La battaglia delle Midway

There have been many battles in the Second World War that played a part in deciding who the victors of the conflict were going to be, and one of these engagements is known as the Battle of Midway. Like any good ww2 film, this short combines good narration with impressive archive footage that was taken while the battle was ongoing. If that weren't enough, John Ford, one of the greatest geniuses in cinema history, directed this. The film starts with the narrator, Donald Crisp, telling the audience where Midway Island is located and why it holds such significance to the United States military. The film then goes on to show footage of the event that has often been cited as one of the most successful military engagements ever. At Midway, Japanese forces took 20 times the amount of casualties the Americans did, and american carrier aircraft managed to sink all 4 of the aircraft carriers responsible for attacking Pearl Harbor half a year earlier. This all took place only in June 1942, but even just 6 months into America's involvement in the war, they dealt a blow to japan from which they never really recovered. The footage of this event that Ford captured is remarkable because he was so close to the action. Many marines and other servicemen were killed on the island as japanese planes attacked from every conceivable angle, but Ford kept filming. You can see proof of this at one part where the camera gets knocked over by some kind of explosion. Aside from the exciting footage of combat and naval warfare, there isn't too much else to this short. It deserves praise because John Ford risked dying in action in order to record most of it, but at the same time, it's been eclipsed by a lot of other world war 2 related films that also showcase footage of this battle. What makes this one stand out after so many decades is the fact that its director was actually there in the midst of it, something that no modern documentary can boast. Because of this (and the huge interest I have in ww2 things) I have to consider Battle of Midway as one of the most iconic and well made second world war films. It goes without saying that this won an Oscar as well.

John Ford's celebrated 19-minute documentary about America's first major victory of World War Two earned him a shrapnel wound, a Purple Heart and an Oscar. The first 10 is impressive without being that interesting - hard-won battle footage that largely consists of some stuff setting on fire, the camera shaking, the film cutting, then something else setting on fire - though the raising of the flag is a lovely moment, narrator Irving Pichel intoning: "Yes, this really happened". The second half is more obviously Fordian, the elegiac tone reinforced by hymns, slanting shadows and Jane Darwell's frenzied, corny, but effective narration. Audiences wept and fainted during the passage where she urges ambulance-men to rush injured soldiers to a hospital. Ford would make his definitive statement on the war, and the nature of heroism, with 1945's They Were Expendable, but this short is well worth a look.

Battle of Midway, The (1942)

*** (out of 4)

Henry Fonda and Donald Crisp add narration to the battle scenes shot by John Ford where the director was even wounded by enemy fire. There's really no story being told in this documentary but instead we just see a part of history in beautiful Technicolor. God knows everyone has seen countless war films but there's something unique seeing real ones here. They certainly look a lot different than what we've seen in countless fake movies.

Ford's World War 2 shorts are out there in various forms ranging from public domain companies to the Ford at Fox set. Quality various but the version in the Fox set is the best.

This is a great, short (less than 20 minutes)film of one part of the key battle of the war in the Pacific. Keep it mind, the Battle of Midway was fought in early June, 1942. The darkest days of the Pacific War for America. Pearl Harbor, the Phillipines, Bataan, Corregidor, Wake Island; all American defeats. It is, indeed, a "propaganda" film. Or, at least it was turned into one after John Ford shot it. But the film of the combat itself is no propaganda piece. It took a lot of courage for Ford to stick his cameras out and film while hundreds of Japanese planes struck the island. Many Marines died in the bombing. Ford could easily have been killed. Of necessity, Ford could only film the land portion of the battle, which was an attempt by Japanese naval forces to reduce the island's defenses and then conduct a landing, possibly eventually putting Hawaii in jeopardy with a new, forward Japanese base on Midway. The major part of the battle was a naval battle between carrier forces. An "incredible victory" in the title of the Walter Lord book. Four Japanese aircraft carriers, miles from the filming on Midway itself, were sunk. It was the begging of the end of Japan. The stiff resistance put up by the Marines on Midway, captured by Ford, forced decisions by the Japanese High Command that ultimately led to the sinking of their carriers. Historically interesting film.

This documentary, "The Battle of Midway," is a short film shot during the actual combat on June 4, 1942. The Battle lasted from June 3 to June 7, but the air attack on Midway Island was on June 4. This shows the bombing of the U.S. airfield and positions on Midway. It also shows the defenders in action, and one Japanese plane trailing smoke after it was hit by ground fire.

What is most striking about this film is the concussion of the actual bombs, which have a horizontal spreading impact with huge destruction. What one sees in most movies in which battle scenes are staged, is ground explosions that blow up laterally and dissipate in the air with much less near damage.

Hollywood's John Ford was a Navy officer who directed this and other films for the Navy during WW II. Henry Fonda is the principal narrator. There isn't much by way of aerial combat or Japanese aircraft pictured here. Other Armed Forces photography would capture that. But this documentary earns its stars for the men who shot the film while under heavy enemy fire.