| The Battle of Russia | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | |
| Written by |
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| Produced by | War Department Special Service Division |
| Narrated by | Anthony Veiller Walter Huston |
| Cinematography | Robert J. Flaherty |
| Edited by | William Hornbeck |
| Music by | Dimitri Tiomkin |
Production company | U.S. Army Pictorial Service |
| Distributed by | United States Office of War Information War Activities Committee of the Motion Pictures Industry 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Battle of Russia (1943) is the fifth film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight documentary series. The longest film of the series, it has two parts. It was made in collaboration with Russian-born Anatole Litvak as primary director under Capra's supervision.[1][2] Litvak gave the film its "shape and orientation," and the film had seven writers with voice narration by Walter Huston. The score was done by the Russian-born Hollywood composer Dimitri Tiomkin and drew heavily on Tchaikovsky along with traditional Russian folk songs and ballads.[2]
The film historian Christopher Meir noted that the film's popularity "extended beyond the military audience for it was initially intended, and was the second in the series to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.[2]