America Speaks Her Mind

Series

Series Name

The March of Time 6th Year

Issue

Issue No.

11

Date Released

Mar 1941

Length of issue (in feet)

1694

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1Labour and Defense, U.S.A.
2. 2America Speaks Her Mind

Story

Story No. within this Issue

2 / 2

Summary

Documentary News Letter synopsis: March of Time’s latest edition is chiefly remarkable for its inclusion of a number of official German propaganda scenes which appear to make better British propaganda than German. Amongst them are pictures of serious damage done to German military objectives by British bombs and eivdence of the sorry plight of civilians in occupied France. Whether the half-starved children are intended by German editors to prove that the British blockade is directed against French children or to illustrate the condition of Paris at the time of the French capitulation, will no doubt be made clear by future German productions. Baptism of Fire employed similar shots of the population of Warsaw to emphasise the value of the food which the kind of conquerors brought with them to the fallen city. America Speaks Her Mind contains also some scenes of Hitler sight-seeing in Paris (on the Eiffel Tower with all Paris at his feet). As a sight-seer Hitler looks more like a human being than in all the more carefully staged bouquet-receiving and baby-embracing of earlier roles. The theme of America Speaks Her Mind is that the people of the United States, by exercising their democratic rights to differ amongst themselves on the question of aid to Britain, have arrived at a majority decision to support her, and this debated decision is a more powerful incentive to action than any mobilisation of public opinion possible under a dictatorship. The isolationists are given a chance to state their various cases - Senator Wheeler (who is accorded the honour of a special reply by the President himself), "The Little Squirt". and a New York left-winger named Marcantonio all appear to call on Americans to keep clear of European entanglements. But the film is edited in accordance with the majority view, and there is considerably less doubt than is usual in March of Time controversies of where the publishers’ own sympathies lie. The issue contains M.O.T.'s most exciting material since Inside Nazi Germany and Father Divine.

Keywords

Politics and government; Foreign aid; War damage; Occupied territories; War and conflict; Vox populi

Written sources

Documentary News Letter   Vol.2 No.4 April 1941, p67. Used for synopsis

Credits:

Production Co.

Time Inc.