Motion Picture MP2005-13
Administrative Information
This footage was donated by John H. Tolan in 1982.Senator James M. Mead, now chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, formerly known as the Truman Committee, leads committee members on a trip to Paris and to Germany. German prisoners are shown at the prison laundry. Senator James M. Tunnell of Delaware and Senator Homer Ferguson of Michigan can be seen in this footage.
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SD-quality copies of already digitized motion pictures are available for $20, and HD-quality copies of already digitized motion pictures are $50. Copies of motion pictures not already digitized will incur additional costs.
This item does not circulate but reproductions may be purchased.
To request a copy of this item, please contact truman.reference@nara.gov
Please note that this video belongs to a different video collection than the items available to be borrowed by teachers, from our Education Department.
Shot List
- Reel 1
| 00:00 | Senator James M. Mead was a successive chairman of what was originally known as the Truman Committee, established the U.S. Senate in 1941 as the Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, meant to investigate "excessive profits, fraud, corruption, waste, extravagance, mismanagement, incompetence, and inefficiency in expenditures, connected with the prosecution of the national defense program for World War II." | |
| As the film starts, footage reveals damage to a waterfront in Italy. | ||
| 01:35 | Committee personnel sit in jeeps parked along street in front of numerous “No Parking” signs before pulling away from the curb in a line. | |
| 01:43 | Wharf and waterfront footage continues. | |
| 02:21 | Aerial shots of a city. | |
| 02:33 | Scenes begin depicting signs from around Paris in both French and English. The first is a building with two signs: In English, “Our Army is judged by your appearance and conduct.” In French, “Le ville de liege salue ave joie le retour des prisonniers de deportes” (loosely translated: the city joyfully greets the return of prisoners). | |
| 02:51 | Close-up on a sign: “Curfew 24:00 Hrs. Enforced.” | |
| 02:55 | Close-up on sign: “Don’t let your outfit say ‘See you in the funny papers!’ You are a U.S. Soldier in uniform. Act accordingly.” | |
| 02:57 | Focus on a French landmark, the “Chambre des Deputes.” The camera pans down to show Sen. James M. Tunnell of Delaware and Sen. Homer Ferguson of Michigan standing in front of the building’s iron fence. Additional scenes of Tunnel and Ferguson in front of the building follow. | |
| 03:37 | Shots of a Paris bridge with people posing for photographs, followed by a focus on bicyclists. | |
| 03:52 | Footage of French returnees. Close-up on a sign for the “Centre Departmental de le Seine,” which gives instructions to “Parisiens” and “Rapatries” in French. | |
| 04:21 | Scenes begin of traveling along the Aachen Autobahn, including point-of-view shots from a moving vehicle and devastation along the roadsides. At one point, Sen. Hugh B. Mitchell of Washington stands next to a road sign. | |
| 05:09 | Close-up on the part of the road sign directing drivers towards “Cologne, Elsdorf, Morschenich, Merzenich, Gulzheim, Buir.” | |
| 05:13 | Roadside footage continues, which includes more signs. One sign shows an illustration of military police officer under the wheels of a military jeep. Text reads, “I do too like M.P.s. I just came around the corner and there you were right in the middle of the road.” This sign is followed by another look at the above-mentioned “funny papers” sign. | |
| 06:00 | There is a scene on a street. A sign over a place of business reads, “Charlemagne.” | |
| 06:11 | Scenes from a border crossing. A sign reads, “Frontier Control Post, Stop! Unauthorized persons not allowed to enter Germany.” Another sign simply reads, “CIC Border Control.” | |
| 06:32 | Shots of trolley alongside cars on a road, devastated neighborhoods and children pushing a cart. | |
| 07:10 | Footage begins of a visit to where German prisoners are held. Committee personnel leave a headquarters building and drive to what appears to be a prison laundry. German prisoners are shown washing uniforms and repairing shoes. |