The Battle of Midway 1942: Movie and film review from Answers.com

This article is about the documentary film . For other uses, see Midway.

The Battle of Midway
Directed by	John Ford
Produced by	John Ford
Written by	Dudley Nichols & James Kevin McGuinness
Narrated by	Donald Crisp
Starring	Henry Fonda & Jane Darwell
Music by	Alfred Newman
Cinematography	John Ford & Jack MacKenzie & Kenneth M. Pier
Editing by	John Ford & Robert Parrish
Distributed by	War Activities Committee
Release date(s)	September 14, 1942
Running time	18 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English

The Battle of Midway is a 1942 American documentary film short directed by John Ford. It is a montage of color footage of the Battle of Midway with voice overs of various narrators, including Donald Crisp, Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell.

1 Plot
2 Production notes
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

Plot

The film begins with a male narrator explaining where Midway Island is and its strategic importance. About five minutes into the film the format changes somewhat, with more leisurely pictures of the GIs at work on the island, and a female voice over. The female voice over takes the personality of a middle aged woman from Springfield, Ohio, who is a mother-type figure pointing out how she recognizes such and such boy from her home town. Then stock footage of the boys' mothers and sisters back home is introduced.

Abruptly the narrative turns to the battle itself with approximately five minutes dedicated to the defense of the island, the naval battle, and the aftermath. At the end the various known Japanese losses are shown (four aircraft carriers, battleships, aircraft etc.) and then brushed over with red paint.

Production notes

The film runs for 18 minutes, was distributed by 20th Century Fox and was one of four winners of the inaugural, 1942 Academy Award for Best Documentary.

John Ford's handheld, 16mm footage of the battle was captured totally impromptu. He had been in transit on the island, roused from his bunk in the BOQ (bachelor officers' quarters) by the sounds of the battle, and started filming.^[1] Ford was wounded by enemy fire while filming the battle.^{[citation needed]}

Awards
Preceded by --	Academy Award for Documentary Feature 1942	Succeeded by Desert Victory

References

^ Henry Fonda interview, Directed by John Ford, (1970) dir. Peter Bogdanovich.

External links

IMDB page
The Battle of Midway available for free download at the Internet Archive
Complete film at Google video

v • d • e The films of John Ford

1910s	The Tornado • The Fighting Gringo • The Trail of Hate • The Scrapper • Cheyenne's Pal • The Soul Herder • Straight Shooting • The Secret Man • A Marked Man • Bucking Broadway • The Phantom Riders • Wild Women • Thieves' Gold • The Scarlet Drop • Hell Bent • A Woman's Fool • The Craving (with Francis Ford) • Three Mounted Men • Roped • The Fighting Brothers • A Fight for Love • Rustlers • Bare Fists • Gun Law • By Indian Post • The Gun Packer • Riders of Vengeance • The Last Outlaw • The Outcasts of Poker Flat • Ace of the Saddle • Rider of the Law • A Gun Fightin' Gentleman • Marked Men

1920s	The Prince of Avenue A • The Girl in Number 29 • Hitchin' Posts • Just Pals • The Big Punch • The Freeze-Out • The Wallop • Desperate Trails • Action • Sure Fire • Jackie • Little Miss Smiles • Silver Wings (with Edwin Carewe) • The Village Blacksmith • The Face on the Bar-Room Floor • Three Jumps Ahead • Cameo Kirby • North of Hudson Bay • Hoodman Blind • Hearts of Oak • Lightnin' • Kentucky Pride • Thank You • The Fighting Heart • The Shamrock Handicap • 3 Bad Men • Upstream • Four Sons • Napoleon's Barber • Strong Boy • The Black Watch

1930s	Men Without Women • Born Reckless • Up the River • Seas Beneath • The Brat • Arrowsmith • Airmail • Pilgrimage • Doctor Bull • The Lost Patrol • The World Moves On • Judge Priest • The Whole Town's Talking • The Informer • Steamboat Round the Bend • The Prisoner of Shark Island • Mary of Scotland • The Plough and the Stars • Wee Willie Winkie • The Hurricane • Four Men and a Prayer • Submarine Patrol • Stagecoach • Young Mr. Lincoln • Drums Along the Mohawk

1940s	The Grapes of Wrath • The Long Voyage Home • Tobacco Road • How Green Was My Valley • They Were Expendable • My Darling Clementine • The Fugitive • Fort Apache • 3 Godfathers • Pinky • She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

1950s	When Willie Comes Marching Home • Wagon Master • Rio Grande • The Quiet Man • What Price Glory? • The Sun Shines Bright • Mogambo • The Long Gray Line • Mister Roberts (with Mervyn LeRoy) • The Searchers • The Wings of Eagles • The Rising of the Moon • Gideon's Day • The Last Hurrah • The Horse Soldiers

1960s	Sergeant Rutledge • Two Rode Together • The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance • How the West Was Won (with Henry Hathaway and George Marshall) • Donovan's Reef • Cheyenne Autumn • 7 Women

Television	"Fireside Theatre" (1949) • The Bamboo Cross (1955) • "Screen Directors Playhouse" (1955) • "Wagon Train" (1957-1965)

Productions	The Iron Horse (1924) • The Blue Eagle (1926) • Mother Machree (1928) • Hangman's House (1928) • Riley the Cop (1928) • Salute (1929) • Flesh (1932) • The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938) • Young Cassidy (1965)

Documentaries	Torpedo Squadron • Sex Hygiene (1942) • The Battle of Midway (1942) • December 7th (1943) • We Sail at Midnight (1943) • This Is Korea! (1951) • Korea (1959) • Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend (1976)

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The Battle of Midway