- Description
- News documentary with intertitles produced for the home movie market by Castle Films Productions. "The News Parade" 1944. "Rome! Falls to Allies" Soldiers shoot mortars/artillery into the hillsides. "Determined American Tank and Infantry columns move in a final thrust toward the gates of the Eternal City!" Military convoy. Shells falling near an Allied soldier. Soldiers on a hillside firing rifles and shoulder artillery. Soldiers attacking a farmhouse using rifles and tossing grenades. In a narrow city alley- explosion in a building causes soldiers to drop. Officers and large artillery on a ship. "Rome falls as our troops silence Nazi shell fire within the city!" Sign showing Roma in one direction and Velletri 1.5 KM in the other direction. Tanks in a convoy. Large artillery. Soldiers and civilians marching. (2:25) Allied soldiers with POWs. Tired and exhausted, some wounded. "The Eternal City is completely liberated from Nazi rule" Colosseum and other Rome landmarks. "Victorious Allied troops pour into the city that is called “The Cradle of Civilization!”’ Many soldiers and civilians in downtown Rome Officer leads a handcuffed man in a suit. "U.S. General Mark Clark, Commander of the gallant Fifth Army arrives!" Clark arrives in a jeep and is greeted by clergyman and civilians. "First Axis-held capital to fall! One down- two to go!" Cheering civilians. Women kissing an American flag and soldiers. St. Peters Square- Pope addressing a very large crowd. (5:01) "INVASION! Of Fortress Europe" Military fighter planes. "Invasion! The most terrific air bombardment ever unleashed upon occupied France!" Bombers dropping bombs. "Roads, bridges, planes and airfields are destroyed!" Bombs dropped. "June 6, 1944 D-Day!" Soldiers, gliders and other aircraft. Soldiers marching. "Munitions!" (6:45) "Embarkation!" Soldiers in water landing craft. "Across the English Channel goes the mightiest military force in history" Soldiers in landing crafts. "4,000 ships- 11,000 planes!" "H-Hour! United States and British Naval ships silence Nazi coastal fortifications!" Shelling from large naval ships. Soldiers transferring from large ships to landing crafts. "Under deadly cross fire our assault troops swarm onto the Normandy beaches!" "Yanks, Tommies, and Canadian fighters take beachhead after beachhead!" Soldiers wading ashore- some appear to be hit by enemy fire. Soldiers on the beaches dig in. Wounded are cared for. (11:10) "Soldiers of Hitler’s master race meet their masters!" Captured German soldiers. "Nazi airfields and planes are torn asunder!" Allied planes bomb and strafe Nazi airfield. "General Eisenhower with Lieutenant General Bradley, Field Commander!" "Britain’s General Sir Bernard Montgomery!" "The battle for Fortress Europe begins! It will end only when victory is achieved!" Eisenhower and other leaders. (13:18) End.
- Duration
- 00:13:22
- Date
-
Event:
1944
- Locale
-
Rome,
Italy
Normandy,
France
- Credit
- Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Metro Theatre Center Foundation
- Contributor
-
Producer:
Castle Films, Inc.
- Biography
-
Castle Films was started in 1924 by Eugene W. Castle, the former Pacific Coast film editor at Fox Movietone News. Castle became a successful producer of industrial and advertising short subjects. Castle began compiling shorts, travelogues and newsreels for use in schools. The lure of the home movie market proved lucrative for Castle. In 1936, they became one of the first home movie companies to actually sell their product to the general public. In 1937, Castle started Castle Films News Parade, a sort of "newscast" one could view at home rather than at the theater. In 1946, Castle Films became a division of United World Films, which in turn was absorbed by Universal in 1947. In the 1970s, Castle Films became Universal 8. Public domain status confirmed by NBC Universal.
