Encouraged by victory in North Africa and Sicily, the Allies sought to consolidate their gains by assaulting mainland Italy in September of 1943. The goal was to relieve pressure on the Russian Front and tie up elite German divisions prior to the D-Day landings in Normandy. Buoyed by the surrender of Italian forces, commanders predicted Rome would fall in a month. Instead it took over a year of hard fighting at places like Anzio, San Pietro and Monte Cassino. Featured on this DVD are four rare films, produced during WWII by the U.S. Army. They include a full color print of Edward Steichen's "Thunderbolt", showing P-47s in action over Italy, "5th Army Report from the Beachhead" about the Anzio campaign, "The Fall of Rome", and famed director John Huston's immortal film "The Battle of San Pietro" showing all the grittiness of war and the courage and common decency exhibited by American troops. It's history like you've never seen it before. Digitally remastered and restored from original 16mm film prints, some of the films on this DVD have never been made available to the public. Because of their age and rarity, image and sound quality can vary. Films are color and black and white. Over 100 minutes of material. Please note: this DVD is presented in the DVD-R format. It may not be compatible with older DVD players. See your player's instruction manual for more information. |