Souvenirs of Death

I first saw this short film in the mid-1960s on WPIX-Channel 11 in New York, and it had a profound effect on me. I was always respectful of guns, to the degree that I had any contact with them (which was not at all), but this movie really woke me up as a kid to the dangers of irresponsible gun ownership. Seeing it again in the twenty-first century, it still packs a wallop, although obviously the issues have changed as gun ownership -- far beyond the ranks of nostalgia-laden veterans -- has exploded in most parts of the United States.

Anyone who collects World War Two military equipment (especially German) knows that our GIs were avid trophy hunters. Even today, some 70 plus years later, veteran "bring backs" turn up at gun shows and estate sales across the country. I saw this short film several years ago and I recall the pistol in question was a 1914 Mauser. But at the film's end there is an FBI message about the dangers of all war trophy guns and they showed an MP-40 sub machinegun.

Pretty dry story of a handgun that comes back from Europe after WW II. The narrator tells the story of how the guns come back to the US, and end up in the hands of the children, playing outside. And there's Barbara Billingsly, mom Cleaver in "Leave it to Beaver", as the dis-approving mom. It's all pretty droll. with a message from J. Edgar at the very end, warning of the perils of bringing these wartime weapons back to the U.S. It's a filler between films on Turner Classic Movies. Skip this one... about as interesting as belly button lint. Directed by Ed Cahn.

This was just a propaganda piece that our government is famous for to manipulate public opinion.

"Souvenirs of Death" is a very strange film in that the narrator of the film is a gun! John Nesbitt provides the voice for a German Mauser handgun and it follows the gun's path from a souvenir picked up by an American G.I. serving in the war. He brings it home and the gun ends up killing an innocent dog! Where it goes from there, you'll just have to see for yourself.

The style of the film is unique. The plot, however, is a bit familiar. "Winchester 73" has a lot of similarity as does the old "Hawaii Five-O" episode "Diary of a Gun" (1975). However, despite familiarity, the story is well written and a convincing argument that folks need to be much, much, much more careful if they're going to own a gun. Keep that thing locked up...with no chance anyone else will be able to get to it!

By the way, Barbara Billingsley is in a small role in the film--long before she starred on "Leave it to Beaver" or learned to speak Jive ("Airplane").