US Neutrality 1914-1917 This 1964 film follows the course of American neutrality as it related to the first World War. All the major players and decisions leading to the United States' involvement in 1917 is covered in detail.
DO NOT USE Opening Credits
Americans at leisure in city and country: great street shots, of cars and pedestrians and some horse-drawn carriages (one advertising a cabaret). Young adults swim at an idyllic country watering hole. Woman with a parasol. City street with traffic.
DO NOT USE Cut to stills of a movie theater.
German newsreel (complete with intertitles) showing what great folks the huns were: LS's of German troops marching, handing out rations to poor citizens. Cut to French/British newsreel showing the attrocities caused by Hun armed forces, much destruction footage, of towns literally reduced to rubble.
DO NOT USE Fiction Film. A staged shot of an old woman weeping for the camera.
MS of President WOODROW WILSON at a desk in his office. MS's of neutrality protesters on a city street. Women carry boards and American flags.
Ships at port. The Lusitania leaving port, ending with CU of the New York Times' headline after the great ship was sunk by German subs. Crowds in the street, waiting for news of the ship and mourning.
Shots of the White House exterior. Pan thorugh interior room of White House.
DO NOT USE Stills of Wilson and his cabinet convening (includes WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN).
Political Cartoon. MS of former President THEODORE ROOSEVELT standing on a platform laden with American flags and speaking to a crowd of folks. MS of Wilson at his desk, writing. Political Cartoon.
DO NOT USE Stills of photos.
MS's of Bryan lounging at home with his grandson, then fishing in the ocean with him. More great MS's of Teddy Roosevelt speaking to crowds. CU of former Army Chief of Staff LEONARD WOOD. TR and Wood establish a citizen army in protest of Wilson's neutrality. Volunteer soldiers in training in New Jersey (marching, calistenics, tug of war, etc.). MS of women walking past a sign that reads WOMEN'S NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING CAMP. Political Cartoon.
LS's of luxurious American resorts, of well to do folks dancing and sailing and relaxing beneath palm trees. Fireworks.
Allied munition factories on fire, firefighters struggling to put them out, includes the incident at Black Tom Island in 1916. Amazing, expansive destruction connoting German sabotage.
Great subjective and objective shots aboard an elevated train in New York City.
DO NOT USE Still photos
Political Cartoon. LS's of Wilson marching with an American flag in a parade. Crowds at train station. CU of Bryan. CU of Secretary of the Navy FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. The Democrats convening to nominate their candidate for President. INT and EXT shots of the meeting hall. Cameramen photographing the canidate. MS of the Republican candidate CHARLES EVANS HUGHES and his family. MS of Wilson speaking to a crowd at his seaside home in New Jersey. People going into polling places to vote. Crowds wainting for results. CU of the Chicago Daily Tribune: IT'S WILSON.
MS's of the German Ambassador to Washington driving up to the Capitol Building, getting out. Political Cartoon. German Ambassador gets into a car and drives off.
CU's of the fated Zimmerman telegraph (coded and decoded versions).
Crowds. US Ambasssador to Berlin speaking. Pan down US Capital dome to crowds gathered around. MS of pacifist Senator ROBERT LA FOLLETTE mugging for the camera. MS's of the Merchant Fleet being armed with cannons and machine guns. High angle LS and level
MS of beached remnants of American ships (destroyed by German subs). Wilson looking out a window. Car driving away from White House.
DO NOT USE Still photo. Wide LS of Capitol Dome at night
Interior shots of Congress at work.
DO NOT USE Still photo
Political cartoons. MS of Wilson signing the declaration of war. MS of a news sign on a lamppost: WAR IS DECLARED. LS's of elated crowds in Washington waving flags. Wilson at desk.
DO NOT USE End Credits