Animated map of Pacific region shows spreading Japanese offensive in the Southwest Pacific, flashes of Manila, Hong Kong, and the Malay jungle. People on the streets in Manila, Philippines. A boat in water. Scenes of Hong Kong port. People in markets. Scenes of Malaysia and Singapore. Thai tanks and troops marching through the streets of Bangkok. Scenes in Makassar on Celebes and on Sumatra. Japanese fleet at sea and planes in air. Japanese troops boarding landing craft from transports. Going ashore under cover of naval bombardment. Machine gunners and automatic rifleman firing. Infantry charging. Animated map of Pacific region. Japanese planes bombing Port Darwin in Australia. (World War II period).
The British Government relocates the Chinese boat dwellers or Tanka people in Hong Kong. Sampan boat houses crowd in Aberdeen Harbor. The British colonial government provides one room for each family in this large-scale housing project. Vehicles on the beachhead carry the boat dwellers to the British Crown colony. The boats are destroyed.
Acute water supply shortage in the Crown Colony of Hong Kong. An area overcrowded from refugees of Red China. Civilians struggle to get water from the communal water supply. Reservoirs of water near the colony dried. Children carry cans filled with water.
Japanese soldiers in Shanghai, China occupying the International Settlement following the attack on Pearl Harbor, in World War 2.. Japanese military trucks loaded with soldiers enter the north end of the Bund passing by the British Consulate. Japanese flag flutters from the top of the HSBC headquarters. A Japanese guard stands at the entrance to the HSBC headquarters next to a sign in Japanese and English that the premises have been occupied. Japanese Marines march on the street. Buildings along the side of the street. A soldier hands out warning notices writing in Chinese to a crowd of Chinese people explaining the occupation. The very end show Japanese troops in Kowloon shelling Hong Kong Island which is visible in the background.
Japanese laborers work hard in various factories creating war materiel, armament, airplanes, tanks. Men and women at work in war production, together with child labor. Japanese make war preparations for World War 2. Japanese soldiers on parade and Japanese tanks seen passing in review. Japanese children being trained and doing various physical exercises. Japanese young boys perform drills and war combat training, calisthenics, and classroom testing. Japanese youth and soldiers learning various martial arts and hand to hand combat. War in Manchuria. Newspaper headlines show the attack of Japan on Hong Kong and Corregidor. Japanese soldiers seen fighting in wars. Scenes of war devastation and dead civilians Manchuria and various areas where Japan has attacked. Bodies loaded onto carts and dead in streets. Japanese officer leading Japanese solders in a banzai cheer.
A Benefit Premiere, "A Countess from Hong Kong," directed by Charlie Chaplin, has its gala opening at the Sutton Theater, 205 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022. Hollywood movie celebrities seen include Bobby Darin, Jules Stein, Sydney Chaplin, Henry Fonda, Marlon Brando, Sophia Loren, Senator Jacob Javits, Lew Wasserman, Van Johnson, Pamela Tiffin, Lynda Bird Johnson, Milton Rackmil, Jack Valenti, and Susan Stein, daughter of Jules Stein. The premiere is a benefit for 'Research to prevent blindness' founded by Jules Stein.