Best Documentary Movies of 1948

Seal Island is a 1948 American documentary film directed by James Algar. It won an Academy Award in 1949 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel).

Strange Victory" is about racial bias in post World War II America. Following "Native Land" in Leo Hurwitz' filmography, it uses some of the same techniques: dramatized scenes interspersed with scenes of compilation news reel footage, and scenes of evocative imagery.

Images of street life in New York's Spanish Harlem during the 1940s.

This documentary, filmed entirely by military photographers, recounts the U.S. Navy's 1946-47 expedition to Antarctica, known as Operation High Jump. The expedition was under the overall command of Admiral Richard E. Byrd, no stranger to the Antarctic. This was a large undertaking involving 13 ships and over 4000 thousand men. The fleet departed from Norfolk, Virginia traveling through the Panama canal and then southward to their final destination. The trip through the ice pack was fraught with danger and forced the submarine that was part of the fleet to withdraw. The trip was a success meeting all of its scientific goals.

Muscle Beach was shown in competition at Cannes in 1949 and won a prize at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 1951. The short became a cult favorite, screening at film clubs around the world. Strick used an army surplus movie camera to shoot the film during weekends in the fall of 1948. The songs in “Muscle Beach,” composed and sung by political folk singer Earl Robinson, with lyrics by screenwriter and poet Edwin Rolfe, accent the film’s three-movement structure as it transitions between soaring gymnastics shows, flirty beachgoers and children playing near the now-demolished pier at Ocean Park.

A documentary covering the 1948 Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and London, England.

This Theatre of Life series short, produced with the cooperation of the Los Angeles Fire Department, emphasizes fire safety and fire prevention. It gives a behind-the-scenes look at the switching system used to dispatch the proper equipment to fires, as well as a look at life in the fire station and fire fighter training. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Two-Reel.

How, in November 1945, after the end of the World War II and the fall of the Third Reich, the international prosecutors participating in the first Nuremberg trial —formally, the International Military Tribunal— built their case against the top Nazi war criminals using the films and records produced by the own regime, obsessed with documenting everything in its long path of infamy and crime.

A documentary covering the 1948 Olympic Games in St. Moritz.

Toward Independence is a 1948 American short documentary film about the rehabilitation of individuals with spinal cord injuries.

Lindsay Anderson's first feature, a documentary about the origin and processes of the Richard Sutcliffe Limited underground-conveyor company.

The pageantry of Calgary's colorful celebration of its past, culminating with its world famous rodeo, is chronicled.

A documentary account of the rehabilitation at the Wiltwyck School of an emotionally disturbed black boy who is unwanted, misunderstood, and inwardly tortured.

Operation Vittles is a 1948 American short documentary film about the Berlin Airlift, from the initial closure of the city in 1948 through 1949. It explains how, what, and why that supported the city. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.

This Cold War-era cartoon uses humor to tout the dangers of Communism and the benefits of capitalism.

Documentary on town planning in which an architect looks at the history of Dunfermline, Scotland and its possible future development.

The best known, "Weegee's New York" (1948), presents a surprisingly lyrical view of the city without a hint of crime or murder. Already this film gives evidence, here very restrained, of Weegee's interest in technical tricks: blur, speeded up or slowed-down film, a lens that makes the city's streets curve as if cars are driving over a rainbow. - The New York Times

Bold animated drawings and a dramatic soundtrack provide background for narrators who argue that World War III is looming and, as such, world civilization is in danger. They contend that peace is our only alternative, an alternative we must all work towards.

A documentary showing the constructive approach taken by the Lou Costello, Jr. Youth Foundation in Los Angeles toward prevention of juvenile delinquency. William Bendix, as a neighborhood policeman, visits the Foundation and discovers the juveniles who used to give him trouble now engaged in sports and activities, furnished them gratis, under self-supervision. Abbott and Costello furnish a couple of bits to liven it up some.

Story of work in a cutlery manufacturing firm in Sheffield told through story of the son who enters the business.

This Traveltalk series entry visits the easternmost area of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. We learn that although the island was originally settled by the French, most of the island's inhabitants are of Scottish descent. We are also told that the main industries of the island are agriculture, fishing, and mining. After a look at Bras d'Or Lake, we visit the village of Baddeck. Near there is the grave of Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. The last stop is the industrial city of Sydney, home of steel plants, foundries, and coal mines.

A visit to Chicago, featuring the city's architecture and well-known landmarks.

This MGM Traveltalk short focuses on the history of England's colleges in Cambridge, Oxford, and Eton and the towns that surround the campuses.

A documentary picture about Finnish Americans. A husband, wife, and a daughter are travelling in the "Wonderland of the West" meeting many Finnish immigrants.

This Pete Smith Specialty short provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Ice Capades practices with ice skating favorites of the time.

Recent population growth in the capital leads to an ambitious development plan, involving public and private initiative as documented here, pinpointing over 60 locations (streets, roads, parks, schools) being modernized or built anew. The narrative and soundtrack are grandiloquent, in the propaganda style required by the Producer (the Municipal Council of Lisbon, then directly dependent of the national government), but the images and data are now of historical relevance.

Pedestrians and motorists share the responsibility for accident prevention. Filmed on the streets and sidewalks of Oakland, California, and on a tabletop with model cars and dolls representing pedestrians.

Once again the moving beam of "Spotlight" swings across the city of today to pinpoint a new story for the screen audience of tomorrow. This time we start from an office building in London, late on a summer evening, when the timeclocks have rung in the evening's freedom for London's daytime workers.

This short film details the history of the 'Friendship Train', created, following the end of World War II, to travel across the United States to collect food for war ravaged countries in Europe.

Do you have that "know how" look? You will after you see this concise short on becoming your very own clotheshorse. You'll definitely have a new pattern for success. Happy sewing to you all!

This short Traveltalk visit to Chicago looks at some hotels known for their evening entertainment and for the rich and famous people who come to their dining rooms. Featured are the Walnut Room of the Bismarck Hotel, the Ambassador Hotel's Pump Room, and the boardwalk at the Edgewater Beach Hotel.

Advances in chicken and egg farming.

Canadian documentary on drug addiction.

This educational short shows the operations of a big city airport.

No man is an island, but Charley represents his nation in this economical cartoon tale of Britain's economics. Meet Charley, the portrait of a nation. At the end of the 1940s the Central Office of Information commissioned Halas and Batchelor to make seven films about policies of the post-war Labour Government. Charley was cast as the figurehead of the campaign, learning about mining, farming, national insurance, and even schooling via a son at the end of the series. This short looks at the Marshall Plan, and makes the most explicit link between character and country as his life story stands in for 270 years of British economic history.

This film details how drug traffic operates, how the drug addict is made, and how this grim social reality may be curbed.

Stresses the necessity for the average American driver to realize fully his responsibility when behind the wheel. Illustrates that violations of safe and sane driving rules produce fatal accidents.

An account of Adolf Hitler's rise and fall, his relationship with Eva Braun and their days of leisure at the Berghof, their Bavarian residence.

Brad and Barbara Washburn were filmed by National Geographic and RKO Pictures on their ascent of Mount McKinley in Alaska. The film is a pictorial record of the first scientific conquest of Mount McKinley, filmed with the cooperation of the Boston Museum of Science. The short is part of the RKO's 'This is America' documentary series.

A group of students who put on a radio debate show discuss what capitalism is. While they tend to agree on the general idea, they each have a different emphasis for what is important to capitalism: profit, competition, free enterprise, or something else.

Part of Coronet's Study Skills series, this film instructs viewers how to use outlines when writing a composition.

A travelogue, this film provides a guided tour of pre-World War II Utah and of course does not pretend to cinematic greatness. Recommended viewing for those in search of introductory Utah history. Also valuable for persons seeking insight into the state as it would have looked during this time period. Especially informative for those desiring a window into the past for a view of how Utah was in the days of their pre-World War II progenitors living in the state. Those whose Utah ancestors were involved in mining, railroading, sugar beets, and other featured industries; featured towns, sights, recreational attractions, and industries may find this otherwise banal travelogue a quite valuable addition to their family history.

Production for the Seaboard Railroad company outlining their railroad activities in the 1940s and heading into the 1950s

The drama and spectacle of steelmaking at Ebbw Vale.

São José do Vale do Rio Preto, 1940. The coffee plantation is depleted, generating consequences for the region: with the decay, commercial houses are closed, railroads are removed and farms are abandoned. The former source of income for that population since the end of the 19th century has given way to poultry farming, which is gradually developing into a new economic cycle, despite the fear of those who still live in the city and in the village of Tristão Câmara.

A humorous traffic film in which the sinners of traffic are marked with large white crosses. Mr Statistics, in the form of a mysterious man, crosses out the most common traffic offenses by designating the pedestrians, cyclists or motorists in question. The film was shot in Aarhus.

This documentary explores the history of the railroads In America and their potential role in the post war era.

The coast of Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory has been the home of Aboriginal people for many many centuries. Some still live a traditional lifestyle. This film is a record of a 1948 expedition to Arnhem Land led by anthropologist Charles Mountford. It depicts the ancestral fishing, hunting, building and boatmaking techniques used by the communities of the region.