He had been a director of some of the most successful like comedies and escapist movies in hollywood throughout the 1930s. He came up doing laurel and hardy silent shorts and when sound came in, he did everything from swing time, a fred astaireginger rogers musical and woman of the year, Katharine Hepburn and spencer tracy. Each of these directors had Different Reasons for going in. For stevens, who, like all of the directors, was old enough that he couldve gotten a civilian exemption from the war, he really wanted what he called a seat on the 50 yard line of history. He felt it was a patriotic duty to go. He had been chafing in hollywood because he felt pigeonholed into making these very light movies when he had wanted to make some films with more contemporary or war related content, and when he was not able to do it at rko or columbia, he jumped at the chance to do it in the army and for the army. Interestingly, of the five directors, stevens is the only one who never made a freestanding documentary during the war that was shown to civilian audiences, but his work in the war, which ranged from restaging battle scenes in north africa to becoming the first major american filmmaker to enter the camps after they were liberated, and his films theyre actually provided evidence for the nuremberg trials, his work in the war was maybe the most wide ranging and in some ways historically significant in terms of the camp footage of any directors during the war. He was a member of the u. S. Army signal corps under the leadership of general eisenhower, who was responsible for the historic invasion on dday 70 years ago this year. Where was George Stevens during that time in june of 1944 . Stevens was right there at dday, overseeing the shooting done by the army. Of all of the major battles and just as john ford was supervising the filming of the navy, stevens was over seeing the shooting of the army. Of all of the major battles and turning points in the war, dday was the one that allies filmmakers had the longest and best opportunity to prepare for. This was a filming effort that involved hundreds of cameras, both stationary and manned, and dozens of cameramen. As the work progressed, often his function was to coordinate an effort with the allies, british or canadian, and that was one of the things he did at dday. Ford asked if stevens would not mind working with the british to help shore up their filmmaking effort, and i believe the ships that stevens arrived on the ship that stevens arrived on was a british ship. He had american success and dday but also the concentration camps. Can you talk about that as far as what he saw in dock out dachau. Stevens stayed through dday instead with the push through france and the liberation of harris which is the most historically important footage of the war. His work in the camps in dachau was devastating. They got their days after liberation. Whats remarkable is that even without official instructions, stevens and stank simply understood that his job had, at that instant the, changed. He was no longer a documentarian and certainly no longer a propagandist. He was a collector of visual evidence. His job at was literally to document and film the demonstration the devastation that have been wrought on these people and film bodies and the things that still, when we contemplate the horrors of what was done in the death camps, its the images that stevens shot that give us our visual understanding, the language we use to comprehend those atrocities. Absolutely him, and devastating experience. He spoke about it afterwards and stevens was a great director after the war. He went on to make movies like a place in the sun ,his and shane but he felt dachau robbed of much of his ability to be funny. What can you tell us about this britishamerican coproduction . Glory was typical of a friendly tension that arose between the United Kingdom and the u. S. Englund of course was in the war two years before the was was. They were sort of perpetually two years ahead of the u. S. In the vigor and intelligence and passion of their wartime filmmaking efforts. There were some uneasy collaborations between us and coproductions in which the really good footage from england was used to prop up the interior footage from the was but the true glory not one of those cases. It was an instance in which england had a very good director, carol reid who went on man, and thehird u. S. Had a very good screenwriter named patty chayefsky who worked on the true glory, that went on to write a number of great teleplays and movies including network. Stevensjob was to step in briefly and make sure everything was going smoothly between the brits and the americans and thats what he did on the true glory. This is a 30 minute portion from that film, mark harris, thank you for the explanation. The film is called a vote the true glory. We will begin by an introduction from general eisenhower. I have been asked to be the spokesman for this allied Expeditionary Force in saying a word of introduction to what you are about to see. Defeat story of the nazi on the western front. So far as possible, the editors have made it an account of the really important men in this campaign. , mean the enlisted soldiers sailors, and airmen that fought through every obstacle to victory. Of course, to tell the whole story would take years but the theme would be the same teamwork wins wars. Teamwork among nations, citizens, and man. All the way down the line, from the g. I. And the tommy, to us. Our enemy in this campaign was strong, resourceful and tough. But he made a few mistakes. ,his agreatest blunder was this. He thought he could break up our partnership, but we are bonded together by fighting for one great cause in one great team, a team in which you were an indispensable and working member. That spirit of free people working, fighting, and living together in one great cause has served us well on the western front. We will pray that that spirit of comradeship will persist forever among the free people of the united nations. To you who know live in love and hope who sense the future in the surrounding air, this is where you can look at the violent fragments of our age and the once tip in this of the threats that made us citizens of freedom. For dark was europe and the face of man is where this begins. The nation had gone mad and struck out everywhere. Appetite of our honor fell away and left its records and 100 coast. German fires started across the globe. Last, the conquest were behind the barriers of his arms. Along the channel where the sea strikes france, was the west wall of concrete and steel to mock the frail hopes of the british rave. Reef. Plannedike madmen, we weeks and smashed the germans wall. We search the coast of europe. Between low flushing and share board, her eyes sought out the weakest point. The sand and the wind canceled the belgian coast. The beaches were too small in the north and clips bar the approaches. Calais was heavily defended. It fell on normandy. The planes could land upon the ground and men were safe. On five miles of still on bloody sand, the course of the war would be conducted by nations. Our people bent to the construction of a steel arrack and took the builders hammer in their hands. Almost as if the sun stood still. Our people heaved through the air the plunder and spirit of war. Story inur peoples their words. I suppose the battle of the north atlantic had not gone right, things might have been considerably different. It was an ugly time for all of us, merchant ships, naval escorts, air patrols. I guess i had my share of bad luck. I lost three ships. And some good friends. I remember reading somewhere that when a seagull comes down on a patch of oil, its feather stick together and it cannot get up the water again. It must have been a lot of dead seagulls around the northern atlantic. The world war ii we saw it happening on the war map. It was quite real. Why so the markers were used, they look like toys in a game. Boats andbecame u ships carrying cargoes and food and supplies and weapons and men to use them. I remember coming over and the worst thing about the trip was you did not know where youre going. Wherever it was, you would be a stranger in nobody likes that. The ship was loaded from stem to stern with sad sacks. Around the third day out, things got sad. Someone said we were all in the same boat. It was comic. We got to liverpool. They had a band to play as him, and in which army band. I am dreaming of a White Christmas am a they played. It was pretty corny. Nobody said anything because it was a nice gesture. Over,thing on the way you felt like it was the whole works. You could not help but. Been all over the u. K. , you would see things that made you begin to realize you were just part of a big proposition, all kinds of things. I was a premed student at Johns Hopkins and civilian life and i know something about anatomy. I say it is scientifically impossible for the human body to stand up and to the training we received. Muscles and tendons and bones structure was not designed to withstand that battering. Dont ask me how it happens that we did stand up to it. I dont know. It has no scientific explanation. The world war ii dday listen to this invasion of to a young man, a young man, soldier in the army of today, i exceptional advantages like physical training, foreign travel, sport, and many other facilities which are normally denied to those engaged in the majority of civilian occupations. The majority of occupations and civil life become anonymous to say the least. In the army, life is so varied that there is little or no prospect of a monotonous work sometime. Time. Irksome they learned the lethal arts of war, the planners met in secret rooms to watch their work mature. Beyond their review, the germans proud and constant took positions on the armored coast in the war was not one of men but blood. The weapons and the factors and maps and voices speaking in the hidden dark. All our plans advanced and those few men on whom the massive or rested with all his weight worked ceaselessly. I used to wonder whether the millions of people doing their various jobs realized they were part of all, paving the way for the invasion. We kept bashing away at german targets mostly steel and oil in hamburg and berlin. , things were getting tougher more ground defenses, more night missions, less screws coming back. Less crews coming back. We got away early in the morning. Sometimes we would see lancaster is coming back and a lot of times, we took up the same target they did. We blow up aircraft factories to. It was day and night, 24 hours per day. We dropped agents over france. It must be awful to risk your neck and keep it secret. Oneman submarines torpedo boat commanders and we use them all to bring backups. And from the beaches. It had to be quick drying with a solid Clay Foundation to support dirty ton tanks. I mustve photographed every field in france. Like armsped stuff and ammunition and sabotage materials and went over ourselves and taught them how to use it. We did not have the least idea of what kind of gadget was pretty. It was vital to know all about the equipment. We trained the men to coordinate that equipment. Special study of the weather along the normandy coast,. Theiles of wire netting for beaches, 200,000 tons of petrol per day. And underwater life line to carry us through. Triple inoculations and new ships pouring out, old ships. Listening to the german radio for fresh intelligence. That was just part of the preinvasion work. By december, 1943, everything was set and went to file discussions. The Russian Forces were advancing from the east and the invasion was from the west. And then the date was set. I assumed command with the best allaround team for which a man could ask. Some had already been working for months in england. Others i brought with me from the mediterranean. Planopted first a master and then had to coordinate every last detail of the ground, sea, and air pilots. While this was going on, we led off with an air show designed to make the landing points as soft as possible, to better the German Communications and to make certain we would have control of the air. It was quite a show. Those airmen did a magnificent job. We have polish, french, check, all sorts in our effort. The bombardier seem to do nothing but look down on targets. Wit just ask each other if you cut any good ridges. There was only one bridge Paris Embassy after a while. Spring through the towns of england, two precious years of plans are put away and all the maps were rolled up on the wall. What had been paper had come alive. Channel, the cold contempt alerted germans and we and reinforcements rumbled out. Their generals were prepared. They looked across the heaving sea. They would reap harvest of us on the beaches and even death that still withstand a mage. Across the groaning of the sea came the thin thunder of a massive power drawn from the great free peoples of the earth, it gathered in the ancient thoughts of england on the steel and covered ships. Encumbered ships. It was a funny sort of thing marching down to the ships. We had done it plenty of times before. They did not tell us this was a big show. It might have been another exercise. Some of the chapped cracked gags. It wasnt very comic but we laughed. We all just. The general feeling was if this is it, lets get it over with. I never could stand waiting for a bus. After beck, our ship found its place in the middle of all the rest and there we stayed for days. They gave us the final briefing then. We knew what to do and how they told us where and when at the briefing. I listened to every word. I wrote it down in my head like a record and kept playing it over and over again. Hit the beach in the morning. Ever since i became a soldier, i was ready for this. Before there have been times and other things protecting me and now that time had worn away and there were only a few hours left. In the morning, i would have to face it. I tried to imagine how much chance i would have to keep me from doing my job. Suppose everybody else was thinking the same thing. Official said anything but all of a sudden, the ship got much busier. Over the amplifier, the chaplain said he would be saying massive 1830 hrs. I dont think i ever believed even after the final briefing that the invasion was going to come off. A voice in the loudspeaker said men who wish who wish to take their antiseasick pill should take them now. That did it. Glider but i had never been in the air with a whole army before. Three airborne divisions, british, the 82nd in the 101st american. The glider pilot castoff. I wished him good luck over the radio. It seemed an in adequate thing to say. Commander, let me break in and say just a word about the navy. ,rom the moment of embarkation the full burden fell upon the navy and air merchant fleets. They had to sweep the minds, bombard the coastal battery, marshall and protect the transports along the coastline. Finally, man the small boats that carried the soldiers to the beach. On that day, there were more than 8000 ships and Landing Craft on the shores of normandy. It was a most intricate task and a vital one for the success of our plans. The courage, fidelity, and skill of the royal and american navies have no writer page in our histories than that of june 6, 1944. Back in london, only a few people knew. Around daybreak, we correspond the were told to be at the ministry of information at 8 00 and then they told us. They called our beach omaha. Dont ask me why. Ive never been to omaha. If its anything like omaha, i understand omaha was the roughest spot. We lost some good men and took a few prisoners. It was a lousy trade. We were told what to expect so was not a surprise or anything. Just, well, what really happened was different. For a while there, we were pinned down but lucky thing, the other beaches were going better so we got more of our share of the old taymor. The navy and the air came in and finally, we get moving. You hear a lot about how long it takes to make battle hardened soldiers out of green troops. Listen, i got to be a veteran and one day, that day. They pave the beaches with our blood and reached the roads. The germans retreated. The three airborne divisions fought against most grievous odds. German reinforcements came. From berlin, a voice cried out that the allies must be hurled into the sea. Locked in battle, the armies clash. Our first objective was to merge all the beachheads into one and 50 miles of men drive together beyond the red sent through the broken wall. It wasnt too bad where i was getting ashore. We fought for every bloody thing. You had to crawl on your belly. You had to check a few hand grenades and rush them. Of us got killed but we killed more of them. There were regular little jerry fortresses. While the Company Commander called for artillery support. The navy was still with us, too, chucking shells ahead of us. In three days, we went seven miles and were told to stand fast and again. The next morning, we had the on the bbc. We joined up and there was a solid line 45 miles long. We were in. A portion of the film a true glory. Mark harris is with us. As you look back at that film, what were your impressions . The men in the British Army Film unit were really peerless at putting together these documentaries. Not only did homefront audience in england find them stirring, but they played well in america, too. England had a start on the filmmaking efforts in the war and their documentaries, or including early ones, really sparked a sense of competition in u. S. Filmmakers. A lot of open discussion in the War Department and with people like frank capra, saying why arent our movies this good . The true glory in the hands of a really great director, it is a good example of how the english really knew what they were doing. In setting up our conversation about this film, we touched briefly on the concentration camps. And what George Stephen salter of germany and he later put a film together on the nazi concentration camps. What did he learn about that . He lingered in germany and he was still in uniform and on duty. He did not help go home quickly after the war was done. He was still in uniform and on duty. His task was to prepare two evidentiary films that were to be shown at the nuremberg trials. One of them was called the nazi plan, which was intended to demonstrate that this was a well calculated systematic effort in a way to prove intent and conspiracy. The other film was to document the atrocities that stevens and his men had seen when they went through the gates and filmed there. At dachau. By George P Stevens of the United States, i hereby certify that i was on active duty with the United States army signal corps. Both movies were shown at the trials themselves and since the defendants were present, they were forced to watch these movies. It was a fascinating experience. At first, they did not understand that the crowd, the room was horrified. They were so infatuated with the footage of hitler, one of them said, after this, it even the americans will want to join up. The films have the opposite of the impact the german defendants had hoped. They so repelled and horrified the room that afterwards, some of the defendants lawyers said they found it impossible to be in the same room with the people they were representing. By the time the second of the two films was shown, the defendants really understood that it was over for them. The films have provided evidence that was more damning and more painful than any spoken testimony could be. George stevens left the army in 1946. What was his postworld war ii career like . His postworld war ii career was great. It did not include any comedies because he really felt incapable of making funny films after what he had seen. He became a very serious director who was hugely respected throughout the 1950s for movies like giant, a place in the sun, the diary of anne frank. He made a western, it was called shane. He felt the closest thing he had made to a world war ii movie after the war was not a war movie. He made a western, it was called shane. It was inspired when stevens was in postwar germany, he was horrified to see little children running around in cowboy outfits shooting cap pistols. He wanted to make a movie that made audiences aware of what a bullet really did. What the impact of shooting someone really was. He said in the movie, i believe he used the words, for our purposes in this movie, a single shot is a holocaust. Even today, shane stands as one of the most sober and painful westerns from that era. George stevens, one of the five directors featured in the new book out by mark harris. Joining us from new york city on American History tv. Thank you for being with us. Thank you. This year, cspan is touring cities across the country exploring American History. Next, look at our recent visit to Salt Lake City utah. You are watching American History tv all weekend, every weekend on cspan3. Brigham young was the second president of the church of latterday saints and Brigham Young was considered a prophet of god. He was living not far from where joseph smith was living at the time. When the first missionaries went out carrying the book of mormon and preaching this new religion, one of the first places they went to was mendon. Brigham was introduce through relatives. He did not immediately take. It took him two years of study, meeting joseph smith before he committed and was baptized a member of church. Once he joined the church, he was a fully devoted member. When he committed to something he committed wholeheartedly. He took many small roles and responsibilities. And when joseph smith revealed the office of the 12 apostles me he was one of the men that was a missionary. In illinois, that core of apostles became more and more important in the leadership of the church. When joseph smith died, brig yum Brigham Young was the leader
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