''Tunisian Victory'' is a 1944

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British d ...

- American propaganda film about the victories in the

North Africa Campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The film follows both armies from the planning of

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

and Operation Acrobat (the latter of which was canceled), to the liberation of

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

. Interspersed in the documentary format are the narrative voices of supposed American and British soldiers (voiced by

Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed radio, theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" ...

and Bernard Miles respectively), recounting their experience in the campaign. Miles and Meredith, playing the roles of soldiers, talk separately until the end of the film when they have a dialogue, agree to co-operate after the end of the war, and with the other Allied nations create a more just and peaceful post-war order. The film was intended as a follow-up to the successful British documentary film '' Desert Victory'' (1943). Frederic Krome's article "Tunisian Victory" and Anglo-American Film Propaganda in World War II from ''The Historian'' details the acrimony between the British and US film makers on the project. Most of the actual American combat footage taken during Operation Torch was destroyed when the ship carrying it was sunk, requiring many "battle scenes" to be reshot in the U.S. by director

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

. Huston restaged several battles and liberations to achieve high quality footage, even going so far as to film some air battle scenes (in the Mohave Desert) and in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. The British recognized the dubious nature of the film, though they themselves were guilty of the same recreations in wartime propaganda films. The direction of the final version involved no less than five individuals:

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-American film director, producer, and screenwriter who was the creative force behind Frank Capra filmography#Films that won Academy Award ...

, Anthony Veiller, Hugh Stewart and

Roy Boulting John Edward Boulting (21 December 1913 – 17 June 1985) and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (21 December 1913 – 5 November 2001), known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for thei ...

Reception

Critic

James Agee James Rufus Agee ( ; November 27, 1909 – May 16, 1955) was an American novelist, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, writing for ''Time'', he was one of the most influential film critics in the United States. His autob ...

writing in '' The Nation'' in 1944 compared it to ''Desert Victory'': "That it suffers by comparison is by no means entirely the fault of the Englishmen and Americans who made it. ''Desert Victory'' started with great advantages... ''Tunisian Victory'' had to tell of a campaign much more complex, in political as well as military respects; it was apparently necessary to highlight, and bow and scrape to every half-sized military wig in sight; the film suffered the liabilities of "full collaboration"; it evidently suffered too at the hands of people whose concern was purely political and propagandistic... "

References

External links

* * * * "''Tunisian Victory'' and Anglo-American Film Propaganda in World War II" http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-18516915.html 1944 films American World War II propaganda films British World War II propaganda films British documentary films American documentary films North African campaign films Films directed by Frank Capra Films directed by Roy Boulting Films scored by William Alwyn American black-and-white films Films directed by John Huston 1944 documentary films {{WWII-documentary-film-stub

Reception

See also

References

External links