US liberates French towns
Creator(s)
- George C. Stevens (Director)
- Library of Congress - Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division (MBRS)
- Special Coverage Unit (SPECOU) (Producer)
Biographical History
George Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. During World War II, Stevens joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps and headed a film unit from 1943 to 1946 under General Eisenhower. His unit shot footage documenting D-Day — including the only Allied European Front color film of the war — the liberation of Paris and the meeting of American and Soviet forces at the Elbe River, as well as horrific scenes from the Duben labor camp and the Dachau concentration camp. Stevens also helped prepare the Duben and Dachau footage and other material for presentation during the Nuremberg Trials. In 2008, his footage was entered into the U.S. National Film Registry by the Librarian of Congress as an "essential visual record" of World War II.
The Special Coverage Unit (SPECOU) was placed under the control of the Supreme Headquarters' Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). The SPECOU consists of 45 people: writers like Ivan Moffat, William Saroyan and Irwin Shaw; cameramen like Dick Hoar, Ken Marthey, William Mellor, Jack Muth; sound operators as Bill Hamilton, who comes from Columbia, assistant directors, as Holly Morse, who has worked with Hal Roach.
Scope and Content
Shots of WWI cannon. Stevens in overcoat walks out of woods to vehicles. They talk with French civilian. Hamilton in shallow trench. Pan of graveyard with sea of white crosses. "Here rests in honor, glory, and American soldier known but to God" (sign on cross). American flag flying over cemetery. Fresh cross says "James D. Brokow." Another cross says "Helmut W. Fesoa." These are recently dug graves with soil on top. Another cross "Jim Shaw." Stevens and two men with still cameras exit from church holding book, apparently register of Americans buried there. Book open, with swastika in front, handwritten "Heil Hitler." Pages turned. Long shots of firing in distance (This is the beginning of a reel, and the film is out of register, causing a ghosted image on the film.), men in fields. Young man holding a crow. Civilians standing around watching. Appears to be large bomb crater with hot remnants of bomb. Long shot of town. GI brings four foot bottle of Pommier champagne and pretends to drink it. Hamilton drinking four foot bottle of champagne. Clowning shots with the champagne. Stevens and others in foreground, cathedral, in distance. Loading jeeps with boxes. Sign "Metz" to right. "357." Shot of building "Sainte Menehould Poste." Children in street. Shot of strange looking cement building with huge tower opposite cemetery. Planes fly by over men in jeep and pass tower. Three star general gets into camouflage sedan (foregoing was isolated shot slightly underexposed). Stevens in jeep, signals forward. Camera pans jeep trailing weapons carrier down road. Camera unit, Stevens, etc. in bombed out main street of town, apparently Metz. Street signs in German "Befehisstelle der ortichen Luft Schupleitung." Pan of valley, fall leaves showing. Tracking shot through town on streetcar tracks. Stevens in front of the Hotel Brasseur. Sign in window reads; "Stadtsparkasse Luxemburg Zweigstelle Stadtmitte." Three formations of planes in blue sky. Sheet with orange and red flags on buildings. Tracking shot from jeep of large train yard. Sign "Achtung 5 km Uberhoden Verboten." Stevens and other men get out of truck with small dog. Men cleaning artillery piece. CU, yellow canvas sign: "Liege." Pan of town (Grand Hotel Britainique) square, civilians walking. Streetcar in BG. Shot of stream with cathedral in BG.
People
- Stevens, George, 1904-1975.
Corporate Bodies
- United States. Army. Signal Corps. Special Coverage Unit
Subjects
- CHURCHES
- CAMERA OPERATORS
- BOOKS
- SIGNS/POSTERS
- FLAGS
- MILITARY OFFICERS
- CIVILIANS
- CAMERAS
- HOTELS
- STEVENS, GEORGE
- MOVIE CAMERAS
- MILITARY VEHICLES
- STREETS
- AIRPLANES
- TRUCKS
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (AMERICAN)
- SWASTIKAS
- CEMETERIES
- JEEPS
- CHILDREN
- FRANCE
Places
- , France
Genre
- Film
- Unedited.