JAPANESE ASSAULT ON SHANGHAI WORLD WAR II CHIANG KAI SHEK 83194a (1937)

Synopsis

Produced in 1937 and released in both silent and sound versions for the home market by Castle Films, WAR IN CHINA shows the 1937 Japanese assault on Shanghai. At the time the newsreel was produced the United States was strictly neutral and thus the newsreel tended to look more closely at the civilian victims of the conflict and the horror of war than did later Castle releases. The newsreel highlights some of the many Japanese atrocities including the bombing of the Cathay Hotel ( 8:00 ) and the indiscriminate bombing of the city by Japanese aircraft ( 6:00 ). At 3:55 the work of British, American and other troops to rescue Westerners from the International Settlement ( 4:00 ). During the Japanese onslaught, the terrifying might of the Japanese Army was revealed. Japan was far more superior in air power and number of combat troops and General Chiang Kai-shek's forces were helpless to stop the Japanese forces from bombing, shelling and then finally occupying the city. The enormous civilian loss of life is obvious in these images, including wreckage in front of the famed Cathay Hotel from an explosion on August 14, 1937. The film includes footage of the foreign fleets, including both U.S. Navy and Royal Navy warships, that were anchored off of Shanghai, and shows Westerners and members of the "Shanghai Colony" (including a German representative whose hat bears a swastika) helping civilians escape the chaos. The Battle of Shanghai was the first of the twenty-two major…

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Details

Running time

9 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage