Documentary titled, ' Oil Is Blood ' on production and transportation of petroleum and its by products in United States. Crude oil in a pit. Man takes samples from the pit. View of derricks at an oil drilling site. Derricks at sea. Exteriors of a building near the derricks. Service station attendants, pumping gas and cleaning the windshield, on a 1942 Lincoln Continental convertible, at a "Tydol Flying A" gas station. Scenes of busy highways and plenty of fuel give way to empty roads, closed gas stations, and restricted hours for obtaining fuel, as it is rationed during World War 2. Views of persons obtaining ration stamps and books. Various gasoline ration books including the "A" books (allowing the smallest amounts) and "B", "C", and other books allowing larger rations to more essential users. Oil rig "roughnecks" inserting new sections of pipe and proceeding to drill. Closeup of a "gusher" before it is capped. Men filling railroad tank cars with petroleum products. A long train of tank cars pulled by a steam locomotive. Animated map illustrates the ocean shipping lanes that formally served as means to transport fuel and oil, before the German U-Boat threat made them too dangerous for general use. Drums of fuel and oil being loaded aboard a ship to supply the Allies during the war. A convoy of ships heading to the war zone of North Africa.
World-wide wartime activities during 1941 and 1942. President Roosevelt addresses Congress after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Crowd applauds. Citizens and cars stopped in busy New York listening to the news on the radio being broadcast regarding the declaration of war against Japan. Long queues and lines of civilian men get registered in the U.S. army as recruits are called up. Men taking oath of U.S. military service in New York and Washington DC (on U.S. Capitol steps) and other cities in mass recruitment events. New recruits stand in line in a city to register for U.S. Navy or U.S. Army service. New recruits shown include baseball star Joe Dimaggio, boxer Joe Louis, John Aspinwall Roosevelt (who was President Roosevelt's youngest son), Tyrone Power, Clark Gable, Douglas Fairbanks Junior, and Warren Pershing (son of famed General John Pershing) all seen registering to enter military service. Justice Frank Murphy of the U.S. Supreme Court is seen operating a machine gun during training. Another scene with a mass group of recruits standing and taking an oath of military service.
Alternating World War 2 footage and dramatized scenes with actors. German Luftwaffe bombers destroying French cities. Invasion of France by Germany. Burning buildings and debris in French cities during 1940 invasion. Hitler viewing Eiffel Tower while visiting Paris in June 1940 after occupation. German flag atop Eiffel Tower. Allied fighter aircraft shot down, pilot ejects and parachutes to ground as aircraft crashes with explosion. Pilot landing in parachute, gathering and hiding parachute. Actors conversation segment. Footage of sad looking and defeated French soldiers marching in streets of France under occupying German guard, as depressed French citizens look on. French General Philippe Petain at desk delivering speech that calls for collaboration with Germans. Close ups of sad and crying French men, women, and children in streets of France suffering war and occupation. Petain salutes soldiers during a parade after he abolishes representative government. Petain speaks from podium to gathered soldiers. View of French General Charles De Gaulle, in Britain, calling for continued French resistance and speaking to French officers on a warship. Actor dialog segment. Footage of Petain visiting Hitler. They shake hands while photographers record the meeting. Actor segments. Footage of Free French forces training and marching in various cities. Free French soldier receives machine gun training. French officer training in Russia at a Soviet recognition ceremony. French soldiers carry railroad ties and discuss over a map. RAF spitfires in flight. Sign at training camp "French Air Force Squadron. Flexible Gunnery School." Allied naval ships at sea; close views of ship guns. Smoke rises from French ship fleet scuttled at Toulon November 27, 1942. Mobilized French citizens receiving rifle training. Free French Army encampment with French flag raising ceremony. French citizens gather to read posted German notices. Parade celebrating liberation of Paris in World War II. Happy French citizens smile and cheer French, American, and Soviet allies marching in Paris.
Title slate reads,"the First Metallurgical Plant in Soviet Central Asia." Narrator says construction started 4-years ago during the Battle of Stalingrad in World War 2 (1942-43). Interior of the plant is shown from a vantage point high above the factory floor. Strips of hot steel are seen being extruded from a rolling mill. Closeup of the rolling mill in action and workers standing beside it. Closeup of the mill's rollers and hot steel blank passing through them. Workers handle the hot steel with long tools, as they move it back and forth to different sets of rollers. Narrator says the rolling mill has a capacity of 50 thousand tons per year. Closeup of two steel workers. Change of scene with view from above and then from below, as a furnace is tapped and molten steel flows into a crucible, emiting smoke and flames. Closeup of Uzbek steel workers employed at the steel plant. Next, workers are gathered in a ceremony marking the opening of the new rolling mill. A plant supervisor speaks before the gathering. A huge picture of Joseph stalin forms a backdrop. (Note: This is the The Uzbek Metallurgical Plant, aka V. I. Lenin Uzbek Metallurgical Plant, located in Bekabad, Tashkent Oblast,Uzbekistan. The 300-millimeter light rolling mill, seen here, began operating in October, 1946.)
Opening scene depicts (dramatized) the presence of German submarines off the Atlantic Coast, delivering Nazi German saboteurs of Operation Pastorius to Long Island, New York and to Florida in 1942. View of German submarines in the ocean. A scientist in a FBI laboratory examines explosives found when the sabotage attempt was uncovered, including blocks of TNT and explosives designed to look like lumps of coal. J. Edgar Hoover describes how the explosives were designed to target American citizens and war industries during World War 2. Paddy wagons with military guards standing on read door platforms are seen entering court facility in Washington DC. View inside the paddy wagons of German agents ("submarine saboteurs") being brought to military trial. View of the accused and the military officers of the court sitting in court during the trial. Military judges are seen seated during the trial proceedings. View of a wall of file cabinets and a hand reaching into a cabinet marked "secret." Past events show Adolf Hitler in meetings with his staff. An animated map shows Nazi symbol overlaying an outline of the United States. A United States flag in the background. The director of the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) John Edgar Hoover in the United States. He sits at a desk in his office. He talks about enemy agents, Hitler's desire to punish the United States, and the victory of the United States over them.
Women's Army Corps in the United States. Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, created in 1942 is converted to WAC (Women's Army Corps) in 1943. A WAC carries a cake. 'WAAC' written on the cake. A WAC walks outside a building. Several men stand and talk. The WACs parade on a field. A United States flag. Duties performed by WACs. Women work as mechanics and handle complicated equipment. They take photographs through cameras. The U.S. Capitol building in view. U.S. Army General George Marshall and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Stimson. Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby is the first commanding officer of WAC. A dramatization depicts recruitment and induction of WAACs. A sign reads 'WAAC, information and recruiting'. A woman appears in an interview. The women undergo physical examination and are then recruited. WAACs undergo a training. They perform physical exercises and swim. Several WACs go to specialization classes. WACs cook food. A woman receives an award for her husband's bravery during World War II.