Victory at Sea

By VARIETY STAFF

NBC Film Division.; Producer Henry Salomon, Robert W. Sarnoff; Screenplay Henry Salomon, Richard Hanser; Editor Isaac Kleinerman; Music Richard Rodgers
 

Originally presented on NBC as a 26-part filmed documentary of World War II naval history, the television Victory at Sea was compressed to 97 minutes for theatrical release. But despite the loss of many fine scenes of the original the edited print is still a forceful pictorial chronicle of the Allies' global sea campaigns against the Axis Powers.

Sea covers the period from the Axis' 1939 ascendancy to its defeat in 1945. Among key points captured by the cameras are the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Allied invasion of Normandy, the sweep of the US fleets through the Pacific, the North African invasion, the atomic bombing of Japan and the liberation of the prisoners of Dachau, Buchenwald and other infamous concentration camps.

Alexander Scourby's narration of the commentary written by Henry Salomon and Richard Hanser is unobtrusive and never detracts from the screen movement. Quality of the print is good considering the varied origin and age of the footage.

(B&W) Available on VHS. Extract of a review from 1954. Running time: 97 MIN.