Atomic Scare Films V01
Survival Under Atomic Attack, Duck and Cover, American Cities Atomic Fallout Strategy, The Atom Strikes, You Can Beat the A-Bomb!
According to the Cold War-era instructional films collected here, any nuclear holocaust can be survived by merely hiding under a tool bench. And that pesky fallout can be easily disposed of through a brushing of the trousers, a fingernail cleaning, and a good shampoo. Thanks to the guinea pigs in Hiroshima, we now know about Survival Under Atomic Attack (b&w), and apparently all the answers are contained in a flimsy pamphlet, as read and discussed by a suburban couple in their Sunday best, enjoying a good evening smoke. The immortal Duck and Cover (b&w) opens with a musical animated sequence in which a happy-go-lucky turtle is tormented by a monkey wielding dynamite, to show kids how to duck and cover in case of nuclear attack. To demonstrate, we are shown endless drills of boys and girls ducking and covering in the classroom, outdoors, and at a picnic as soon as the narrator yells, Duck and cover! You Can Beat the A-Bomb (b&w) is an amazing piece of atomic propoganda that basically says a nuclear attack may be a tad inconvenient but it's nothing to get too upset over. Just close the windows, hide under some furniture, stay inside for about an hour, then start to clean up. It also contains some hilarious what if? scenes in which Mom unplugs the iron before taking shelter. Dad, however, is the big know-it-all who can spout off a credible sounding yet suspect answer to any nukie question thrown his way. For example, when his kids ask, Can we catch radiation from you, Daddy? Daddy answers, No, I'm keeping it all to myself! as he scrubs the fallout off with a quick soap lather! And remember, if you get radiation poisoning, lie down and rest. Someone who sounds like John Forsythe narrates the cleverly titled, American Cities Atomic Fallout Strategy (b&w), which details our nation's plans for The Big One, via cool fallout animation. At the nerve center for survival everything is labeled with bold signs like the Batcave, so we know we're in good hands. The Atom Strikes! (b&w) surveys the devastation of war-torn Japan, with a bounty of footage of demolished building and ravaged landscapes. Come out, come out, wherever you three-headed children are! Also included are a handful of National Guard commercials, including a singing cowboy spot, and a couple of cartoon kids being spun senseless by stock disaster footage. So stock up on canned goods, stay away from windows, follow the simple directions included in these films and, what the hell, you too may learn that atomic attacks may be a minor bother but also a lot of good old-fashioned fun. From 16mm mushroom-cloud prints. Rod Lott, Hitch magazine
Code: SW5542 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $15.00

Atomic Scare Films V02
Pattern for Survival (b&w), One World or None (b&w), Operation Q (b&w), And a Voice Shall Be Heard! (b&w), The Medical Aspects of Nuclear Radiation (color), Shock: Medical Self-Help Training (color), Infant & Child Care (color)
Here are more vintage nuke-themed ditties to watch in the comfort of your own reinforced concrete basement. It all begins with Pattern for Survival (b&w), narrated by Chet Huntley, who draws an analogy between nuclear war and some stuffed shirt pushing a crippled kid through a weaponry museum. Enter clichéd journalist William Laurence who reads off cue cards and spouts off about the psychological terror weapon as we get a simple science cartoon on Atom Splitting 101. The short then paints an unusually happy face on the prospect of Armageddon so long as you have a cellar packed with raisins, chocolate bars and Lava soap, you'll be okay! Oh, and simply cover your eyes upon impact. Then before you know it, as the final shot allows, you'll be back enjoying corndogs in no time. Its polar opposite is One World or None (b&w), which goes so far as to animate little skulls in the various nuclear blasts as NYC is decimated in cute cartoon fashion. Real footage includes Hiroshima kids sporting their trendy new heat blast hairdos. Operation Q (b&w) puts a home-ec spin on the horror, with June hanging around Civil Defense as they test how things might be affected by an atomic blast. The guys build houses and stuff them with mannequins, only to tear them to shreds with a nuclear test. She's more interested in the canned foods, though. With her lackadaisical narration, I half-expected her to say, I dreamed I toured a nuclear testing ground in my Maidenform bra! Should the bomb drop, at least your communications system in Syracuse will be A-OK, so goes the message of And a Voice Shall Be Heard! (b&w). It's a kick to see citizens scatter at the sound of a warning siren, especially the guy at the barber shop getting a shave. Moral of the story: Two-way radio rules! According to the animation in The Medical Aspects of Nuclear Radiation (color), the human body is run by dwarves wearing funny hats a prospect that bothers me as much as the threat of nuclear war. Equally disturbing is the demonstration of gamma rays entering the body, because they look like mean tapeworms. The narrator says that extensive use of atomic energy might eventually result in an overabundance of freaks, suitable for sideshows. Following are a load of shelter survival tips, where a routine world of chopped ham and saltines awaits! Then it's on to Shock: Medical Self-Help Training (color), which aims to shock on its own with opening narration like, This is a dead man. This man may die. She, too, may die. It quickly gets graphic with shots of a woman's hemorrhaging arm and burns, and you get to see some old coot vomit. Lastly, there's Infant & Child Care (color), in which an ugly suburban housewife, whose breasts you really don't want to see, pops out an udder, swabs it clean, and lets her baby start to suck. The narrator notes that preemies often look like wrinkled old men and then advocates giving boiled water to newborns. AA-AAAIIIIIEEEEE!!!! From 16mm duck-and-cover prints. Rod Lott, Hitch magazine
Code: SW7414 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $15.00

Atomic Scare Films V03
Fallout and Agriculture (color), Radiological Decontamination of Ships (b&w), The Medical Effects of the Atomic Bomb (b&w), Medical Services in Atomic Disaster (b&w), The Atom and Agriculture (b&w, Occupying a Public Shelter (color)
Hoard that Spam and head for the hills with this third go-round of friendly fallout films for the whole family! Volume 3 kicks off with Fallout and Agriculture (color), illustrated with a plethora of Crayola drawings. Against a painted farmhouse background, our host gives the straight dope to Old MacDonald, like what happens when Bessie gets bombarded with gamma rays, and why a little Strontium 90 in your bacon and eggs is not a good thing. The Navy-backed Industrial Radiological Decontamination of Ships (b&w) details step by step the process for approaching, surveying and cleaning a tainted naval vessel. If only the cast of Virus had seen this, we'd have been spared that cinematic monstrosity. The Medical Effects of the Atomic Bomb (b&w) is wonderfully tacky enough to do an amateurish re-enactment of Hiroshima at ground zero, complete with inserts of generic disaster footage. Medical Services in Atomic Disaster (b&w) features more explosions than the Tommy Lee and Pamela tape, and more mass destruction than a weekend at their house. Watching The Atom and Agriculture (b&w) is like passing by a car accident you simply cannot divert your eyes from the carnage! There's mutant corn, anemic cows, and nerd-o chemists forcing radioactive phosphorous down a hen's throat. It may all be in the name of science, but don't tell me they don't get a sadistic kick of it, too. Finally, there's Occupying a Public Shelter (color), which covers a lot of the shelter-survival tips from VOLUME 2, but with more paperwork, hard labor, group calisthenics, an all-child rendition of Frere Jacques and, thankfully, no saggy, middle-aged librarian titties. From 16mm glow-in-the-dark prints. Rod Lott, Hitch magazine
Code: SW7415 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $15.00

G.I. Scare Films V01
First Aid for All Hands, Medical Defense Against Chemical Warfare: Gas Attack, Self-Aid, ABC Warfare Defense Ashore, Chemical Warfare Decontamination: Personnel, Easy Credit!
Quick! How do you identify sucking wounds of the chest? Yup, they're the bloodgushing holes easily recognized by the sucking sounds such wounds make with each breath. And how do you take a shower during chemical warfare? That's right! You just leave your gas mask on! These and other True G.I. Facts can be found in the following military training films, meant to both educate, inspire, and scare the shit out of America's troops. In First Aid for All Hands (1958), you'll learn to spot a wounded soldier by the blood gushing from an open wound, a large pool of blood near the body, or many areas of blood-soaked clothing. Thought so. And remember to feel gently for points of tenderness and deformities. Uh oh. Gas! Gas! Gas! Get the Atropine ready and jab yourself while watching Medical Defense Against Chemical Warfare: Gas Attack Self-Aid (1958), which features lots of painful eye rubbing. Then move on to ABC Warfare Defense Ashore (1954) and Chemical Warfare Decontamination: Personnel (1954) and learn how to prepare against nerve gas and biological warfare. The latter also contains this volume's barf-bag shot: a guy's bare back covered with giant hideous blisters. (Hey, that's why it's called blister gas, dummy!) And remember, Decontamination is no picnic! One piece of good news: as cartoon bugs descend on parachutes, we're told that bombardment by insects is considered the least practical method of waging germ warfare. That's a relief. On a less technical level, a new sailor fondly recalls his training in boot camp which comes complete with bowling, shore leave on Hollywood Boulevard, potato peeling (Irish ammunition!), and comical relief by a guy named Shorty. So what have I got to be worried about? Bring on that tin can! And Easy Credit is a stylized comical short warning soldiers against various money scams. Oddly, it's told entirely in rhyme. And that's no crime. Though many of the facts in these films may seem rather obvious, they weren't exactly made for brain surgeons but, instead, for the kid from Kentucky with an I.Q. of 40 who chose the military over working in Cousin Lester's garage. In fact, illiteracy in the Navy is the theme of the slickest short of the bunch featuring many familiar faces including GEORGE REEVES and DEFOREST KELLEY. In its best scene, an embarrassed Dr. McCoy asks Superman to write a letter to his girl. You can almost hear it: I'm a sailor, Jim, not a letter writer! From 16mm declassified-but-dangerous prints. And keep those gas masks handy! Watson Pritchard
Code: SW6663 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $15.00

G.I. Scare Films V02
Abandon Ship, Damage Control: Shipboard Fire Fighting, Basic, Effective Naval Leadership: The Case of the Early Leave, A Physical Fitness Program for the United States Navy, Sex Hygiene!
Pity the poor sailor who's new to the Navy and trying to adjust to life at sea, when the Navy forces him to watch Abandon Ship (1943). Good God. If shots of actual ships sinking at sea while sailors scramble over their hulls and dot the water weren't bad enough, the awful step-by-steps included in this short the only one which still has a Restricted label in the front of it drags out the horror. Learn how to swim through burning oil; how to inflate your trousers into very practical water wings; how to avoid sharks, barracuda, and the stings from a Portuguese man-of-war (Don't get panicky. Just relax and float. Grit your teeth and bear it!); how to survive in a life raft; and what to do if you're spotted by a Japanese fighter plane (Don't expect any quarter from the enemy! They've thrown away the book and you're fair game!). You'll want to kiss dirt after seeing this. Damage Control: Shipboard Fire Fighting, Basic (1960) teaches sailors how to fight fires aboard ship proudly and efficiently. (Proudly?) After Abandon Ship, you can almost relax with this one. An actual case taken from Navy files is dramatized in Effective Naval Leadership: The Case of the Early Leave (1959). After the Executive Officer promises to let a handful of sailors get a three hour head start on their Christmas leave, Lieutenant Tom Jackson makes a stupid, petty, small-minded, insensitive, hard-nosed, and morale-crushing decision by canceling that early leave. Was the Lieutenant right? Put it like this... If anyone thinks the Navy is going to make a film which even suggests that one of their officers is capable of making a mistake, you might as well start searching for the strawberries now. Despite common sense to the contrary, the Lieutenant is actually praised for his bone-headed decision. Notice that mutiny is not once considered an option. A Physical Fitness Program for the United States Navy (1942) is so chock full of athletic activities, your muscles will ache just from watching it. And finally... Oh God, no, no, not that, please, not that... Sorry, boys, it's time for Sex Hygiene (1941), the classic Army training film on V.D. After opening with a roadshow style crawl justifying all the vile shit that follows, we're then bombarded by numerous shots of rotten peckers, a guy's lip looking like it's about to fall off, a tongue with open sores, a syphilitic rash on a soldier's back, and a pus-covered penis. It's a full-scale military gross-out! And keep your eyes peeled for a mustached (but non-diseased) GEORGE REEVES. From 16mm prints... with and without sores. Watson Pritchard
Code: SW6664 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $15.00

G.I. Scare Films V03
First Aid for Non-Battle Injuries (1943), Avoidable Carrier Accidents (1949), Stowaway Part 1: Disease & Personal Hygiene (1948), An Outbreak of Salmonella Infection, G.I. Scare Films VOLUME 4, Interrogation of Enemy Airmen, Industrial Radiological Decontamination of Ships (1951), The Spoiler, Camouflage Principles, Red China, Liberty
As if having to dodge bullets for a living wasn't enough, members of the U.S. Armed Forces were frequently subjected to all manner of Scare Films shorts which handled their subject with a sledgehammer mentality in order to get their point across to the average uniformed Joe. With VOLUME 3 of this series, Something Weird has grouped together six of the best Scare Shorts produced (for the most part) in the years immediately following World War II. First Aid for Non-Battle Injuries (1943) teaches us how to deal with electric shock and fractures, flesh wounds (The blood was oozing but not spurting...), burns, heat exhaustion, belly ache, ticks, and even insects which get trapped inside various human orifices (Don't go digging in your nose if you get something in it. A gentle blow into your handkerchief will get it out!). Some cheesy animation of a tick being burned off the skin by a lit cigarette is included, as is a cringe-inducing shot of some dust being wiped off an upturned eyelid. Avoidable Carrier Accidents (1949) is a cute little cartoon short which, despite the minimal animation, almost achieves the look of a vintage Warner Brothers cartoon. As sailors on leave in the Middle East embarrass themselves in the local bars and markets, their commander points out how their stupidity on land matches their ineptitude at landing their fighter planes on the aircraft carrier deck. Stowaway Part 1: Disease & Personal Hygiene (1948) has two sailors languishing in the hospital, victims of stowaway germs aboard their ship. A man who doesn't wash his hands after going to the toilet is a jerk and I mean a no good, gold-plated, jerky jerk! An Outbreak of Salmonella Infection a Communicable Disease Centre Production is a nausea inducing color short which depicts an outbreak of salmonella at an air force base. Shot after shot of patients vomiting into buckets drives the point home that you do not want this disease. After salmonella samples are isolated from a patient's stool specimen, the chicken and gravy served in the mess hall the previous night is discovered to be the culprit. Watch for the repulsive closeups of chicken innards, and gravy that looks like dirty water. No doubt about it, these shorts are much more effective when they're in color. Also tossed into the mix are two untitled shorts, one which looks at gas mask operation and maintenance, and one from 1942 which covers ship safety and features lots of faked gaping wounds. It's enough to make you rush down to your local recruitment center and sign up immediately. From 16mm soldier-scaring prints. John Harrison, Battle Stations!
Code: SW7420 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $15.00

G.I. Scare Films V04
Interrogation of Enemy Airmen, Industrial Radiological Decontamination of Ships (1951), The Spoiler, Camouflage Principles, Red China, Liberty
Something Weird charges over the top again with this fourth VOLUME of archaic G.I. Scare Films. Though not overtly gruesome in themselves, the scare factor comes from the constant, underlying atmosphere of impending danger and death which seems to permeate almost every frame... Interrogation of Enemy Airmen shows us the right and wrong ways to get the most out of doomed enemy fighter pilots and air crew. New recruits are taught (via cool miniatures) how to ID enemy aircraft, as well as the proper treatment of prisoners: No food, drink, or cigarettes! It's all part of the Œsoftening up' process! When asked if the wife of a shamed, captured Japanese airman can remarry, the instructor nods and replies, Legally and instantly if she's in the mood. Following this we see mock interrogations in North Ireland, North Africa, and New Guinea, before we're informed that the enemy may threaten force, but they do not dare to carry out such threats! It might not sound too exciting, but Industrial Radiological Decontamination of Ships (1951) is a pretty sobering look at the effects of atomic bomb fallout on a navy dockyard, and the unlucky workers assigned to clear the warships of radiation. The Spoiler is a 1944 color short instructing us of the operation and maintenance of flight deck crew arresting gear (steel rope which attached itself to a hook on the back of navy fighter planes, allowing them to land on aircraft carriers). Animation and some great slo-mo footage of Gruman Wildcats landing on deck are utilized, as well as humor in the form of The Spoiler, an idiot who keeps wandering around absent-mindedly, causing a general nuisance of himself and making other people's jobs more difficult (a real wartime no-no). Camouflage Principles is a self-explanatory but neat little color film which seems to have been conceived with the post D-Day European campaign in mind. Some cheesy little animation sequences provide a definite highlight. Narrated by LOWELL THOMAS, Red China (produced by The Army Pictoral Centre during the 1960's) is a travelogue of a nation which is vast in size and a potentially dangerous enemy ‹ cue hammer & sickle superimposed malevolently over a map of China. As expected, Mao Tse Tung comes in for a fair degree of punishment: Like many of China's floods, this man is a national disaster! Saving the best for last, Liberty is a cautionary tale of raucous sailors on leave in a strange port, and their medical officer back at the ship who waits for their return, wondering which one of them will get into trouble. Like Drake and Mercer. Drake turns up at the doc's office with a clear case of gonorrhea: He'd noticed drip from his penis but couldn't believe he'd actually caught The Clap! Poor old Mercer cops it even worse when he comes down with a dose of syphilis: It was the same old story ‹ Œshe looked clean'! Produced in 1952, this was no doubt aimed at the boys heading over to fight in Korea, with the doc delivering the grim warning that one out of every three pick-ups and four out of every five prostitutes are bound to be carrying some form of sexually transmitted disease. Oh, and have fun, soldier!
Code: SW7421 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $15.00

NEW! G.I. Scare Films V05
Information Please!, First Aid for All Hands: Fractures, The Ultimate Weapon, Our Job in Japan, The Bible in a Warring World
As is evident by this Fifth Volume, G. I. Scare Films are really no different than Classroom Scare Films except for the uniforms. Both terrify the viewer into Obeying the Rules by showing the horrible consequences of what will happen if those rules are broken. And, of course, while Classroom Scare Film often deal with Dangerous Strangers, G. I. Scare Films have Nazis. Information Please! (b&w) is actually a U. S. release of a British training film dealing with the various clever ways the Nazis squeeze valuable information out of Prisoners of War. Such techniques run the gamut from getting prisoners drunk to whipping them. Those Evil Krauts even build a fake British hospital room complete with a concerned Nurse and copies of Life magazine, and take a couple of chatty P. O. W.'s out to a nightclub to ogle sexy dancing girls! Take a tip from Flight Lieutenant Thompson (played by NAUNTON WAYNE, the goofy ghost who haunts the golfer in the classic horror anthology Dead of Night): if a soldier refuses to talk, the Nazis can't make him. Otherwise, the German Bastards will see to it that every British airman is made to betray his country and help the Reich! And isn't it damn odd hearing Nazis speak with crisp British accents? First Aid for All Hands: Fractures (b&w) is the obligatory gaping wound film for this volume. Produced by the U. S. Navy, it deals with all manner of broken bones - from juicy holes in the leg with protruding tibia, to hurt heads and the applying of splints. And remember, Keep him quiet and lie him down. There's tenderness here! The Ultimate Weapon (b&w) is a cautionary warning about taking our freedoms for granted by explaining how the North Koreans exploited the weakness in the American character to break down U. S. prisoners of war. All of which is angrily explained by American citizen but not-yet-president RONALD REAGAN, who's genuinely pissed at our boys who died of give-up-itis, and hammers home the message that our enemies are largely within ourselves! You tell 'em, Ron! Our Job in Japan (b&w) is a fascinating relic on how America should best deal with the conquered nation of Japan immediately after World War II. With the wounds of war still painfully fresh, this simplified explanation of how the average Japanese citizen's easily-manipulated brain fell prey to its government's war-making mumbo jumbo is brimming with still-raw hatred and the kind of outrageous racism war so easily produces. As narrator ARTHUR KENNEDY patiently spells out, the Japanese waged a war so disgusting, so revolting, so obscene, that it turned the stomach of the entire civilized world! Detailing how the ancient gods of war were used to get the superstitious Japanese all hopped up, America's post-war job in Japan is to watch them for tricks and show them how the American way is a pretty good way to live. Wow. The Bible in a Warring World (b&w) shows how The American Bible Society sees to it that men on the battlefield, in hospitals, in P. O. W. camps, even floating on life rafts all have access to The Lord's best seller. After all, God is on our side! - Pvt. Watson Pritchard
Code: SW7743 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $15.00

USS VD Ship of Shame/ Red Nightmare
First, a gunship in liberty port becomes the shame of the fleet when its crew comes down with...V.D.! Next, Jack Webb narrates the tale of an ordinary American town and its life as a Communist satellite, with everyone becoming emotionless automations.
These two federally funded propaganda films are unintentionally riotous fun.
Code: DVT1452 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $19.99

WWII V for Victory Show V01
You, John Jones, Women in Defense, Spokesman for the Future, A Handbook for Air Raid Wardens, All-Star Bond Rally, This Could Be America, Japs Bomb U.S.A!, The Fighting U.S. Marines, The Fighting First
Private Wendy WAC reporting for duty, sir! Something Weird proves its patrioticism by bringing you this unforgettable collection of World War II war bonds, rallies, shorts and featurettes that are sure to make you proud to be an American! After a series of war bond theater promos, we're treated to the big studio, war-time tear-jerker, You, John Jones, featuring JAMES CAGNEY, ANN SOTHERN and painfully dear child star MARGARET O'BRIEN. When John (Cagney) is called to civilian duty during the threat of an air raid, he ponders how damn lucky he is to live in America, imagining what it would be like if his darling daughter was the innocent victim of a bombing. Little Miss O'Brien gives the performance of her young career, belting out a patriotic recitation and portraying children whose unfortunate countries have been ravaged by war. Get out those hankies! Here's my favorite, Women in Defense. While our boys were away defending democracy, we gals were being capable scientists, industrial designers, mechanics, doctors, nurses, factory workers and the like. In fact over two thirds of defense jobs were performed by women, quite skillfully and efficiently I might add. Then you came home and sent us back into the kitchen. Thanks for nothing. Back when political campaigns meant something, governor of New York Thomas E. Dewey was presented as a Spokesman for the Future. See how nicely presidential candidates conducted themselves not so long ago. Before radar, there was CD, Civilian Defense. In A Handbook for Air Raid Wardens we learn just how important the air warden's job is. Besides observing the skies, they're responsible for clearing the streets, herding folks into shelters, enforcing city-wide blackouts, first aid, fire fighting, discerning war gasses and seeing that everyone cooperates. And did you know that enemy planes were actually seen over Seattle? Bob Hope serves as master of ceremonies for The All-Star Bond Rally, the ultimate celebrity war-time extravaganza featuring Betty Grable (Hollywood's Answer to the Fuel Shortage) and Bombadeers, radio stars Fibber McGee and Molly, crooner FRANK SINATRA sings Saturday Night backed by HARRY JAMES AND HIS BOYS, and a Brief Interlude with the Classics by mute comedian Harpo Marx. In a loving tribute to the famous pin-up girls that kept our boys company overseas, Hope warbles Thanks for the Memories, followed by a rousing rendition of Buy, Buy, Buy a Bond. by BING CROSBY. Well you can't have patrioticism with out a little paranoia. In This Could Be America and Japs Bomb U.S.A! we learn the yellow men with evil in their hearts could be flying over your town. But they're not, so settle down. The Fighting U.S. Marines kick ass! Young men are molded into lean, mean, fighting machines on land, air or sea , Hollywood-style. America's Call to Arms shows just what it takes to meet the demands of war. But the most realistic depiction of WWII would be The Fighting First, told from the perspective of an infantry foot soldier on a tour of duty throughout Northern Africa, Normandy and Europe. There are scenes in this film that look right out of Saving Private Ryan. See how we really won the war! Wendy WAC
Code: SW6119 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $15.00

WWII V for Victory Show V02
Mr. & Mrs. America, It Can't Last, The Earthmovers, Iwo Jima, Battle of the Midway, Tanks
Straight from headquarters of Something Weird's G.I. Division comes this collection of over twelve (count 'em!) vintage World War II U.S. Armed Forces shorts. Of course, with the war becoming an increasingly distant chapter of modern history, it is now possible to look back at these films with a degree of bemusement, but at the time of their production, they were deadly serious in their intent. Amongst the highlights of this nearly two-hour tape of treats are: Mr. & Mrs. America: An introduction from none other than President Franklin Roosevelt kicks off this Treasury Department short, which urges everyone to continue buying war bonds. Footage of heroic U.S. Marines landing on some Pacific hellhole are followed by shots of Japanese dead as the narrator intones: Bonds in action! Here in battle, they speak in words of steel! The enemy listens to you, and dies when America speaks! Subtle. It Can't Last: This cheesy U.S. Navy production uses a fictional scenario to warn American citizens of the perils of becoming too blase in the face of an inevitable Allied victory. While waiting for his older brother, Quincy, to come home from the war, little Freddy delivers the paper to Mr. Quincy who dismisses the headlines and, instead, thinks of buying a new car. After all, the war can't last much longer. Pow! Flying a mission over the Pacific, Freddy's brother, Quincy, is suddenly shot down by a Japanese warship. As Chief of Chaplains, P.D. WARMAN, warns, America can't forget the war because it's almost over. The Earthmovers: This Signal Corps production starts with a brief look back at the good old days, when construction equipment was used to build roads, skyscrapers, and dams in the U.S. Now, those same implements are building bridges, airstrips, and clearing fields of land mines in Europe and the Pacific. Iwo Jima: A short, stark, and brutal document of one of the bloodiest battles of the war. The genuine sights and sounds of combat do most of the talking here, before a somber narrator intones, Iwo Jima spelled Œdeath' to about 20,000 Japs. Iwo Jima spelled Œdeath' to about 4,000 Marines. What does it spell to you? Battle of the Midway: Here's a real treat a 16mm color Navy film which takes us right into the heart of the Battle of the Midway, one of the most decisive campaigns of the war, which turned the tide of fortunes in the Pacific. Although some of the shots her later turned up in the 1976 Charlton Heston misfire Midway, you've never seen the majority of this incredible color footage before. Tanks: ORSON WELLES lent his voice to the war effort by narrating this defense report film, which follows the life of a medium-sized tank from its start as a pile of bolts in a factory through its long journey to foreign battlefields. Welles' obvious hand in writing the screenplay shines through in the narrative which describes the tank as a fearful dreadnought of destruction... Where these ships go, there soon the earth shall tremble.... This is one compilation tape which will have you standing at attention and saluting the Stars and Stripes while a tear rolls down your check... John Harrison, Battle Stations!
Code: SW7416 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $15.00

WWII V for Victory Show V03
This Could Be America, Story of a Transport, The Memphis Belle, Pincers on Japan, Action in the Palaus
Batten down the hatches! It's another Something Weird compilation of vintage Armed Forces shorts which is bound to make any old G.I. misty-eyed with nostalgia. This Could Be America is a stern reminder that the war against Japan could well have been fought on U.S. soil. Hell, it looks just like Vermont, one pilot intones as he flies over Nagasaki on a bombing run. There's lots of great air combat footage in this one, as well as an incredibly racist and stereotypical imitation of the Japanese language: The Japanese force spreads its Imperial wings over the American states to repay our treacherous enemy for his attack! Story of a Transport gives us a thorough history of the luxury liner The Manhattan which, in 1941, is given a facelift and turned into the troop transport ship Wakefield. Troops on board play jazz, box, do calisthenics, and eat 2,500 loaves of bread a day while waiting to become cannon fodder over in Europe. One ironic clip has the ship transporting American athletes to the 1936 Berlin Olympic games, with the Nazi flags and banners clearly visible on the docks. The Memphis Belle is a breathtaking 16mm color featurette directed by Hollywood vet WILLIAM WYLER (The Best Years of Our Lives) on the famous B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. After a brief travelogue of the English countryside, we see the crew of the Belle preparing for their 25th (and, if they return, final) bombing run over Germany. The genuine build-up of tension, as the B-17s fly across the channel towards the submarine docks and factories of Wilhemshaven (The power behind the German lust for conquest!) is quite incredible, and the vapor trails created by the bombers create an almost ethereal effect. Of course, anyone familiar with the history of the Belle will know that she did indeed return from this mission, and we see the crew receiving the Flying Cross, getting a visit from the King and Queen of England, and preparing to return home to America, where they will train new crews. Some of the combat footage would later turn up in black & white in the 1949 Gregory Peck classic Twelve O'Clock High. Pincers on Japan shows the Canadians fortifying their west coast against a potential Japanese attack. (Apparently, captured footage of the Japanese undergoing combat training in the snow seems to have convinced them that an invasion was imminent). Action in the Palaus is a brief but powerful little document of the 1944 invasion of this Japanese-held island. Strangely, no music or sound effects are utilized at all the film is completely silent save for the quiet narration, which gives it a surreal tone which seems to increase its poignancy. Rounding things out are a number of early post-war shorts imploring us to buy victory bonds, and a plea from BOB HOPE to keep sending in donations so the USO can continue to entertain our boys overseas. We see glimpses of MARLENE DIETRICH, JACK BENNY, INGRID BERGMAN, and DANNY KAYE entertaining the troops while, on the down side, G.I.s laid up in sick bay have to suffer being serenaded by a couple of cowgirls with accordions... John Harrison, Battle Stations!
Code: SW7417 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $15.00

WWII V for Victory Show V04
To the Shores of Iwo Jima, Perishable Rush, Fury in the Pacific, We Said We'd Come Back, Freedom Comes High, The Saga of The Franklin
The hot lead flies fast and furious in this fourth VOLUME of vintage World War II shorts to be declassified by Something Weird. Apart from a couple of sing-along pleas to buy (and hold onto) Victory Bonds, this collection is a virtual smorgasbord of hard hitting, authentic combat action... To the Shores of Iwo Jima is a galvanizing Technicolor featurette in which you can almost feel the searing heat and chaos of battle. The grim, grainy, and washed-out photography helps increase the quease factor, and grisly shots of dead marines half buried in Iwo Jima's molten black sand are bound to haunt your dreams the night after viewing. Watch for the spectacular shot of a U.S. ammo dump going up in flames in the middle of the night after being hit by a Japanese shell. Perishable Rush utilizes bad, uncredited actors to depict the superb care and love which wounded G.I.'s were treated to. It's a far cry from the poor old Japanese soldiers who were sent home to grieving enemy mothers as piles of ashes stuffed into a small wooden box. Fury in the Pacific records the amphibious assault on the tiny island of Peleliu. Highlighting the powerful black & white footage is the massive pre-landing naval bombardment, where twelve million pounds of punishment is unloaded on the hapless enemy. We Said We'd Come Back is a glory-filled look at all the U.S. Navy's war vessels, followed up by a brief document of the marine landings on Guam. Freedom Comes High presents a dramatized account of a young mother who works double shifts at the local war plant, before rushing home each night to read the latest letter from her loving husband, Steve, a Navy officer on duty in the Pacific. No matter what happens, I shall always be with you, Steve proclaims in voice-over to his darling wife... moments before the Dreaded Telegram arrives at the front door. JAMES COOK, BARBARA BRITTON, and CECIL KELLAWAY (best known as the old scientist in the 1953 sci-fi classic The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms) star in this short which was helmed by LEWIS ALLEN (director of the landmark 1944 ghost story The Uninvited). In The Saga of The Franklin, we witness (in color!) the life of the famous aircraft carrier USS Franklin, as it patrols all areas of the Pacific theater. This girl has been around, the narrator informs us. Unfortunately, the carrier was virtually decimated towards the end of the war after receiving two direct hits from a Japanese bomber. The near destruction of the vessel is brilliantly captured by the incredibly brave (or incredibly stupid) cameraman, and footage of the destroyed Franklin limping its way past the Statue of Liberty is pretty moving and somber. Some great Kamikaze attack footage is also captured on film. Seldom has the phrase War is Hell been more amply demonstrated than on this thoroughly battle-hardened collection. John Harrison, Battle Stations!
Code: SW7418 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $15.00

WWII V for Victory Show V05
The Marines' Hymn, The Story of a Penny, USA Navy vs. Japan, The Stilwell Road, The Army Nurse,
A rousing, sing-along rendition of The Marines' Hymn (From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli...) kicks off this fifth compilation of war propaganda shorts, most of which were produced in the days when World War II was winding down and American soldiers were preparing to return to civilian life... In The Story of a Penny, a wounded soldier on his way home, stares out at the starlit ocean and ponders his life. I'm not the same guy that left home four years ago. I was the all-American jerk, he tells us while studying a penny that's clutched in his hand. Cue flashback, and we see him as a layabout drafted into a war he's not interested in. While undergoing basic training, he tries hard to understand the meaning and significance of a penny which he found in the middle of the road. His new army buddy tells him, When you understand what's on that penny, you'll know America. When you know America, you'll know what you're fighting for. Thanks to images of the Lincoln Memorial and the Statue of Liberty, this schmo finally discovers the joys of patriotism and democracy, and after losing a leg on the beaches at Anzio, he returns to his beloved U.S. of A determined to make damn sure we don't lose the things I fighted for. The Nazis have been defeated, but in USA Navy vs. Japan, it's ever onward to the heart of the evil East. The only way to Total Victory is through Tokyo, our narrator tells us (of course, the advent of the atomic bomb would soon provide an alternative route). Combat footage combined with maps show the U.S. Advancement through the Pacific 3,000 miles in three years, but the closer we get, the more fanatically the Japs fight back. Scores of dead Japanese littering the battlefield precede a plea from Admiral Nimitz, warning us (while badly reading from cue cards) that this is no time to rest on our laurels! The Stilwell Road is the highlight of this collection, a well-edited and affecting look back at the Burma campaign, in particular the supply road through the country which provided a link between China and India. While endless exposure to combat footage can make you somewhat immune to its effect, shots of sad, terrified children wandering through battle-torn villages hammer home the fact that war is an absolute and unnecessary tragedy. The Stilwell Road is one of the most honest and unjudgemental armed forces film, a rare bird indeed. Fortunately, we can cheer ourselves up with The Army Nurse, a 1945 tribute to those wonderful women in uniform who helped our injured fighting boys to recuperate. According to our narrator, the army nurse is always, a nurse first, a woman second, and an officer third. We see the women undergoing basic training, participating in a friendly Nurses vs. WACS baseball game, and enjoying a dip in the lake, before back to business at the field hospital where their genuine care for the wounded never fails to shine through. Watch for the inventive, surreal photography utilized at the beginning of the film. Report immediately to Something Weird HQ and add this collection to your bulging shelf of warped military nostalgia. John Harrison, Battle Stations!
Code: SW7419 Genre: MQH Genre2: WQR Retail: $15.00