Frank Capra's World War II ``Why We Fight'' 8-part series Free Online

Why We Fight is a series of seven propaganda films commissioned by the United States government during World War II to demonstrate to American soldiers the reason for U.S. involvement in the war. Later on they were also shown to the general U.S. public to persuade them to support American intervention.

Most of the films were directed by Frank Capra, who was daunted yet also impressed and challenged by Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda film Triumph of the Will and who worked in direct response to it. The series faced a tough challenge: convincing an only recently isolationist nation of the need to become involved in the war and ally with the Soviets, among other things. In many of the films, Capra and other directors spliced in Axis powers propaganda footage – recontextualizing it so it promoted the cause of the Allies instead.

Made from 1942 to 1945, the seven films range from 40 to 76 minutes in length, and all are available on DVD or online.

In 2000 the United States Library of Congress deemed the films "culturally significant" and selected them for preservation in the National Film Registry. Created by the U.S. Army Pictorial Services, the films are in the public domain; all of them are available for download at the Internet Archive.

• Why We Fight (Prelude to War)
• Why We Fight (The Nazis Strike)
• Why We Fight (Divide and Conquer)
• Why We Fight (The Battle of Britain)
• Why We Fight (The Battle of Russia [Part 1])
• Why We Fight (The Battle of Russia [Part 2])
• Why We Fight (The Battle of China)
• Why We Fight (War Comes to America)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Watch Online

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is an American 1939 comedy/drama film starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur, about one man's effect on American politics. It was directed by Frank Capra – his last film for Columbia Pictures, the studio where he made his name – and written by Sidney Buchman, based on Lewis R. Foster's unpublished story. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was controversial when it was released, but also successful at the box office, and made Stewart a major movie star. Aside from Stewart and Arthur, the film features a bevy of well-known supporting actors, among them Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee, Thomas Mitchell and Beulah Bondi. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning for Best Screenplay.

In 1989, the Library of Congress added Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to the United States National Film Registry, for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Frank Capra Directs Runyon's Apple Annie Story Twice | Lady for a Day & Pocketful of Miracles

Lady for a Day is a 1933 film which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was written by Robert Riskin, based on the Damon Runyon story Madame la Gimp.The film was directed by Frank Capra. Apple Annie (May Robson) is a street peddler who had sent away her daughter as a young child to be raised in Europe, letting her believe that Annie was a member of New York high society.

The movie was remade (again directed by Frank Capra) as Pocketful of Miracles in 1961, starring Bette Davis and Glenn Ford. The supporting cast including Edward Everett Horton, Peter Falk, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Ann-Margret in her film debut. The film proved to be director Frank Capra's final production, and the last film role of veteran actor Thomas Mitchell.

"Lady for a Day" cast

Bette Davis as Apple Annie in "Pocketful of Miracles"