kids walk downhill street

CU. Smiling girl

MS. Two small kids hand in hand walk LR


MS. Kid smiles at camera pan down right to his feet in big shoes walking through mud.  Pan right

XX MS. Barefoot kid in hat walks toward camera

XX CU. Girl with clothes in mouth. Pan left to boy

XX CU. Two girls next to mother

XX CU. Small kid against wall chewing

XX CU. Baby girl held by mother, holds cookie

XX CU. Girl holds baby. Pan left

XX CU. Girl with headscarf.

XX MS. Small boy in hat walks up street

XX MS of peasants moving stones. (used in beginning of long version)

MS. Women washing clothes in stream, jeeps in background

XX MS. Over the shoulder of cobbler

XX MS. Soldier on truck hands sack of flower to peasant. Pan right

MS. High angle. Distributing flour


MS. Distributing flour

CU. Guy checking scales

MS. High angle. Group gets flour

MS. Distributing flour (repeat of earlier shot)

CU. Women getting flour

CU. Group getting flour. Woman puts sack on her head

CU. Profile of man. Pans down to tattered clothes

LS. Field with orchard in distance.


LS. Woman and child in field


LS. Man and oxen plowing field

MS. Man and oxen plowing field

CU. Man and oxen, move RL

CU. Plow going through earth. Pan left


LS. Procession of altar boys


MS. Statue of St. Peter


MS. Procession of altar boys


CU. Of head of St. Peter

Liberty bell - V

All scenes in this picture were photographed within range of enemy small arms or artillery fire. For purposes of continuity a few of these scenes were shot before and after the actual battle of SAN PIETRO.