Produced in 1945, “Glamour Gal” is a documentary film about the eponymous large artillery gun and the ten Marines who work her, “a team of eleven”. The film follows Glamour Gal and her escorts from the time she ships off through her service on Iwo Jima. Life for the artillerymen aboard ship is depicted as monotonous, as they are, for the moment, “simply passengers” with little to do except read old magazines and brag about their girlfriends. However the monotony is broken once the captain announces that they are approaching their destination, Iwo Jima, described as “some rock in between the devil and the Dutch East Indies”.

The rest of the film is devoted to authentic color footage of the battle of Iwo Jima. No punches are pulled in its presentation of the event; the narrator notes that Mt Suribachi saw more flames going into it than it ever gave out as an active volcano, “where no Jap could go on living.” But after 28 days everyone starts talking about where they will be sent to next: “Korea, Formosa, French Indochina”. But Glamour Gal’s next assignment will be in Japan “to keep the peace in greater east Asia”. The film ends on a somber note, informing the audience of the servicemen who will never leave Iwo Jima.

This was the second film that the U.S. military produced about Iwo Jima, the first being To the Shores of Iwo Jima, which featured the famous flag-raising sequence.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com