The Negro Soldier

The Negro Soldier
Directed by	Stuart Heisler
Written by	Carlton Moss
Produced by	Frank Capra United States Department of War
Starring	Carlton Moss Norman Ford Bertha Woolford George Washington Carver Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Jesse Owens
Cinematography	CPO Alan Thompson Capt. Horace Woodward Lt. Paul C. Vogel
Music by	Albert Glasser Calvin Jackson Howard Jackson Earl Robinson Dimitri Tiomkin
Distributed by	War Activities Committee of the Motion Pictures Industry
Release date	1944
Running time	43 min.
Country	United States
Language	English

The United States Army's First Motion Picture Unit created the documentary The Negro Soldier in 1944 during World War II. The army used this film as a means of propaganda to convince African Americans to enlist in the army and fight in the war. Most people regarded the film very highly, while some went as far to say that The Negro Soldier was "one of the finest things that ever happened to America". Due to both high reviews and great cinematography, The Negro Soldier proved to be a breakout film that influenced army members and civilians of all races.

History

During World War II, Nazi Germany threatened to overtake Europe, North Africa and the Near East. The United States Army was looking for men to enlist. Although the U.S. army was officially committed to practicing segregation, they looked to African Americans to add manpower to the group. Social scientists of the time argued that films and television were the best method of instilling a message within people and pushing them to act towards a common goal. Even Nicolas Katzenbach, the Attorney General under Lyndon B. Johnson, called television “the central means of making a private moral conviction public, of impelling people all over to see and confront ideas they otherwise would turn away from”.

The army selected Frank Capra to head the effort to create morale films that were designed to build enthusiasm for war purposes. Capra was an immigrant from Sicily who began his career in Hollywood working on humorous short films. However, Capra soon created many well-known films that made it big in the box office. In March 1942, Capra began brainstorming The Negro Soldier. He asked different researchers to inform him about what was okay and not okay when it came to creating a cinematic depiction of African Americans. These researchers came up with a list of cautions, some of which included “avoid stereotypes such as the Negroes’ alleged affinity for watermelon or pork; also avoid strong images of racial identity (‘play down colored soldiers more Negroid in appearance’ and omit ‘Lincoln, emancipation, or any race leaders or friends of the Negro’)”. With these cautions in mind, a man named Mac Connelly created the first script for The Negro Soldier, with the same sympathetic treatment for Negro themes that he used in his early work, Green Pastures. Connelly’s first script ended up being too dramatic for the Army’s tastes. In response, Ben Hecht and Jo Swerling prepared a second draft of the movie, however it was also rejected because the Army insisted the movie be more of a documentary. Ultimately, Carlton Moss was hired to write the movie and Stuart Heisler became director. Moss attended Columbia University and worked for the Federal Theater Project. Both Moss and Heisler worked very well together.

The film began shooting in 1943. The movie crew traveled the United States, visiting over 19 different army posts. The final movie totaled 43 minutes long and received official support in 1944. At first, The Negro Soldier was intended for only African American troops, however the creators of the film decided that they wanted to distribute the film to a wider military and civil audience. Nobody was certain what the impact of the film would have on viewers, and many people feared that African Americans would have a negative response to the film. However, when the African American troops saw the film, they threatened get mad unless all African American troops saw the film. Furthermore, after both African Americans and whites were surveyed about their response to the film, the filmmakers were shocked when over 80% of the white population thought the film should be shown to both black and white troops, as well as white civilians.

Eventually, replacement centers all over the United States required their troops to watch The Negro Soldier. Almost all black Army members and Air Corps members saw the film, and many white soldiers watched the film during orientation programs. Although the film had been made solely for a military audience, Capra and the rest of the film crew wanted to distribute the film commercially all over the United States as well. Many people gave the film great reviews and praised the film very highly, however the film did not do well commercially as a film shown in theatres. The 43-minute length of the film made it awkward to show along side typical films that were longer than one hour. All the while, a Jewish filmmaker named Jack Goldberg was suing Capra and The Negro Soldier because he believed that the film “competed unfairly” with his own film that dealt with the same race issues. Although Goldberg ended up losing this lawsuit, The Negro Soldier was never successful in theatres.

Summary

The Negro Soldier opens in a large, gothic style church. From the point of view of the congregation, we see a preacher giving a sermon referring to different men in the army. The camera pans to different members of the army seated in the audience as the preacher mentions each one. This preacher, played by Carlton Moss, then launches into a speech reflecting on the achievements of African Americans over the years. Famous boxers and track stars are mentioned to have defeated Germany in matches such as the Berlin Olympic Games. The preacher mentions that the Nazi army is currently at war with the entire world, and just like “Joe Lewis training for the fight of his life” the real championship will be determining which way of life will survive World War II. Moss claims that the stakes in this war are the greatest that men have ever fought for. To further stress the importance of fighting against the Nazis, Moss begins to read from the “gospel according to Hitler”. At this time Moss quotes from the book, it is “criminal madness to train a born class ape until one believes one has made a lawyer of him". This quote referring to African Americans is used to plant anger within all African Americans and the desire to want to fight against the Hitler and his army. The congregation looks surprised to realize what the Nazis really think about the African American race.

Moss then begins to recall all of the examples of African American heroism over the history of America. For example, Moss mentions Crispus Attucks being the first to die in the Boston Massacre. These scenes from different battles and different time periods over United States history are proof that America truly owes its national freedom to all of its peoples, including the African American population. Moss goes on to mention that a statue had been built in order to commemorate all colored soldiers with the engraving, “lasting record shall be made of their unselfish devotion to duty”. Unfortunately, Moss claims, the Nazis went on to destroy the monuments in France that were devoted to African American soldiers. Furthermore in reference to America, Moss says “men of every faith, color, and town have helped to nourish it”. Moss keeps stressing the fact that African Americans played a crucial role in building the United States and making the country what it is today.

The film then switches gears, as a woman from the congregation named Mrs. Bronson, stands up to talk about her son who has recently joined the army. She reads a letter that her son wrote her, where her son mentions how he learned how to make a bed, played sports, met a girl at a dance, and trained on the battlefield. The film shows images of Mrs. Bronson’s son going through training and all of the different events that he writes about in this letter. The head officials in the army are shown telling all of the soldiers that there are now three times as many colored men in the army than there were previously. This section of the film stresses the notion that men of all colors and backgrounds have come together to fight on the battlefield for the common purpose of defeating the Nazis. All men, colored or white, know the meaning of their job and are determined to work together in order to fight against evil. The common man who has previously been known as a farmer, carpenter, tailor, or any other common folk job is now a part of the United States Army and ready to do his share in the fight. The Negro Soldier flashes different scenes of brutal warfare that are taking place and need to be dealt with. The final scene of the movie shows the entire black congregation standing up and singing, as soldiers are marching towards the fight.

Influence

The Negro Soldier influenced later African American films and its viewers in different ways. The film played a considerable part in altering the types of roles that African Americans received in following films. For example, instead of showing images of slavery and stereotypes, this film showed African Americans as lawyers, musicians, athletes, and other valued professions. In different movies during this time period, African Americans were always portrayed as funny characters that played out the typical stereotypes of the African American race. However, after The Negro Soldier, African Americans played more respectable and prominent roles in films. Furthermore, people came to realize how important and influential of a tool films were for social change. Messages within films, if expressed the correct way, could influence audiences greatly. The message within The Negro Soldier solidified the notion and provided visual proof that racial equality was a justified concept and should be accepted. From the film we see that African Americans had a huge role in securing America’s freedom and the values that we uphold today. Therefore, our country deserves to give African Americans equal treatment. African Americans around the country were very pleased with this film and radiated with pride as they watched.

See also

• List of Allied Propaganda Films of World War 2

References

• Cripps, Thomas, and David Culbert. "The Negro Soldier (1944): Film Propaganda In Black and White." American Quarterly 31.5 (1979): 616-40. Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 9 Mar. 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2712429>.
• The Negro Soldier the film, available at http://www.ovguide.com/movies_tv/the_negro_soldier.htm

External links

• The Negro Soldier at IMDb
• The Negro Soldier is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive