Sphinx; battle in desert; bazaar; fighter plane
Creator(s)
- George C. Stevens (Director)
- Special Coverage Unit (SPECOU) (Producer)
- Library of Congress - Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division (MBRS)
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
This story is a compilation of a number of small reels shot in the deserts of Egypt/North Africa. Fire truck with men in black uniforms, shot of the Sphinx. Stevens and Bill Mellor in summer uniforms standing in front of a station wagon, pan to Sphinx. VS of Sphinx with pyramid in BG. Stevens walks to FG, Mellor and Stevens in front of Sphinx. VS of tank battle in desert (Sahara) with dust, smoke, tanks advancing. Men on foot behind firing tanks, dust and smoke blowing in strong wind. VS of scrub brush in desert. Soldiers running with weapons, large explosion screen right, FG, more views of men running. VS of palm trees and tents near an unidentified body of water. American flag on a boat with a felucca in the BG. Slightly out of focus shot of troops marching in the desert. They are wearing desert helmets. Another shot, in focus, of the troops marching by the camera. Sedan with a red flag with a star in the center of it- unable to determine whether star is white or yellow (this flag appears in other shots in the Stevens's North African footage- it could possibly be the Libyan, Tunisian, Turkish or Moroccan flag.) Band marching by. VS of rural area in North Africa. Men with donkeys, children playing in the sand, VS of a local market/bazaar. Very colorful footage. Stevens and Mellor with a pilot of a single-engine American fighter plane, the pilot is a captain. They talk, the plane takes off from unidentified location.
People
- Stevens, George, 1904-1975.
Corporate Bodies
- United States. Army. Signal Corps. Special Coverage Unit
Subjects
- TANKS
- FLAGS (AMERICAN)
- MILITARY OFFICERS
- BOATS
- CIVILIANS
- BATTLES
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (AMERICAN)
- MILITARY ADVANCES
- MARCHING
- STEVENS, GEORGE
- AIRPLANES
- GUNS
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (ALLIES)
- FLAGS
- SMOKE
- BANDS
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY
- MARKETS
- MILITARY VEHICLES
Places
- , North Africa
- , Egypt
Genre
- Film
- Unedited.