Propaganda

THE HOAXTERS-1952-In this post-WW2 cold war propaganda short film Adolf Hitler, Tojo and Mussolini are compared to snake oil salesmen. It uses footage of war torn Germany, Italy and Japan and blames everything on Karl Marx, the “fourth pitchman of the apocalypse” and says communism is the new snake oil. Stalin (a WW2 ally) is shown watching troops march in Red Square. FDR, Truman, Adlai Stevenson and Dwight David Eisenhower all agree that Communism is the new Nazism. Howard Keel, George Murphy, Walter Pigeon, Robert Taylor, Barry Sullivan and James Whitmore are credited as narrators and Sid Tomack appears as a salesman. No director is credited for this MGM production but the screenwriter Herman Hoffman later directed TV shows and soap operas so it might be him.

DECEMBER 7TH-1943-This film commissioned by the US Navy was directed by John Ford and Greg Toland. Uncle Sam (Walter Huston) explains what's going on in Hawaii (before Pearl Harbor). It kind of ignores how the US came to the islands but talks about all the Japanese who worked and settled there (many of them American citizens). It tries to say that most of the Japanese who live there were loyal to America except those that were part of the Shinto religion (actor Philip Ahn, of Korean descent plays a Shinto priest). Yet then it implies that most of the Japanese were spies who helped bring about the bombings and collaborated with The Nazis. After Sam has a debate with Mr. C (Harry Davenport) he falls asleep. Everyone then goes about their business on that fateful Sunday morning. Many actual and detailed and tragic scenes are shown. It then goes on to show how the attacks negatively affected the Japanese-Hawaiians. Dana Andrews appears as the spirit of a dead sailor while Ralph Byrd and Robert Lowery have un-billed roles as does the narrator Irving Pichel.

 It won a 1943 Academy Award for best documentary short subject.

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And Now For Something...you know...

Last month my dad (age 95) fell and fractured his hip. He had an operation and came through it ok. While in the re-hab facility he contracted pneumonia. It looked bad for a while but now he's rid of that and back in re-hab. Hopefully he'll be better soon. Today is also Pearl Harbor day or the Attack on Pearl Harbor day, whatever. I don't hear too much about round here, especially with more important things like the deaths of Paul Walker and Nelson Mandela and Robinson Cano signing a 240 million contract with The Seattle Mariners. But because of this day in 1941 my dad (and lots of others) spent 5 years defending his country in the Pacific. Many didn't make it back but he did. If he hadn't I wouldn't be writing this now. Thanks, Dad!!! 

I should review my dad's favorite movie THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY but everyone knows that film. Here's a music review as a change of pace:

JOHN CALE: FRAGMENTS OF A RAINY SEASON-1992-I've been a big fan of the Welsh born John Cale ever since The Velvet Underground broke up. Here's a concert filmed in Brussels. Cale solos on all the songs playing only piano or guitar. 16 songs are featured from different times in his career including 3 Dylan Thomas poems put to music. Highlights are THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE, FEAR (IS A MAN'S BEST FRIEND) and PARIS 1919. He even throws in STYLE IT TAKES from his Andy Warhol tribute collaboration with Lou Reed (who died in October of 2013). It ends with a dynamite version of Leonard Cohen's HALLELUJAH (later featured in SHREK!). At the same time Cale also released a CD of the same concert that features 20 songs. 

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