Ode to Victory (1943)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This is a decent short from MGM that uses patriotic songs like Battle Hymn of the Republic, Taps, The Star Spangled Banner and Yankee Doodle to show the history of America. This includes stuff with George Washington, the Constitution, Abe Lincoln's work, the victory in WWI, Pearl Harbor and the events of WWII. I'm certainly not going to sit here and bash this film because it was clearly being patriotic to the men and women overseas fighting during WWII and you can't take anything away from it them. I will say that I'm sure many people watched this back in 1943 and thought that the final tune, the title track, was a sign of things to come as America would be a free land for everyone. The song talks about how free everyone would be after the war but looking at this short today you can clearly see that this wasn't the case at all. With that said, there's no question that the film's heart is in the right place but I think it's also a reminder that things were no where near a good spot after the war.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This is a decent short from MGM that uses patriotic songs like Battle Hymn of the Republic, Taps, The Star Spangled Banner and Yankee Doodle to show the history of America. This includes stuff with George Washington, the Constitution, Abe Lincoln's work, the victory in WWI, Pearl Harbor and the events of WWII. I'm certainly not going to sit here and bash this film because it was clearly being patriotic to the men and women overseas fighting during WWII and you can't take anything away from it them. I will say that I'm sure many people watched this back in 1943 and thought that the final tune, the title track, was a sign of things to come as America would be a free land for everyone. The song talks about how free everyone would be after the war but looking at this short today you can clearly see that this wasn't the case at all. With that said, there's no question that the film's heart is in the right place but I think it's also a reminder that things were no where near a good spot after the war.