The War for Men's Minds (1943)

Interesting facts

The War for Men's Minds is a 21-minute 1943 Canadian documentary film, made by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) as part of the wartime The World in Action series. The film was produced by Stuart Legg. The film describes the impact of propaganda from the Axis powers in 1943, during the Second World War. The French version title is À la conquête de l'esprit humain.

Production

The War for Men's Minds was the part of the wartime The World in Action propaganda short film series. The films were produced with financial backing from the Wartime Information Board for the Director of Public Information, Herbert Lash.

Typical of the NFB's series of morale-boosting films, The War for Men's Minds used the format of a compilation documentary, relying heavily on newsreel material, including "enemy" footage, in order to provide the background to the dialogue..

The striking images of cheering crowds in Nazi Germany that were featured in Leni Riefenstahl's films were used extensively. The American Hollywood filmmaker Frank Capra also used scenes from her films, which he described partially as "the ominous prelude of Hitler's holocaust of hate", in many parts of the U.S.

The deep baritone voice of the stage actor Lorne Greene was used in the narration of The War for Men's Minds. Greene was known for his work on radio broadcasts as a news announcer at CBC as well as narrating many of the Canada Carries On series. His sonorous recitation led to his nickname, "The Voice of Canada", and to some observers, the "voice-of-God".

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