War As It Really Is (1916)

Directed by

Donald C. Thompson

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 19m

Rating

9.0 of 10 from 1 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This 1916 documentary shows American audiences actual footage and firsthand accounts from World War I before the U.S. joined the fighting. The filmmaker highlights how real war looks nothing like the dramatic Hollywood version he saw at the time.

rawmatter-of-factsoberingobservationalreflectiveunvarnishededifying

What happens

War As It Really Is is a 1916 American documentary war film shot, edited and distributed by Donald C. Thompson. The seven-reel film exposed American audiences to some of the most authentic sights and first-hand accounts of World War I before the United States entered the war. The film was first shown in installments at the Rialto Theatre in New York City in October 1916. Thompson was aware of the disparity between the dramatic images of war the Hollywood studios were putting out at the time and the unglamorous war he had personally experienced and filmed. This was implicit in the ironic title of the film. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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