The Silent Village (1943)

This 35-minute wartime documentary is another excellent effort from the British Ministry of Information. With remarkable understatement, The Silent Village recounts one of WWII's most appalling acts of brutality: the destruction by the Nazis of the Czech village of Lidice, and the wholesale slaughter of its male population. A onetime mining village, Lidice is compared to the Welsh mining town of Cwmgiedd. The message: if the Nazi juggernaut isn't crushed as soon as possible, towns like Cwmgiedd may well face the same fate as poor Lidice. For box-office purposes, the film includes plenty of "local color," including a performance by the Welsh village's church choir.