King George VI of the United Kingdom shaking hands with dignitaries in England. King George VI is wearing a military uniform. Crowds cheering. King George VI talks to his wife, Queen Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons. The Royal flag at half-mast. A photograph of King George VI on display. Woman crying over death of King George VI. Princess Elizabeth becomes Queen Elizabeth II and is seen in a ceremony after her father's death. On horseback, Queen Elizabeth II salutes the Royal Guards lined up at a Trooping the Colour ceremony. Scene changes to British soldiers fighting in the streets of Egypt over the issue of Suez Canal. Captured Egyptian men being searched by troops. Dead bodies lined up on the street. King Farouk I of Egypt with his wife, Queen Narriman, and children (Princess Ferial, Princess Fawzia, Princess Fadia and Prince Ahmad Fuad) after being sent to exile to Capri, Italy as a result of a revolution. King Farouk I holding son, Prince Ahmad Fuad, and is seated with Queen Narriman during their exile in Capri, Italy. Workers at Anglo-Iranian oil refineries in Iran after the government's decision to nationalize them causing a great set back to British interests. Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mosaddeq arrives at the International Court in Hague for the settlement of the issue.
The world struggle for oil is depicted. Relative production in 1876 by different countries is shown. A political map of the United States. A map shows Russia, Germany, Italy and other countries. A + sign in Italy shows the oil production being less than 1 % of the world's production. A dot in Galicia and Roumania depicts oil production being 1 % of the world's production. A box on the map shows Japan with a + sign.
A film on the development of air power of the United States. Wilbur Wright demonstrated his invention before the King of Italy and Italian government officials in 1909. Soldiers push the Wright aircraft out of a hangar. The King of Italy and Italian officials watch the take off of the Wright aircraft from a launching rail. Flight of five early model aircraft over water. French aviator Louis Bleriot seated in his Bleriot VI Tandem monoplane. A man turns the propeller and starts the aircraft. A man working on a Farman Voisin bi-plane. American aviator Glenn H Curtiss seated in his Gold Bug bi-plane. He starts the motor and the aircraft taxis away.
Operation Shingle (invasion of Anzio, Italy) during World War 2. View from underneath a gun position aboard a U.S. Destroyer in an invasion convoy of Operation Shingle (Anzio, Italy) during World War 2. Camera pans underneath multiple torpedo tubes. Officer in battle gear looks toward the sky with binoculars. One of the Destroyer's guns fires. View down from upper deck shows many expended naval gun shell casings on main deck. Small boats seen in far distance. Several landing craft seen closer in a line followed by a Destroyer Escort. The destroyer's guns firing and raising clouds of smoke. More views of spent shell casings on deck. Sailors in combat gear and life preservers taking a nap on deck. Sailors examining some of the spent shell casings. Camera pans up to the Destroyer's bridge, showing a gun and American flag flying just above it. Large group of sailors looking over the piles of spent shell casings on the deck. A Mahan Dunlop Class destroyer seen nearby. Sailors looking through binoculars. Glimpse of enemy aircraft maneuvering high overhead.Glimpse of Anzio shoreline in distance.
Japanese international activities during 1931-1945. Opening scene shows Japanese troops embarking on ships bound for an invasion of Manchuria, in 1931. Officers walking on the dock, amongst the departing troops. Scenes of explosions and destruction. Views of Shanghai during Japanese attacks in 1937. Destroyed buildings. Civilian dead lying in the streets. Japanese soldiers racing along a street in a three wheeled motorcycle vehicle. Change of scene shows Japanese diplomat Yosuke Matsuoka addressing a League of Nations meeting in 1933, after that body adopted a report blaming Japan for events in Manchuria. He objects to that action and then leads his delegation in walking out of the meeting. View of Japanese delegates in top hats and bowler hats exiting the building. Scene shifts to Japanese forces firing artillery and machine guns in Manchuria.They wave large Japanese flag victoriously after a battle. The next scene shows Italian forces occupying Ethiopia and raising the flag of the Kingdom of Italy, as Italian troops salute, presenting arms of rifles with fixed bayonets. Axis leaders celebrate the 1940 Tripartite Pact between German, Italy and Japan. The festivities take place in a hall displaying the three nation's flags on the walls. A large number of persons attend including Japan's Prime Minister, General Hideki Tojo, seen with two celebrants. Scene reverts to China with Chinese civilian people trying to escape from invading Japanese forces. The refugees carry their belongings as they flee. Occasional shell burst is seen among advancing Japanese troops as Chinese soldiers put up resistance. Chinese soldiers firing artillery. In the U.S., Japanese envoys KichisaburÅ Nomura and SaburÅ Kurusu are seen walking together into a building and entering a room inside. Next, are views of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, with huge plumes of smoke obscuring the bombed U.S. battleships in the harbor. U.S. battleships in line formation in the Pacific during World War 2. Aerial view of U.S. warships moving in parallel. British ships augmenting the U.S. warships. Naval guns firing. U.S. amphibious assaults on Japanese held islands in the Pacific. Prisoners of the Japanese who suffered in the Philippines. General Douglas MacArthur mingling with former prisoners and internees upon his return to Manila in 1944. Aerial views of Iwo Jima. Naval bombardment and amphibious assault of Iwo Jima. Numerous fallen Japanese soldiers. The iconic American flag raising by U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima. View of Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. during the campaign on Okinawa, where he was killed in action. A Soldier being carried on a stretcher. Another throwing a hand grenade. U.S. soldier firing at a Japanese defender who falls out of his bunker. Large numbers of Japanese prisoners of war assembled in a field. Japanese Kamikaze attacking U.S. warships off Okinawa. The sky filled with antiaircraft flak clouds. View of 40mm Bofors antiaircraft cannon firing and a Japanese plane falling and exploding on impact in the ocean.
Industrial scenes in America with a factory with smoke from chimneys, a steel factory in operation, views of the tops of railroad train coal cars filled with coal. Secretary of State George Marshall speaks about providing European countries with material and money (Marshall Plan). He is seen speaking to legislators in Washington DC on November 10, 1947, asking for funds for Austria, Italy, and France "to provide the supplies necessary to permit the people of these countries to continue to eat, to work, and to survive the winter." Truman signs an interim aid bill, S 1774 on December 17, 1947. View of Eiffel Tower in Paris and communists marching and demonstrating in France. Communist demonstrations across Europe. French police monitor communist protestors in France and then disperse a crowd of communists. Narrator notes of similar communist demonstrations in Italy. Winston Churchill arrives for peace conference meeting of the Big Four foreign ministers in London in December 1947. Vyascheslav Molotov attends the conference. George Marshall talks with Molotov. View of the Friendship Train railroad train in the United States approaching on railway tracks during its tour. Also a view of the 1947 special exhibit Freedom Train traveling. Citizens board the Freedom Train at one of its train station stops, to view artifacts and exhibits about American democracy, including a 1823 facsimile of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Exterior view of U.S. Supreme Court building. Statues at the Supreme Court building. The base is inscribed 'The Heritage of the Past is the Seed that Brings Forth the Harvest of the Future'. A group of American boys and girls are seen reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. A larger group of children reciting the pledge of Allegiance (from before the 1950s when "under God" was added) and viewing an American flag fluttering in the wind. View of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, and then another view from the top of the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building looking outward.