All Films

Return to Guam

1944 • 19 min • United States of America

Return to Guam is a 1944 short propaganda film produced by the US Navy about the taking and recapture of the island of Guam. The film starts when a convoy of ships nearing the island sees strange lights flashing from the island in Morse code "information". After cautiously investigating the signal, they find that it was made by a white man, George Tweed, the last survivor of the original garrison at Guam. Tweed relates his harrowing story of how he survived in the bush for 31 months with the help of the natives, Chamorros.

The Eagle and the Mole

1944 • 6 min • Soviet Union

The eagle family flew in to look for a place for their nest. The eagle-eyed looked for a tall, sprawling oak for the future of her offspring. But then a mole intervened and tried to discourage the building of a nest in the crowns of this tree - the roots of the oak were rotten long ago and it could soon fall.

Land and Live in the Jungle

1944 • 60 min • United States of America

In this World War II military training film, a B-25 crew bails out over the jungle, and the pilot is separated from the rest of of his crew. The two groups of soldiers must survive until they can meet up and be rescued. The pilot does almost everything wrong, and the rest of his crew does almost everything right. We learn, by both bad and good example, how to survive in the jungle.

Important Business

1944 • 11 min • United States of America

Robert takes a train ride to Washington, DC, on "important business."

From Hand to Mouse

1944 • 8 min • United States of America

"Spare me!" pleads the mouse to the dumb lion who just caught him, "And some day I'll save your life." Once out of the lion's clutches, though, the mouse taunts, "Sucker!"

Le Journal de la Résistance

1944 • 33 min • France

Shot primarily by twelve French cameramen (led by filmmakers Jean Painlevé and Jean Grémillon), in August 1944, this film captures the final French insurrection in German-occupied Paris, the surrender of the Germans, and the mass celebration in the streets. (There is an English-language version narrated by Noel Coward.)

Dance Revels

1944 • 3 min • United States of America

Meritta Moore and her group dance.

Nimbus libéré

1944 • 3 min • France

A Jewish radio announcer broadcasts the imminent arrival in France of Allied liberators; US planes flown by Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Popeye, (and defended by air gunners Goofy and Felix the Cat) receive orders to drop bombs on French civilians below.

Tim Marches Back

1944 • 2 min

Second World War British Ministry of Information animated cartoon newsreel trailer encouraging the public to make fewer social telephone calls in order to leave the telephone lines free for important calls in support of the war effort.

The Painter and the Pointer

1944 • 7 min • United States of America

Andy Panda is the painter and his dog, Butch, is the pointer, and Andy is trying to paint a portrait of Butch doing what a bird-dog is supposed to do...standing still and pointing to the game-bird. But Butch won't stand still. Andy's solution is to rig a gun to go off if Butch moves a muscle. Butch gamely resists all temptations to move but a couple of spiders carry him off in their web, with the gun going off repeatedly and peppering Butch's posterior.

A Message of Importance

1944 • 2 min • United States of America

In the final push of World War II, with Germany and Japan on the ropes, Eddie Bracken urges the American people to buy more war bonds.

People of the Potlatch

1944 • 21 min • Canada

The Indigenous peoples of northern British Columbia still hunt and fish, using a combination of traditional ways and modern equipment and techniques where appropriate. Lumbering and trapping bring them money and goods. Their traditional arts and crafts, however, remain essentially unchanged. This archival film reflects the social and cultural values and beliefs prevalent at the time of production.

Roaming Through Arizona

1944 • 10 min • United States of America

This Traveltalk series short focuses first on the architectural styles found in Arizona, then switches to the natural wonders in the state.

Appalachian Spring

1944 • 32 min

A multi-character dance drama. A newlywed pioneer couple, guided by a reverent Revivalist and the wise Pioneer Woman, joyously celebrate their life on the American frontier - dancing, courting, and sharing “Simple Gifts” - only to be shaken by the threat of war before finding solace and communal hope in a final hymn-like gathering.

Belles of the South Seas

1944 • 9 min • United States of America

A tour through the South Sea islands including Tahiti, New Zealand, Fiji, Pago Pago, Papua and Kalabahai

Jasper Tell

1944 • 8 min • United States of America

A Puppetoon by George Pal.

The Missus Beats Him to It

1944 • 1 min • Canada

The film emphasizes the wartime need for remodelling old clothes, to avoid the purchase of new garments.

Fighting Triangles: Social Perception AKA The Heider-Simmel Illusion

1944 • 1 min • United States of America

“In 1944, psychologists Fritz Heider and Marianne Simmel made a very short, animated film of moving shapes. This is purist cinema. Shapes are just moving around, but it is virtually impossible not to project judgements, desires and a storyline onto them. With such raw materials, the perceived narrative is not about the shapes, but a reflection of the viewer’s own psychology and memories. Scientists found that viewers construct their own individual interpretations of events; there is not one common narrative, but innumerable permutations—sometimes with imagined voices or sound effects.” - Brittany Gravely / Harvard Film Archive

The Silly Goose

1944 • 14 min • Germany

Short directed by Hans Fischerkoesen.

Kádár Kata

1944 • 11 min • Hungary

Tom Turk and Daffy

1944 • 7 min • United States of America

It's Thanksgiving, and Tom Turk is trying to avoid become the main attraction on Porky Pig's dinner table. Fellow bird Daffy Duck is willing to help him, until he realizes that he'll miss out on a delicious meal. Hilarity ensues as each tries to get the other caught by Porky.

The Golden Goose

1944 • 10 min • Germany

Because Dummling has a good heart, fate leads him to a princess waiting for rescue.

Message from Canterbury

1944 • 24 min

Shots of Canterbury Cathedral and the surrounding countryside are accompanied by choral songs and a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr William Temple, on the history and significance of the cathedral.

A Hatful of Dreams

1944 • 7 min • United States of America

George Pal’s stop motion Puppetoons were peopled with all types of characters. Two of his most popular were a pair of lovestruck kids named Punchy and Judy. Here, down-on-his-luck Punchy obtains a magical straw hat from a plucky talking horse and transforms himself into Aladdin and, with the official permission of DC Comics, Superman. Hoping to impress Judy, Punchy’s delusions of grandeur only land him in jail. The talking horse is a witness at Punchy’s trial and cajoles the judge, arresting Officer Moriarty and members of the jury to test the hat, causing their secret selves to emerge inbound, a hilarious spectacle as their unfettered dreams and desire hold sway.