For Freedom

1938: newsreel chief Fyffe compiles a movie explaining the genesis of the war that's about to break out; then the Munich agreement is signed. 1939: he's now working on a picture about world peace; the Nazi/Soviet pact is signed (the censor allows Fyffe to say 'God damn', unheard of licence at the time) and war starts a week later. Quite an ingenious format for propaganda, this, permitting more comedy than usual, but the film then forgets about Fyffe in favour of a re-enactment of the destruction of the Graf Spee (cf. The Battle of the River Plate). A speech by Churchill rounds off the proceedings. For the cinephile this is all pretty negligible. For the historian it's worth a look, as an artefact from the momentous summer of 1940.