Attack! The Battle for New Britain
About Attack! The Battle for New Britain
A U.S. military film follows the New Britain campaign from the arrival in New Guinea to the taking of most of the island. It opens on travel-book pictures of the South Seas, then insects, disease, and heat. Marines and soldiers, with local help, build a tent camp. General Douglas MacArthur comes to talk with the commander. Maps and training shots show alligators and buffalo landing craft. The assault starts on Christmas, after air attacks on Christmas Eve. The film stays with the calendar of the fight and ends on the wounded and the dead.
Cast & crew
More about Attack! The Battle for New Britain
Produced by the U.S. military in 1944. Jack Hively is credited as cinematographer and Dimitri Tiomkin with the music. The file title uses 'for New Britain.' Reference listings often use 'of New Britain.'
Themes
Background
The New Britain campaign sat inside the New Guinea and Solomon Islands fighting. The film is an official chronological account, not a newsreel assembled after the fact by a civilian studio.
Look
Jack Hively is the credited cameraman on footage of the camp, the air attacks, and the landing.
Music
Dimitri Tiomkin composed the score.
Notes
- The Christmas landing is the D-day of the operation in the film's telling.
- Amphibious vehicles are shown under the names alligator and buffalo.
Scenes
- MacArthur arrives at the tent camp to go over the plan.
- Air crews strafe the island on Christmas Eve ahead of the landing.
Also available
- Internet Archive (Attack-TheBattleforNewBritain)
