Filming Under Fire

World War II was fought on many fronts. One of them was film. “Filming Under Fire: John Ford’s OSS Field Photo Branch” tells the story of how six-time Academy Award-winning director John Ford and many of its leading filmmakers - including cinematographers Harold Rosson, Gregg Toland, and Joe August; screenwriter Budd Schulberg and actor Sterling Hayden - contributed to America’s victory in World War II through their service in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Field Photographic Branch. They conducted surveillance. They made training films. They shot combat. They created films to boost Americans’ morale and to demoralize the enemy. General Eisenhower said that if it did nothing else, the intelligence gathered by the Field Photographic Branch in advance of D-Day alone justified OSS's creation. At the war’s conclusion, it gathered evidence that was instrumental in convicting the Nazi High Command at Nuremberg. This film is a tribute to their heroic efforts; to Hollywood’s contribution to America’s victory in World War II; and to the enduring power of film in the never-ending struggle for freedom and human dignity - a timely reminder as the free world once again confronts autocratic forces.