Friday, February 5, 2016

LET THERE BE LIGHT-JOHN HUSTON’S WARTIME DOCUMENTARIES: WWII THROUGH THE EYES OF JOHN HUSTON



John Huston has been hailed as one of the finest directors of all time, deservedly so. We’re at a time when many young people won’t recognize his name and some might not even be aware of his films. He made some of the most memorable movies ever like THE MALTESE FALCON, THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE, THE AFRICAN QUEEN, THE MISFITS and PRIZZI’S HONOR. But young people today seem destined to forget history and be consumed with nothing but things happening within their lifetime. That’s sad. One of the best things about film is the ability to actually view history rather than just read about it. Which brings us to this collection.

With only two feature films under his belt as a director, a young John Huston enlisted at the beginning of WWII. Recognizing the possibilities his talents posed for the war effort he was put into a special unit that helped create movies that would assist the war effort. In the four years Huston was in the unit he only made three films but they’ve become important documents as to what happened. They also showed the progression of Huston from a gung ho youngster seeking adventure to a realistic film maker who saw the results of war.

The progression becomes clear as you watch the films on display here. Starting with WINNING YOUR WINGS we’re greeted with young pilot Jimmy Stewart, who was indeed a pilot in the Army Air Corp, stepping out of his plane to talk to viewers about what to expect when the young men out there enlisted. It’s a bright big wonderful world in the military that offers comradery, food, clothing, education and more. In essence the film is a promotional piece for the military that talks about all the benefits but ignore the dangers and hardships. It is what one would expect to see as a war effort was just beginning.

But all of that changes with Huston’s second film, REPORT FROM THE ALEUTIANS. Shot in color, this film looks at the actual bases and military men in action, or inaction. The setting is the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and the battles that took place there. The scenery is desolate and the time consumed with waiting for battle takes precedence here. While the bombings and descriptions of what happens is here as well the glamor of Huston’s first subjects aren’t seen this time around. Its war and what he is seeing has changed his attitudes just as it has those involved in battle.

When we get to the third film in the set, SAN PIETRO, we get the chance to see the horrors of war through the eye of Huston. By this time he’s seen how war really is. The blood, the death and the destruction. The movie, as with all three films, is staged after all the real destruction has taken place. But to know what to shoot one had to have been there to see it happen. The movie covers a 9 month period that costs the lives of over 1,100 U.S. military personnel, showing them as heroes having won the battle. But the end result was a movie that the U.S. military didn’t show to audiences for fear it would harm morale for those here at home. The effects of watching war on the evening news during the Vietnam War would later prove that it probably would have done just that.

The last film of the set is LET THERE BE LIGHT, a film that looks at soldiers who have sustained what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as many debilitating injuries. The move takes a hard and brutal look at what they went through and the treatment they received. But we also learn that all of the raw footage Huston shot was removed and actors were used to duplicate scenes so as to not alarm the public or put on display the more traumatic reality of what they went through.

What makes this set of films important is that they offer a record of what was actually going on at the time through the eyes of film maker Huston. Even more so is the slow progression of his views on the subject matter going from overenthusiastic supporter to more cautious consideration of the effects of war having witnessed it firsthand. With war constantly waiting to happen again it offers a great document on what to consider before entering.

Olive has done as good a job of restoration as possible considering the age and condition of these films. It also offers the just a few extras including an introduction, the raw camera footage from SAN PIETRO and SHADES OF GRAY, the dramatized remake of LET THERE BE LIGHT that the military allowed to be viewed. All of this is an important contribution to history as seen through the eyes of the camera lens and should be considered must see viewing by those studying WWII. That it is available makes it a worthwhile endeavor that Olive should be praised for.
 
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