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US Army liberates Paris

Film | Digitized | RG Number: RG-60.2681 | Film ID: 958

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    US Army liberates Paris
    Image

    Overview

    Description
    Jeeps coming across pontoon bridge towards camera. VS of numerous French tanks and other vehicles coming around curve of cobblestone road. Underlit shot of Leicester Hemingway in hotel room. Stevens and officer, possibly British, walking down French street, enter restaurant. Two-part sign reads: "Route N10 Versailles 32, Paris 52." Top of sign: "Seine-et-oise" right and "Route N306 Cernay La Ville 12, Chevreuse 19." Pan of jeeps, civilians, and soldiers in street. Two military men with red caps. Shot of Stevens smoking pipe with several other officers, including a heavy set older man. Ivan Moffat in scene with the men studying the maps. Moffat with notebook talks to Stevens. Stevens and three other Americans approach Frenchman. Stevens salutes, shakes hands and shows him the map, presumably requesting permission to go into Paris. Shooting from the rear as jeep goes down French street. Discusses route with policeman. French women come up and kiss men in jeep. VS as three SPECOU vehicles move down the road. There are more and more people gathered and waving the farther they go down the road. American flag visible on jeep. They pass other vehicles stopped on the left. Pan of street, rifle fire in BG, followed by more firing. Civilians are also in the street. Tanks moving up street. French tanks with weapons carriers with pink clothes on the back move past, men huddled behind civilian car, French flags apparent on street. French woman in short blue skirt, red hair, carrying rifle. Insert of single silver star on red plaque pans up to reveal jeep. Tracking shot following jeep with single star, reverse angle as trucks approach camera, crowds waving to camera. VS, very good quality, very emotive, of crowds waving to camera, as they lean in. Patrol plane, in air, blue and white sign reads: "Paris, Orleans."

    Sequence begins of various men crouched, firing at sniper. VS of Gene Solow, Stevens and Bill Hamilton. VS of men reacting to sniper. Stevens with helmet off, holding rifle. On top of Gare Montparnasse. Stevens with pipe holding rifle. French general exits vehicle, German General (presumably Von Choltitz) behind him. Underexposed shot of German general, INT. Black French vehicle with "Police" painted on it. German officers, about a dozen, exit. One with shaved head is hit by an onlooker. Germans are lead into train station. Two more Germans enter. Two GIs drive off with German officer, another hits him on the head with helmet. High angle shot of FFI vehicle arriving, people milling in streets. French officers tying white flag onto jeep, Ivan Moffat and German soldier observe. Stevens leads the way as French officer and high ranking German come outdoors. Shot of Bill Hamilton. General De Gaulle exits vehicle, salutes, makes his way toward station. Another German officer is brought in. De Gaulle, and, presumably, General Le Clerc, CU of De Gaulle talking with a French civilian and a French officer. Another CU of De Gaulle. More CUs of German officers. German officer seated in jeep as American driver studies map. (This was a process of Germans going out with white flags in jeeps with German-speaking Allied troops to pass the word of the surrender.) VS of French civilians.
    Duration
    00:09:13
    Date
    Event:  1944
    Production:  1944
    Locale
    Paris, France
    Credit
    Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Library of Congress
    Contributor
    Director: George C. Stevens
    Producer: Special Coverage Unit (SPECOU)
    Biography
    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.

    Physical Details

    Language
    Silent
    Genre/Form
    Unedited.
    B&W / Color
    Color
    Image Quality
    Good
    Time Code
    00:21:31:00 to 00:30:44:18
    Film Format
    • Master
    • Master 958 Video: Betacam SP - color - NTSC - small
      Master 958 Digital: ProRes HD HQ 422 - color - HD
      Master 958 Video: Betacam SP - color - NTSC - small
      Master 958 Digital: ProRes HD HQ 422 - color - HD
      Master 958 Video: Betacam SP - color - NTSC - small
      Master 958 Digital: ProRes HD HQ 422 - color - HD
      Master 958 Video: Betacam SP - color - NTSC - small
      Master 958 Digital: ProRes HD HQ 422 - color - HD
    • Preservation
    • Preservation 958 Video: Betacam SP - color - NTSC - small
      Preservation 958 Video: Betacam SP - color - NTSC - small
      Preservation 958 Video: Betacam SP - color - NTSC - small
      Preservation 958 Video: Betacam SP - color - NTSC - small

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    This archival media can only be accessed in a Museum reading room or other on-campus viewing stations.
    Copyright
    George Stevens Jr.
    Conditions on Use
    George Stevens, Jr. owns the copyright to this film. Researchers must contact the Library of Congress at mpref@loc.gov for permission to reproduce and use this film material.

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Film Provenance
    The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum purchased film copies of the George Stevens Collection on videotape from the Library of Congress in October 1994.
    Copied From
    16mm color reversal film
    Film Source
    Library of Congress - Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division (MBRS)
    File Number
    Legacy Database File: 3046
    Source Archive Number: Video Reel #2; Film Reel #7
    Record last modified:
    2024-02-21 07:59:04
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn1002298

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