With the Marines at Tarawa is a 1944 short documentary film directed by Louis Hayward. It uses authentic footage taken at the Battle of Tarawa to tell the story of the American servicemen from the time they get the news that they are to participate in the invasion to the final taking of the island and raising of the Stars and Stripes.
Most of the film is in full color and it uses no actors, making it a valuable historical document. The documentary showed more gruesome scenes of battle than other war films to date. Marine Staff Sergeant Norman T. Hatch, armed with a .45 caliber pistol and a Bell & Howell hand-cranked Eyemo camera, captured 35mm film footage as near as 15 yards away from the enemy during combat.[1] According to the documentary The War, President Franklin D. Roosevelt himself gave approval for showing the film, against the wishes of many advisors.
Since the pictures were far too graphic to meet the standards of Hollywood producers and distributors, only the President could grant permission for its release to the general public. President Roosevelt consulted the only man who was present at the Battle of Tarawa that he personally knew and trusted, Time-Life photographer Robert Sherrod. Quoting Sherrod, "I tell the President the truth. Our soldiers on the front want people back home to know that they don't knock the hell out of them every day of every battle. They want people to understand that war is a horrible, nasty business, and to say otherwise is to do a disservice to those who died." Based on Sherrod's prompting, FDR agreed to release the film, uncensored.[2]
The film won the 1944 Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject.[3][4] The Oscar was presented to the US Marine Corps, and today a replica Oscar is displayed at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Due to the shortages of metals needed during the war effort, the Academy presented the Marine Corps with a plaster statue in the shape of a tablet. It is also housed at the same museum, but is not on display.
The entire film streamed at the National Public Radio website. Part of a story by Tom Bowman, "WWII Combat Cameraman: 'The Public Had To Know'," Mon March 22, 2010, which includes an interview w/ cinematographer Staff Sgt. Norman T. Hatch.
with, marines, tarawa, 1944, short, documentary, film, directed, louis, hayward, uses, authentic, footage, taken, battle, tarawa, tell, story, american, servicemen, from, time, they, news, that, they, participate, invasion, final, taking, island, raising, star. With the Marines at Tarawa is a 1944 short documentary film directed by Louis Hayward It uses authentic footage taken at the Battle of Tarawa to tell the story of the American servicemen from the time they get the news that they are to participate in the invasion to the final taking of the island and raising of the Stars and Stripes With the Marines at TarawaTitle screenDirected byLouis Hayward uncredited CinematographyNorman T HatchProductioncompanyUnited States Marine CorpsDistributed byUniversal PicturesRelease dateMarch 2 1944 1944 03 02 Running time18 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish Contents 1 Synopsis 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksSynopsis editMost of the film is in full color and it uses no actors making it a valuable historical document The documentary showed more gruesome scenes of battle than other war films to date Marine Staff Sergeant Norman T Hatch armed with a 45 caliber pistol and a Bell amp Howell hand cranked Eyemo camera captured 35mm film footage as near as 15 yards away from the enemy during combat 1 According to the documentary The War President Franklin D Roosevelt himself gave approval for showing the film against the wishes of many advisors Since the pictures were far too graphic to meet the standards of Hollywood producers and distributors only the President could grant permission for its release to the general public President Roosevelt consulted the only man who was present at the Battle of Tarawa that he personally knew and trusted Time Life photographer Robert Sherrod Quoting Sherrod I tell the President the truth Our soldiers on the front want people back home to know that they don t knock the hell out of them every day of every battle They want people to understand that war is a horrible nasty business and to say otherwise is to do a disservice to those who died Based on Sherrod s prompting FDR agreed to release the film uncensored 2 The film won the 1944 Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject 3 4 The Oscar was presented to the US Marine Corps and today a replica Oscar is displayed at the National Museum of the Marine Corps Due to the shortages of metals needed during the war effort the Academy presented the Marine Corps with a plaster statue in the shape of a tablet It is also housed at the same museum but is not on display The Academy Film Archive preserved With the Marines at Tarawa in 2005 5 source source source source track The film nbsp Tarawa beach where the graphic footage of American corpses was filmed See also editList of American films of 1944References edit Sam Roberts newspaper journalist 2 May 2017 Norman T Hatch Who Filmed Grisly World War II Combat Dies at 96 The New York Times p B14 Retrieved 3 May 2017 History com World War II in HD Episode 3 Bloody Resolve History com Archived from the original on 2009 10 28 Retrieved 2009 11 19 NY Times With the Marines at Tarawa Movies amp TV Dept The New York Times Archived from the original on 2012 10 15 Retrieved 2008 11 23 The 17th Academy Awards 1945 Nominees and Winners oscars org Retrieved May 29 2019 Preserved Projects Academy Film Archive External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to With the Marines at Tarawa With the Marines at Tarawa at IMDb nbsp Norman Hatch interview http www theworldatwar info normanhatch html The short film With the Marines at Tarawa is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive High definition version of the film on YouTube posted by the National Archives and Records Administration The entire film streamed at the National Public Radio website Part of a story by Tom Bowman WWII Combat Cameraman The Public Had To Know Mon March 22 2010 which includes an interview w cinematographer Staff Sgt Norman T Hatch movie poster With the Marines at Tarawa at the National Archives and Records Administration Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title With the Marines at Tarawa amp oldid 1181861124, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
