Produced by the Princeton Film Center in cooperation with the Institute of Pacific Relations, narrated by Radcliffe Hall and featuring text by Major George Fielding Eliot, “Know Your Enemy Japan!” attempts to answer such vital questions as: How large in the Japanese Empire? Is Japan self-sufficient in food? What is Japan’s naval and military strength? What are the living standards of the Japanese people? What are Japan’s vital weaknesses? How can Japan be defeated?” It includes footage of the Japanese invasion of China and the attack on Pearl Harbor. Shows the long history of Japanese expansion and military campaigns. Details how Japan is exploiting the natural resources of other Asian nations. This film represents the orientalist and racist opinions directed towards the Japanese people in World War II.
The Princeton Film Center (PFC) was formed by Gordon Knox in 1941 in Princeton, New Jersey. Growing rapidly, in 1943 the Film Center settled in a larger house in Princeton Township with room for its expanding production and distribution services. In 1948 the Film Center moved again five miles from Princeton to a state-of-the-art facility, including its own theater, a five thousand square feet sound stage, an employees’ commissary and a wing dedicated to its film library and distribution department.
The company produced many films during World War II, for entities such as the Institute of Pacific Relations, the CIAA, and Boeing Aircraft. The PFC distributed CIAA and Office of War Information films, as well as other educational and informational films.
George Fielding Eliot (22 June 1894 – 21 April 1971) was a Second Lieutenant in the Australian army in World War I. He became a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and later a Major in the Military Intelligence Reserve of the United States Army. He was the author of 15 books on military and political matters in the 1930s through the 1960s, wrote a syndicated column on military affairs and was the military analyst on radio and on television for CBS News during World War II.
A longer-length film with the same title — “Know Your Enemy: Japan” was directed by Frank Capra, who was commissioned by the U.S. War Department. Completion was delayed by disputes between the Hollywood producers and Washington. The original intention of the film was to prepare U.S. soldiers for war before deployment in the Pacific, though ultimately it never realized this purpose due to the war’s abrupt end soon after its completion.
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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 and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
