clive's - Rented List
-
This episode tells the tragic story of the 'bridge too far' and the ill-fated 'Operation Market Garden' - the Allied operation that was supposed to end World War Two in 1944. Montgomery's rather fanciful conclusion that Market Garden was '90% successful' was hardly supported by the facts. The operation was an unmitigated failure. This episode, brand new to video is from the land mark television series "Battlefield". Featuring fascinating archive footage from all over the world the programme includes a review of the political and military situation before the battle, portraits of leaders and commanders, an explanation of weapons and tactics and the story of the battle itself. Vivid graphics place the battle into the context of the war as a whole. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Richard Holmes, Paul Woodadge, Gen. Montgomery
- Formats:
-
-
The Home Guard and Britain's Citizen Army (1942)Britain's Home Front At War - Britain's Citizen Army
The Imperial War Museum Collection features rare and fascinating original films preserved in the Museum's archive. Many have never been released to the public before and are presented here, complete and uncut, for the very first time. These films are of great historical importance and are essential viewing for anyone interested in British military history. This two disc collection features over 30 different wartime films showing how Britons contributed to the defence of the nation, from joining the Home Guard through to contributing scrap items and 'Digging for Victory'. Much of the collection is devoted to rare films covering the formation and training of the Home Guard - or 'Dad's Army' as it was sometimes jokingly referred to. They include 'Citizen's Army', The Dawn Guard', 'Home Guard', 'Unarmed Combat', 'News From England', 'Platoon Assault on a House', 'Weapons and Equipment' and 'One Man, Two Jobs' and span the length of the war. Other services covered include barrage balloon squadrons in 'Squadron 992' and ARP Wardens in 'Post 23' and 'Night Watch', while Wartime stars like Tommy Trinder, Kathleen Harrison and Ronald Shiner are on hand to dish out invaluable advice on everything from scrap and salvage to eating right. There's also plenty of wartime public information films covering everything from the subject of cheese and growing your own vegetables to tackling incendiary bombs and mending and making do. Other films included here, such as 'Dangerous Comment' and 'You're Telling Me' convey the invaluable wartime message that 'careless talk costs lives'. Some films in the collection have more to do with boosting morale than practical advice to dispense. In 'Miss Grant Goes to the Door' two elderly sisters help outwit a German spy, while 'Men of the Lightship' recreates the brutal German attack on the East Dudgeon Lightship and The Frontline' celebrates life as usual in Dover as invasion looms... - Director:
- Donald Taylor
- Cast:
- Robert Newton, Bernard Miles, Frank Lawton
- Formats:
-
-
Western Approaches (1944)The Raider / Battle for the Atlantic: Greyhound vs Wolfpack - Western Approaches
The merchant seamen who helped bring in vital supplies to a Britain under siege during World War Two performed one of the most daring and dangerous tasks of the war. The battle of the Atlantic was merciless, and the Merchant Navy lost more men than any of the British armed forces. In 1944, the Crown Film Unit set out to document the bravery of the merchant seamen and expose the harsh dangers faced by making 'Western Approaches'. Generally regarded as one of the best British documentaries of the war, the film uses merchant seamen to re-enact their roles for the cameras and was shot in colour - unlike many films of the same era. The storyline was both realistic and dramatic. Trying to run the gauntlet of U.Boat Wolf Packs on its way home from America to Britain, a merchant ship is torpedoed and sunk. The survivors take to a lifeboat and await rescue - unaware that the U-Boat which sank them is still lurking in the area, just waiting for the rescue boat to turn up... - Director:
- Pat Jackson
- Cast:
- Eric Fullerton, Duncan MacKenzie, W. Kerr
- Formats:
-
-
The attack on Pearl Harbor was supposed to obviate the need for the grinding attritional battle that was the hallmark for the bloody fighting of Guadalcanal. The capture of this strategically crucial island in the Solomans, during which more than 25,000 Japanese lost their lives, was the key to the US victory in the Philippines which paved the way for the horrors of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the ultimately the defeat of Japanese Empire. This episode, brand new to video is from the land mark television series 'Battlefield'. Featuring fascinating archive footage from all over the world the programme includes a review of the political and military situation before the battle, portraits of leaders and commanders, an explanation of weapons and tactics and the story of the battle itself. Vivid graphics place the battle into the context of the war as a whole. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Various
- Formats:
-
-
"The Battle of the Atlantic" details German U-boats' attempts to starve Britain into submission...
- Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Bill Paterson
- Formats:
-
-
Weimar was geographically and culturally the heart of Germany. It was the birthplace of the Weimar Republic, the republic established in 1919 to replace Germany's imperial government, and was also home to some of the greatest citizens of the German nation. But, while for many it was a heaven on Earth, for those imprisoned in the nearby Buchenwald Concentration Camp, one of the largest in Germany, it was a living hell. While Weimar may have been famous for illustrious men as Bach, Nietzsche and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the unspeakable cruelty and brutality of Buchenwald would make it infamous. This programme documents the events of Buchenwald 1937-42, where prisoners were savagely punished for the slightest infraction of the rules. Inmates would freeze in -20° temperatures, were worked to death and even the guard dogs enjoyed significantly better living conditions. The camp was originally built to house 8,000 inmates, but by the end of 1942 numbers had already exceeded 14,000! Never an extermination camp like Auschwitz, Buchenwald was a labour camp but it made every aspect of life within its fences a torture where mistreatment by the guards was not only encouraged, it was compulsory. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Not Available
- Formats:
-
-
The complete epic documentary series examining the origins and development of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany's attempt to destroy the European Jewish population.
The Liberation of Auschwitz (1986)Etched deeply into the pages of history, Auschwitz conjures up images of death, torture and unimaginable human suffering. At the time of release only 18 minutes of the footage contained within this film had been seen in the west; despite it being used as damning prosecution evidence at the Nuremburg Trials. Recorded from January to February 1945 by a Soviet film crew attached to the 1st Ukrainian Front, the programme tells the story of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp.
Dachau and Sachsenhausen (2005)
Whilst Hitler sought the answers to his 'Jewish problem', more and more centres of containment sprung up throughout Nazi occupied Europe. Two such camps were Dachau and Sachsenhausen, and although perhaps not such recognisable names as Auschwitz, they were no less crucial in the persecution and extermination of the European Jews.
Ghetto Theresienstadt (2006)
Between 1941 and 1945 the small fortress town of Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia became a transit point to the death camps in the east for thousands of Czech, German, Austrian and Dutch Jews. All those deported to Theresienstadt were led to believe it was an 'end camp' from which they would travel no further. They were promised a comfortable and peaceful life in the 'Reich home for the aged' and were hoodwinked into signing over to the S.S. all of their properties and assets.
The Yellow Star: The Persecution of the Jews in Europe 1933-1945 (1981)
This Oscar nominated documentary serves not only as a remembrance but a lesson and a warning for the future. It follows the plight of Europe's Jews during the terrifying period from 1933 until the final defeat of the Third Reich in 1945. Never before had the world seen such contempt for human life on such a grand scale with the murder of an estimated 6 million Jews with countless others persecuted.
Ravensbruck and Buchenwald (2006)
Ravensbruck: Women from more than 20 countries were incarcerated between 1939 and 1945 in the Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany. They were subjected to gross maltreatment, humiliation and some were tortured to death all in the name of the Third Reich. Buchenwald: After being established in the German town of Weimar in the summer of 1937, Buchenwald developed into one of the largest concentration camps in Germany, with approximately 250,000 inmates from some 35 different countries. More than 50,000 were to die during the reign of terror by torture, deliberate starvation and systematic culling.
Majdanek (1986)
This rare and stark documentary graphically portrays the methodical murder, starvation and torture of an estimated 2 million innocent victims and demonstrates the frightening efficiency of the German death camp. Also captured here on film are rare scenes from a Russian post-war tribunal, where survivors are seen giving evidence against captured SS officers and camp officials, this evidence was often to result in the conviction and execution of those standing accused.- Director:
- Irmgard von zur Mühlen
- Cast:
- Aleksandr Voronsov, Wolfgang Scheffler, Wolfgang Scheffler
- Formats:
-
-
Dachau concentration camp was situated 12 miles from Munich in Bavaria and was the first of the infamous concentration camps built by the Nazi regime as part of the 'Final Solution'. The camp was set up in 1933 and was initially occupied by Communist and Jewish inmates but very soon its doors opened to many other 'miserables' that the Nazis wanted to eradicate. Dachau is factually considered as one of the worst Nazi camps with a hideous reputation of maltreatment and barbaric living conditions. During 1941-42 hundreds of medical experiments were carried out on healthy prisoners and in the final year of the war more than 40,000 prisoners perished in the camp. A disturbing yet insightful insight into one of humanity's darkest hours. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Not Available
- Formats:
-
-
Auschwitz Untold (2020)Auschwitz Untold in Color
A powerful and revelatory account of one of the most hideous crimes in human history told entirely from the perspectives of 16 extraordinary Holocaust survivors - from a Jewish artist or a Roma resistance fighter - whose inspiring stories of survival in a Nazi death camp and armed resistance in the WWII underground are made all the more resonant and real for a new generation of viewers by the transformative power of restored and colourised black and white archive. - Director:
- David Shulman
- Cast:
- Sheldon Lazarus, Bill Harvey, Michael Berenbaum
- Formats:
-
-
Holocaust: Concentration Camps: Dachau and Sachsenhausen (1945)Nazi Concentration and Prison Camps / Nazi Concentration Camps
"Dachau Concentration Camp", was situated 12 miles northwest of Munich in Bavaria. Built in the early days of the Nazi regime it was one of three camps set up in 1933 to form the basis for a concentration camp system. Initially filled with communist and Jewish inmates Dachau's doors were soon opened to many other "undesirables" that the Nazis wanted to eradicate. Dachau was one of the worst and most notorious death camps and the scene of hundreds of medical experiments carried out on inmates. During 1941 and 1942 over 500 horrendous operations were performed on healthy prisoners. In the last year of the war more than 40,000 prisoners perished in Dachau. "Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp" was situated in Oranienburg, a small town immediately to the north of Berlin, Sachsenhausen began life in 1933 and became one of the first unofficial concentration camps set up by the SA. The official camp was established in 1936 and initially housed political prisoners. With 44 sub-camps and external units, Sachsenhausen was one of the largest concentration camps in Germany. Between 1936 and its liberation in 1945, 200,000 prisoners from many countries were interned in the camp; few survived. - Director:
- George Stevens
- Cast:
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar N. Bradley, George S. Patton
- Formats:
-
-
German Concentration Camps Factual Survey (2014)Memory of the Camps
On 29 September 1945, the incomplete rough-cut of a disturbing yet compelling documentary revealing the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps was viewed at the Ministry of Information in London. For five months, Sidney Bernstein had led a small team - which included Stewart McAllister, Richard Crossman and Alfred Hitchcock - to complete the film from hours of footage. Unfortunately, this ambitious Allied project to create a feature-length visual report that would damn the Nazi regime and shame the German people into acceptance of Allied occupation had missed its moment, and was left unfinished and shelved. Even in its incomplete form, the film was immensely powerful, generating an awed hush among audiences. But now, complete to six reels, this faithfully restored and definitive version produced by the Imperial War Museums and with a newly recorded narration by actor Jasper Britton, has been rightfully compared with Alan Resnais' Night and Fog (1955). - Director:
- Sidney Bernstein
- Cast:
- Adolf Hitler, Sidney Bernstein, Alfred Hitchcock
- Formats:
-
-
Drawing on much rare and never before seen footage from diverse film archives, Royal Navy historian Roland R Smith creates a powerful film portrait of the Royal Navy in the early years of the Second World War, reviewing the fleet and recounting some of the earliest action.
Royal navy at War in Colour
A Sailor's View Rare archive footage shot by serving officers from the HMS Nelson, HMS Kent, HMS Ivanhoe and HMS Laforey.
British Convoys
Royal Navy Historian Roland R. Smith vividly capture two very different types of British convoys during the Second World War.
British Pacific and East Indies Fleets
Disparagingly referred to as the 'forgotten fleets', this is the ultimate film record of these two fleets, their fighting ships and men.
Operation Torch and Neptune
Two of the largest, most spectacular and successful operations conducted by the Royal Navy during the Second World War.
King George V Battleships 1941-1942
One of the last battleships to be commissioned by the Royal Navy, it played a major role in the Second World War.
Britannia Goes to War
A look at how the Royal Navy responded to war through training of new recruits, new tactics to protect convoys in the Channel and mine sweeping of the waters.
War in the Frozen North
The story of the carrier Glorious from 1935 to her sinking during the ill-fated Norwegian Campaign of 1940.- Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Not Available
- Formats:
-
-
History has overlooked the unimaginable hardships Russian aircraft designers faced under the paranoid rule of Josef Stalin during World War II. In spite of being arrested and made to work in special prison camps, Soviet aircraft designers independently discovered jet and rocket technology. The innovative aircraft profiled in this programme include A.S. Moskalyov's plan for a supersonic delta-wing aircraft in the 1930s and Andrei Tupolev's long distance bomber that flew non-stop across the North Pole to California in 1937, and there are weirder Soviet planes including a flying tank prototype and a submarine-bomber that could land on water and then submerge to attack its prey. We also show rare footage of the MiG 1-270 rocket fighter and the MiG-8, a prototype that secretly tested swept-wings despite Stalin's order to concentrate on conventional aviation technology. Using specially commissioned computer graphics, never seen archive footage and interviews with aviation experts, we bring back to life the Secret Russian Planes of the Second World War. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Not Available
- Formats:
-
-
From the ashes of World War I, Adolf Hitler attempted to build a sinister new world order, led by a so-called race of Aryan supermen, spreading a reign of terror unlike any the world had ever known. Nazism was no mere political movement as is commonly believed; rather, it was an occult religion in which Adolf Hitler was the messiah, Heinrich Himmler the high priest and the SS Death Head Formation, the clergy. This film documents the Third Reich's use of the occult in an effort to help them win World War II. The Reich used the mystical arts to make important battle decisions, train SS officers, and indoctrinate the German public and to try and influence the Allies. Through montage, Nazi symbols are compared with carvings of the magical Nordic Runic alphabet, and archival footage of Nazis dressed as medieval knights, demonstrates the Nazis' perversion of mystical traditions for their own dark purposes. Indeed documents prove that their beliefs were based on a corruption of ancient pagan lore, a twisting of mythic battles between forces of light and darkness, and a terrifying journey into a world ruled by mystics, madmen and murderers. It is believed that once the religion was in place, the Nazis attempted to breed a "purified" race of Aryan god-men and annihilated the "impure" to fulfil their horrifying ideology. - Director:
- Tracy Atkinson
- Cast:
- Nick Campion, Malcolm McDowell, Angus Douglas-Hamilton
- Formats:
-
-
Churchhill's War (1989)Churchhill's War: September 1939 - August 1945
This video features rare and unseen UN archive footage of Churchill as he made history. Wherever he went UN followed, allowing a fascinating insight into his amazing life and leadership. The Second World War was the most turbulent and eventful period in the history of the 20th century. It affected the lives of millions of people all over the world. When war broke out in 1939, Churchill joined the War Cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty. In May 1940, Neville Chamberlain resigned as Prime Minister and Churchill took his place. His refusal to surrender to Nazi Germany inspired the country. He worked tirelessly throughout the war. building strong relations with US President Roosevelt whilst maintaining a sometimes difficult alliance with the Soviet Union. Churchill's 'bulldog' spirit seemed to echo the mood of the British people, despite the formidable opponents they were up against. Featuring archive footage, much of it previously unseen, 'Churchill's War' brings together the story of our greatest leader and accounts of our inspirational victories. - Director:
- Michael Campbell
- Cast:
- Winston Churchill, Neville Chamberlain, Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Formats:
-