President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) delivers a speech praising the film industry during the 13th Academy Awards night at the Millenium Biltmore Hotel (506 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90071, United States) in Los Angeles, California. Hollywood celebrities watch the speech by the president. “We have seen the American Motion Picture become the foremost in all the world. We have seen it reflect our civilization throughout the rest of the world. The aims, and the aspirations and the ideals of a free people and of freedom itself.” President Roosevelt said. Best actor Academy Award being presented to James Stewart and Best Actress award winner Ginger Rogers also receives her award.
A film titled 'Santa Anita Handicap' shows people buying tickets to witness annually held horse race, Santa Anita Handicap in Arcadia in California. A large number of spectators gather to witness the race. Bay View, a horse, wins the race.
Film begins showing Soviet industrial complex with many smoke stacks emitting dark fumes. A banner is raised in front of a statue of Joseph Stalin. Soviet workers turn wheel and use wrench to install a large shaft into a machine in a factory. A large number of Soviet people descend stairs from an electric distribution network at a hydroelectric dam. Soviet head of state Mikhail Kalinin is among the persons seen in the group. Spectators stand on a platform above the dam where a large sign is displayed. View of the dam with gates open and water pouring through to the lower level of the river. Scene shifts to military parade on Red Square in Moscow. during World War 2. A formation of trucks carrying anti-aircraft guns drive along the street. Soviet T-34 tanks are also in the parade. Joseph Stalin waves from a balcony on the Kremlin as the parade passes. Soviet workers also join the parade, carrying banners and marching in a dozen parallel columns along Red Square. They exit in columns around both sides of Saint Basil's Cathedral. Soviet heavy artillery batteries fire at night creating great flashes of light. A shell strike destroys a building. Soviet troops fighting in close quarters among debris in a Russian city. Dead German soldiers lying in debris on a city street. Some are surrounded by weapons and belts of ammunition. A Soviet soldier removes a swastika from the top of a steel bridge. Soviet citizens walk about the ruins of a city during a lull in combat. A child emerges from an underground bunker. Russian sailors walk together along a street. Soviet people gather at an outdoor market, where they purchase foods.
A film titled 'Interrogation of prisoners-rank, number' shows an American officer explaining the do's and don't s for prisoners of war during World War 2. An dramatized enactment shows British soldiers gambling, sharing photos of their 'girls' and then being instructed by officers about giving away only their name, rank and number in case of being captured by the enemy. Later, these British soldiers are shown being interrogated by a German officer after capture. Some ill trained troops give away valuable information to the enemy officer.
An enactment shows captured British soldiers being interrogated by an officer. One soldier gives only name, rank, and serial number even when threatened with stabbing. Another soldier accepts a cigarette from a German officer and inadvertently gives away the position of a mass gathering of British troops, resulting in their bombing. (World War II period).
An enactment shows an Officer passing on the information gathered from British Prisoners of War to his Senior Officer in World War II. He also gets information from an injured prisoner in the hospital with the help of a nurse. Officer fixes a wireless radio at the prison camp and is thus capable to get valuable information about what the prisoners talk amongst them.