First Motion Picture Unit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

18th Air Force Base Unit alias:First Motion Picture Unit
Lt. James M. Stewart & Lt. Clark Gable, 1943
Active
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army Air Forces
Garrison/HQ	Culver City, California

The First Motion Picture Unit (FMPU) was the first unit of the United States Military to be made up entirely of motion picture personnel. It was also the title of a 1943 documentary about the unit.

[edit] Organization

In 1940, the US Army public relations office in Washington, D.C., requested Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles to produce short films for educating the public about the military. Jack Warner, Gordon Hollingshead (film producer), and Owen Crump (writer) agreed and released 8 two-reel technicolor films in 1941. The FMPU was officially organized in April, 1942, when USAAF General Henry H. Arnold offered Jack Warner and Owen Crump military commissions.^[1] Warner and Crump assembled the unit of experienced film technicians and widely-known movie actors in Culver City, California. Personnel included draft-eligible men and civilian contractors working as animators, editors, writers, production assistants and office staff.^[2] Warner returned to running his company within 6 months.^[1]:110

[edit] Notable films

Winning Your Wings, starring then-Lieutenant Jimmy Stewart, was the first FMPU film and was completed in two weeks and explained air cadet training. The film was widely-released throughout the U.S.^[3] and General Hap Arnold claimed the film helped recruit 100,000 pilots.^[4] Academy Award-nominated FMPU films included : Resisting Enemy Interrogation and The Last Bomb.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

Note 1: Narrator