9 minutes of 1942 propaganda that'll make you want to salute your screen.
This Traveltalk series short visits the United States Military Academy at West Point just before America's entry into World War II. It starts with a short history lesson on the area's strategic importance in the Revolutionary War. We then get a look at some of the historic buildings on the campus. New soon-to-be-cadet arrive by train on their first day. After a look at the troops in some of the training areas on the post, the film ends with cadet marching on the parade ground.
Production
Gloriously preserved 1940s Technicolor that pops surprisingly hard.
Direction
FitzPatrick's voice could make a grocery list sound monumentally important.
Director
James A. FitzPatrick
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released mere months before Pearl Harbor, this was part of a wave of patriotic shorts designed to prime American audiences for imminent war participation without explicitly saying so.
James A. FitzPatrick narrated over 200 Traveltalks shorts and literally invented the booming, reverent travel documentary voice that every nature series still parodies today.
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