Documentaries

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December 7th - Pearl Harbor (1943)

Director: John Ford
Actors: Walter Huston, Harry Davenport, Dana Andrews
Runtime: 32 min.

This docudrama reenacts the events of the day of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and its aftermath. The film includes live footage of the attack, reenactments and interviews.

Trivia: The original, longer version of this movie was directed by Oscar Winning cinematographer John Toland (Citizen Kane). The Navy refused to release that version due to its dehumanizing of Japanese Americans and excessive use of fictionalized accounts of the battle. John Ford released this 32 minute version of the movie which won the 1944 Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject. The black machine gunner seen in the film represents Dorie Miller, a cook on the USS West Virginia who took up arms in the heat of the battle. He was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross for valor in combat.