The Battle of San Pietro (1945)

Directed by

John Huston

Genre

documentary film, war film, propaganda film

Country

United States

Runtime

38 min

Rating

6.1 of 10 from 77 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary follows American infantry as they fight through a heavily defended Italian village during World War II. It shows the deadly struggle for control of San Pietro from the soldiers' point of view.

rawgrittysomberunflinchingstarkvisceralrealistic

What happens

The Battle of San Pietro is a documentary film directed by John Huston about the Battle of San Pietro Infine, 60 mi (97 km) from Naples, during World War II. It was shot by Jules Buck. It was released in the US in 1945 but shown to US troops earlier. Huston and his crew—which included the British novelist and screenwriter Eric Ambler—were attached to the U.S. Army’s 143rd Regiment of the 36th Division. Unlike with many other military documentaries, it was claimed Huston’s cameramen filmed alongside the infantrymen as they fought their way up the hills to reach San Pietro. However, Huston's claim that the film was made during the battle was proven false by the research of Peter Maslowski in his 1993 book, Armed With Cameras. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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