Evening star., 1943-12-12
BY Carter Brooke Jones.

death-the German and the American
Slowly the American was pressed to-
ward the ground. The Nazi was about
to stab him through the heart when his
buddy rushed in from the woods and
grabbed the German around the neck
flinging him of. Then enemy and
rescuer fought it out.
The Yank, with q well-placed left
hook, Knocked the German down. But
that was not enough. The Nazi was
not yet out Of action. So the American
doughboy lunged forward and finished
off his foe with thrust OF sharp steel
For this is war Of determination. It's
kill or be killed. And in handto-hand
combat the soldier must forget all he
learned about the Marquis of Queens
berry and Hoyle.
The scene described actually took
place in North Africa, and this observer
saw it at private showing of Army
training films in a projection room at
the Pentagon Building.
It was part of sequence-"Kil or Be
Killed"
Dubbed into the film were flashes
from American sports-the prize ring,
football and baseball games, track meets.
Kill or Be Killed.
You must forget all that when you go
into action, the narrator exclaimed.
War, he said, is not sport, but a deadly
business. Kill or be killed! This is a
ruthless war, and there are no rules.
Anything goes.
There was another sequence called
"How to Get Killed" The locale shifted
to the Pacific.
There were overtones of Hollywood in
the opening part, but it was effective
clubbing Two captured Japs were told
they were not so smart. THE Ameri-
can," said one, sis not smart soldier"
What" The American sergeant looked
ready to slap him down, but the Jap
went on: You do not know how to take
cover. We wiped out whole platoon
today"
And the camera showed the platoon
In a trench, not quite under cover. A
machine gun opened up on the men,
and they fell as if they were tenpins.
How Not to Get Killed. was designed
to show the f1edgling soldier how to pro-
tect himself, to crawl forward warily,
taking every advantage of the terrain.
There were scenes from North Africa
showing sappers searching out hidden
mines and removing them with scientific
care. The mechanisms of these ingen-
ious devices of death and destruction
were illustrated and explained by the
commentator. There are the "antiper-
sonnet mines, designed only to kill, and
the mines built to destroy tanks and
trucks. And, of course, the BOBBY traps
planted in every conceivable place ex-
cept where you'd expect to find them.
Battlefield Films.
Training officers have found films
taken on the battlef1elds extremely use
full in orienting the recruit and teach
ing him what he'll be up against-in
implanting the psychology Of war which
is SO distant from the attitudes and I'M
pulses he has been taught all his life
to follow.
Yet these action pictures are only
small part of the training-film program.
Sometimes posed pictures are more ef-
fective And then there Is so much to
fighting this war besides the culmina-
ton of the whole effort-combat. The
mechanics of weapons and machines
must be explained. So must work be-
hind the lines and at home without
which the fighting men couldn't fire q
shot
Thus, on our program displaying a
typical cross-section of training films,
we saw the Alaska highway under con-
struction, how cooks should carve meats,
treatise on that germ-laden enemy,
the louise, and stevedores at work.
The early training films (circa 1940)
were pretty dull. This reporter recalls
some Of them. Soldiers marched in to
see them sometimes had trouble keep
ing awake. But not so now. The cur
rent films are put together with the care
and technical proficiency of Hollywood
and trainees are reported eager to see
them.
Not for Entertainment.
1t should be explained that the pur-
pose of training films is not to enter
tain. In camp, entertainment is one
thing and training quite another. Yet
training officers realize that if a subject
can be made both instructive and in
teresting. the results will be happier.
So the Army Pictorial Service of the
Signal Corps-with able scenario writer's,
technical advisers, directors and CAM
eramen, many with Hollywood expert
ence, at its disposal-is contriving to
turn out entertaining, sometimes fas-
cinating. versions Of the most prosaic
subjects.
The short on carving meats, made to
instruct students in the cooks and
bakers schools, was typical. The way
to get the most out of various luscious
cuts-encugh to make civilian weep
was explained clearly Likewise, which
knives to use and how to preserve them
and sharpen them. But there was q
helper who did everything wrong, and
he furnished what the old-time DRAM
atists used to call comedy relief, adding
humor to the little picture along with
instruction.
Stevedores were shown to be upstand-
ing soldiers doing a vital job-soldiers
first, who learned to drill and shoot q
variety of weapons before they were
assigned to this speciality. You realized,
hat