Frank Capra, who oversaw the U.S. government’s World War II propaganda film production, wanted to produce a film that encouraged African Americans to enlist in the military. He hired writer Carlton Moss, who was Black, to write and Stuart Heisler, who was White, to direct The Negro Soldier (1944, 40 minutes), a rare for its time Hollywood film that depicted Blacks as real people, not stereotypes, ticking off accomplishments in science, sports and other fields while delivering a message that encouraged the fight against fascism abroad. John Huston’s The Battle of San Pietro (1945, 32 minutes) was filmed largely after the actual battle and was long in its gestation, leaning heavily on narration and re-enactments of the Allied efforts to push forward to Rome in 1943, barely mentioning Company E, the all-Mexican American unit made up mostly of El Pasoans from Segundo Barrio. — Doug Pullen
