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16mm HOME MOVIES (1948)

1948 · Short film · 17 min

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Synopsis

This film is one of a group of silent home movies shot by an unknown American who was working for the OMEA, or Officer's Moral Endeavor Association, a sort of non-governmental, YMCA type group operating in post-WWII China. The film was shot during the Civil War but before March 1948. It contains footage of U.S. Navy Baltimore-class cruisers (possibly – USS Saint Paul, and certainly USS Los Angeles which arrived in China on January 2rd 1946, as a part of 7th Fleet) of the so-called Huangpu River Flotilla which, at its most numerous, included 33 warships. The Flotilla was stationed in China from the end of the WW2 to 1948. These ships presented American logistical and military support for the Republic of China military operations and the KMT leadership. The film then shows the arrival of the US military attaché (?) and Gen. Robert Eichelberger, Commander of the Eighth Army (which was then occupying Japan), at the port of Shanghai. It also shows the meeting of Eichelberger and Soong Meiling -- Madame Chiang Kai-shek -- at an unknown concession mansion in Shanghai (possibly the OMEA headquarters building). The film ends with footage of an airbase and footage of Americans relaxing at a resort hotel, possibly the Manila Hotel in the Philippines. 0:21-0:41 Shanghai Bund, slow pan, to reveal the warships anchored in the Huangpu river0:43 American flag on the main radio mast, Christmas star, and signaling flags, possibly 1947 0:51 Forward batteries of a Baltimore-class cruiser 1:11…

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Details

Running time
17 minutes
Collection
Ephemeral Films

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